Environment Agency data, based on the Transfrontier of Shipment (TFS) Notifications it receives, suggests that 1.3 million tonnes of RDF and SRF was exported from England and Wales between January and June 2015 (see letsrecycle.com story).
And, of this 1.3 million tonnes, the Agency data recorded that 94,000 tonnes of RDF and SRF (refuse derived fuel and solid recovered fuel) was exported by N&P during the period.
The Agency data put N+P as the sixth largest exporter from England and Wales, behind Biffa, SITA UK (now Suez), Andusia, Gemi UK, FCC – Biffa topped the export list with 136,000 tonnes exported during the first six months of 2015.
However, responding to the EA data published by letsrecycle.com yesterday (7 September), N+P says it has in fact exported around 180,000 tonnes of material from the UK as a whole between January and June 2015.
N&P
According to the Dutch company, this volume is based on its own invoiced quantities rather than on the Environment Agency’s requested TFS documents data.
N+P explains that it is not always recorded as the notifier listed on TFS documents for the material it moves from the UK into Europe, because some of the suppliers it works with opt to list themselves as the exporter on the TFS notes.
Because of this, the company says, the Agency’s TFS quantities for N+P are therefore “much lower” than the volume of actual RDF exports the company is in fact overseeing; and using its own data, N+P claims to be the largest exporter of RDF and SRF from the UK
The firm said for example, that it has 10 suppliers of RDF and SRF for an energy from waste facility contract in Germany, but that N+P is only listed on TFS notes as the exporter in seven of these cases, despite always overseeing transport of the material abroad.
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Business development director of N+P, Stijn Jennissen, said it was therefore “very difficult to get a full picture” of who is exporting RDF from the UK from the Agency’s TFS data: “You need to check who is actually exporting the tonnage, not just who is listed on the TFS notifications.”
Mr Jennissen said: “Due to unexpected maintenance and commercial stops at the end-users, our quantities are behind our budget. However we are currently exporting close to 40,000 tons per month. Exporting such volumes considers us the largest exporter of SRF/RDF in the United Kingdom.”
Growth
Speaking to letsrecycle.com, Mr Jennissen said that, overall, growth in the export market was slowing as it offtakers in the continent are “getting quite full up at the moment”.
But he said N+P hoped to export more material from France, which like the UK also has low domestic EfW capacity and is a potential growing market as an RDF supplier.
However, he explained that the UK would still “keep its competitive advantage” as a cheaper nation from which to export material due to more backhaulage and landfill tax.
N+P also expects to continue growing in the UK following “a number of mid and long-term agreements” signed over the past three years, while the company currently has 45 active TFSs as well as 15 new TFSs in preparation or pending at the Environment Agency.
Mr Jennissen said: “We have secured several new agreements for the supply of RDF and SRF into Europe, these projects are starting in Q4-2015 and Q1-2016.”
In total, N+P’s contract portfolio of ‘alternative fuels’ exceeds 1.5 million tonnes of material per year, of which around 50-60% is supplied from the UK using vessels, trucks or containers.
Subcoal
N+P is also aiming to have its first production facility operational in the UK next year for its patented ‘Subcoal’ pellet fuel, which is used in the cement and lime industry as well as on coal-fired plants.
The firm said the “majority” of the Subcoal produced in the UK would be used in the domestic market, with the rest exported to Europe.
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