OPINION: Energy from Waste (EfW) facilities have vast but underutilised potential to power the UK’s growing supply of heat networks, according to an Environmental Services Association (ESA) report published this month.
This supports an emerging consensus that, in order to circumvent geographical and grid constraints limiting options for heat networks while maximising the benefits of existing waste management processes, EfW should be central to heat network expansion.
The report identifies several barriers to EfW heat offtake – from the number of stakeholders involved on both sides of the planning process, to widespread uncertainty surrounding heat network delivery timelines.
One of the most significant yet overlooked barriers it notes though has nothing to do with planning or construction. Ultimately, EfW has an image problem: and until it can shed that, it can’t drive decarbonisation of heating.
Addressing the problem
There is a widespread perception that generating heat using EfW is a dirty compromise which, rather than advancing our sustainability goals, undermines the pursuit for truly clean energy.
This can be seen anecdotally. An online search for “energy from waste” will tell you everything you need to know about public attitudes. Despite the promise EfW holds to reduce our carbon footprint, news results invariably focus on backlash to proposed developments and fears about their emission impacts.
We encounter this frequently at Copper Consultancy, where we specialise in engaging stakeholders with sustainable infrastructure developments.
Only recently, I met with a journalist to discuss our heat network portfolio, who asked how our clients “defend” their use of EfW, as though it were a mark against them. Unfortunately, this is a view we hear echoed all too commonly in our public engagement work as well.
Changing the narrative
The difficulty here lies in communicating the value of a domestic heating solution that Hackney Council, defending plans to utilise EfW in its heat networks, once described as: “currently the least environmentally damaging” option at their disposal.
This may be a common sentiment, but it is not one that inspires advocacy.
Those responsible for championing EfW heat offtake need to rethink their messaging to focus on the positives that its use can bring, and shift perception away from current thinking.
How to win public support
At Copper, we help drive the energy transition by helping bring the public with us on the path to a greener future. In support of this, we’ve developed three principles to guide effective public engagement around the use of EfW in heat networks.
Firstly, it’s important to reinforce the common-sense argument that if waste management plants are already generating heat, we should use it. This logic is gaining traction in the data centre sector, where “waste heat” is increasingly being reframed as “repurposed heat”, to highlight the benefits of getting more out of processes that are taking place regardless.
Secondly, we need to educate the public about the true cost of heating. People need to understand why decarbonising heat is important, and why every available heat source, including EfW, is necessary to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.
We regularly engage with members of the public from across the UK and all walks of life through public consultations, engagement events and our original research. This has taught us that, while awareness of the importance of tackling climate change is high, detailed knowledge is often lacking.
Most people are shocked to learn, for example, that heating accounts for about 37% of total UK carbon emissions, and this reaction is the first step to motivating positive action. Embedding educational information such as this into materials, from social media content to leaflets and letters, is crucial to build a foundation of knowledge that will encourage support for EfW utilisation.
Finally, it’s essential to also emphasise the local, as well as the environmental, benefits when discussing the potential of EfW offtake. Our recent research into public attitudes toward net zero shows that, while many struggle to see how the concept of net zero connects to their daily lives, they are keen to find out about the tangible affects it will have on their communities such as job creation and improved quality of life.
EfW and heat networks are increasingly becoming part of the industrial fabric of cities and towns, supporting high-skilled jobs across the UK, and this should celebrated more by both sectors.
Taking things forward
ESA’s report makes clear that widespread utilisation of EfW is essential to expanding heat networks and unlocking the associated sustainability and energy security benefits. However, the perception of EfW as a major polluter could fuel opposition that blocks the proposals needed to succeed.
If the EfW and heat network sectors present a unified front, which clearly and compellingly sets out the benefits of EfW-powered heating though, we can begin to challenge the negative perceptions holding back its use.
If we rethink how we communicate with and engage stakeholders in this way, we can unlock this vital heat source for future generations and help the UK meet its climate and energy resilience targets.
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