Waste sector could create 84,000 jobs by 2020

The Driving green growth: The role of the waste management industry and the circular economy study outlines what the waste, resource and energy sector could look like in 2020.

And, it shows the potential for the waste management industry to meet what SITA calls some of the UKs most challenging goals in terms of jobs, growth and green energy.

Commenting on the research, David Palmer Jones, CEO SITA UK said: The UK currently has a unique opportunity to revitalise its economy by changing the way it manages waste. Investing in new waste treatment facilities will not only create employment and economic growth but consolidate a more secure energy supply. The more effective use of recyclables will help reinvigorate UK manufacturing where waste provides the base materials for new products previously destined for landfill.

The sectors performance and on-going innovation makes a strong case for businesses to unlock vital funding and play a central role in bridging the green gap so the UK can meet its carbon budget targets to 2020 but also realise the potential of a circular economy.

In the study, SITA UK estimates that the waste to resource and energy-from-waste sectors could:

• Provide opportunities for up to 25 billion of investment in new infrastructure, including new waste treatment facilities;
• Create up to 84,000 new jobs by 2020, directly and indirectly with a higher level of skills required than ever before;
• Triple waste derived renewable electricity (from thermal combustion alone) to 3.6 terawatt hours (TWh) powering one million homes;
• Energy-from-waste has the potential to meet 15% of the UKs electricity from renewable sources commitment and a third of the countrys residential gas demand (up to 12% of total UK demand) could be met by the waste management sector;
• Bring tens of millions of tonnes of valuable secondary commodities, reducing virgin material imports, helping UK manufacturing and supporting the circular economy. [E.g. 4.2 million tonnes of card were exported in 2010 and 7.7 million tonnes of paper were imported].

Energy

In order to realise the waste sectors potential to generate energy, SITA claims that a further 80 energy-from-waste facilities would need to be built by 2020, on top of the 30 already operating in the UK.

However, SITA warns that the government will need to provide clarity over tax incentives for EfW facilities. It says: Current uncertainties on the Renewables Obligation banding review and lack of Renewables Transport Fuel Obligation targets beyond 2014 are influencing and impairing investment decisions today.

The company is also calling on the government to ensure that the Renewable Heat Incentive offers support for the capture of heat from landifll gas, which it says, could generate more than six terawatt hours of renewable heat.

SITA claims that a shortfall in EfW capacity in the UK could represent a lost opportunity which would benefit European countries with already established EfW infrastructure.

AD

SITAclaims the growth of anaerobic digestion (AD) facilities will be a key driver for the waste sector as alternatives to landfill are increasingly sought. Itforecasts that the capacity for waste to be treated using AD will have grown tenfold from its level in 2010 by 2020.

The report predicts that alongside helping the government meet its commitment to generate 30% of electricity from renewable sources by 2020, the waste industry could help to reduce the UK manufacturing industrys reliance on imported virgin material by producing tens of millions of tonnes of recycled material.

Among the report are a number of recommendations that the company is keen for the government to consider in order, it says, to provide sufficient visibility, opportunity and targeted incentives to encourage growth in the waste sector.

SITA calls for steps to be taken to ensure that the UK is a commercially attractive location for the development of energy recovery facilities, and urges the government to commit to a radical rethink of the criteria applied to planning for waste management facilities.