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Waste exports ‘similar to paper and plastic exports’

The export of residual waste, as refused derived fuel, to the European Continent was both defended and criticised at the LARAC Conference last week, with a top consultant seeing waste exports as similar to the export of materials for recycling.

At a plenary session with three waste sector panellists, run by LARAC chair Andrew Bird, consultant Dominic Hogg of Eunomia equated the RDF waste export market to overseas demand for recyclable materials.

Dr Hogg said: “There is now effectively an open market for waste treatment. It is a little like what happens with paper or plastics. One of the competitive advantages that Sweden has is that it taxes heating fuels so you get the benefit of the heat from the plants. So, don’t think of it as a waste export, think of it as a service.”

RDF featured in a panel discussion at Larac: (l-r) Dr Dominic Hogg, Eunomia; Andrew Bird, LARAC; Bill Griffiths, Viridor; Robert Hunt, Veolia, and; Gev Eduljee, SITA
RDF featured in a panel discussion at LARAC: (l-r) Dr Dominic Hogg, Eunomia; Andrew Bird, LARAC; Bill Griffiths, Viridor; Robert Hunt, Veolia, and; Gev Eduljee, SITA

And, emphasising the service point, he told delegates to consider that they might take holidays in Italy, and this could be seen as that “Italy has exported the tourism service to you”.

Panel member Dr Gev Eduljee, SITA UK’s director, said in terms of the export of RDF: “I expect we are the main culprit. We need to be allowed to build facilities sufficiently fast in the UK to take in the material we are taking out of landfill or the alternative is that it is going abroad for energy recovery.” And, he pointed to rapid development of facilities to burn RDF with Sweden building them at “three times the speed that is achieved in the UK”.

Also on the panel was Bill Griffiths, Viridor’s national organics and recycling manager. He said there was a “short-term need for exports” but claimed that there needed to be more safeguards in the market. “Just getting the stuff, shredding and baling it is not really making a fuel. There is a duty of a care which is with local authorities. It should be taken in and processed to a quality standard. You need to take safeguards, to make sure there is a viable market and that a contractor is genuinely producing a fuel.”

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And, Mr Griffiths said that there would be more facilities to burn the material in the UK: “We are investing over £1 billion in energy recovery, seven new facilities are being built.”

In terms of the life of the export market for RDF, another panellist, Robert Hunt, Veolia’s executive director for business development, said he thought that there “is going to be at least a four year gap before the UK catches up. In the meantime we have concerns about rogue operators.”

Seminar

RDF exports were also the topic under discussion at a seminar held during the conference. The speakers were Andrea Krajewski, senior commercial manager for the giant German waste management company Remondis – which runs energy from waste plants in northern Europe – and Dan Cooke, director of external affairs at Viridor.

Ms Krajewski, whose company is a significant buyer of RDF from the UK, argued that the export of materials is not holding back any developments in the UK. She commented that in the UK “The economy is in trouble and procurement is a very expensive solution. UK treatment capacity is too low and exports of RDF and SRF are a better alternative to landfill.

“There is limited spare capacity in new energy from waste developments due to funding risks of revenue security. Why should you build a 500,000 tonne plant if you only have a municipal contract for 200,000 tonnes? And, the extra capacity can’t always be met reliably by commercial and industrial contracts for restaurants and other businesses as you often only have contracts for one to two years. This all points to market that needs a medium term export solution.”

(l-r) Dan Cooke, Viridor and Andrea Krajewski, Remondis at last week's LARAC conference
(l-r) Dan Cooke, Viridor and Andrea Krajewski, Remondis at last week’s LARAC conference

Reverse logistics

And, she claimed that the benefits of exporting include “the efficient use of reverse logistics, allows access to R1 facilities – UK plants are not as efficient as most plants in Europe, and you don’t have to borrow money. Also it is usually a 5-10 year contract so it is not as long-term as a 25 years contract in the UK.”

Ms Krajewski summarised her case for exports as the “the current political and financial pressures in the UK are not delivering the long term treatment facilities required. There is also limited certainty with regard to future waste generation levels.”

Responding Dan Cooke, said that the “subject was very important to our sector and indeed for the UK.”

Mr Cooke explained that Viridor was developing a number of energy from waste plants with five plants alone being developed this financial year. And, it was producing RDF from its Manchester contract for use at the INEOS Chlor plant in Cheshire.

Lack of standards

He said: “As a short to medium term solution there is absolutely no problem in exports meeting the gap there is now. But there is a lack of standards which leads to poor housekeeping which fuels poor standards. Refuse is being handled, not RDF – and that’s what can lead to poor practice and poor standards. There are new players coming into the market sensing a quick buck, and [pointing to slides showing ripped bales and pollution] situations like this can quickly develop.”

Describing how the number of fires and bad practice around RDF had developed over the past years, Mr Cooke said: “This has a major impact on the sector, there is real reputational damage that is being done. If we really believe that waste is a resource, why are we putting jobs, investment and UK energy security at risk?”

Both Mr Cooke and Ms Krajewski agreed that the Environment Agency needed to take more action over bad practice. Mr Cooke said: “We are not arguing for a standard: it is down to regulating the processor and facility receiving the material. A lot of this should still be down to the Agency and government and this is why we have argued for standards to be applied to facilities’ operations. The Agency have been slow off the mark and they have a lot of catching up to do.”

Ms Krajewski commented: “I think enforcement is what is lacking. There are illegal operators everywhere and the government must step in and enforce the rules which are there already.”

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