The president of the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM) has criticised the export of refuse derived fuels to Europe and has argued that more residual waste should be treated in the UK.
Professor Bates – Professor of Sustainable Wastes Management at the University of Northampton – who was inaugurated as the CIWM president in October, made the comments in her keynote address at the Energy From Waste Conference in London yesterday (21 February).
Professor Margaret Bates speaking at the EfW Conference yesterday (21 February). Picture: Will Date
During her address, Professor Bates discussed issues likely to impact on the waste management sector, including the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union as well as potential impacts of policy including the EU’s Circular Economy package.
However, she argued that too much of the waste generated in the UK is treated overseas. Latest estimates suggest that in excess of 3 million tonnes of waste was exported for treatment from the UK to mainland Europe during 2016 (see letsrecycle.com story).
Professor Bates said: “I think we should have a situation where we don’t need to export. The market should be able to take it.”
Demand
The CIWM president added that much of the demand for export has been created as facilities in countries including Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden have excess capacity. She added that exporters have argued that the ‘economics’ of exporting the material is favourable, but asked: “What can we do to keep more of our energetic resources here?”
Professor Bates said that the UK has been slower to develop energy from waste plants, in part due to a negative public perception of incineration, and a belief that ‘everything can be recycled’ from some members of the public.
She later said: “It makes no sense to me that we are creating RDF paying for it to be exported and buying the energy back. Where we have fallen down is the size and location of our facilities and that is linked to the public perception of our plants.”
Policy
Professor Bates also added that a lack of clarity on future government policy is a potential stumbling block to the development of future waste capacity in the UK.
She said: “We don’t know if we’ll be trying to hit Circular Economy targets; we don’t know if recycling is going to increase or what is going to happen with landfill tax. I am told by Defra that government has made a very clear statement about landfill tax and the future of targets but I have yet to see those.”
In closing she urged delegates to contribute to the ongoing consultation on the government’s industrial strategy, which she said she hoped would lead to further ‘evidence based policy’ from government.
Speakers included (l-r): Ian Crummack, Cobalt Energy; James Court, REA and Professor Bates
Other speakers on the morning of the first day of the event included James Court, head of policy and external affairs at the Renewable Energy Association (REA) who outlined government policy and subsidies likely to impact on the development of further energy from waste infrastructure.
Finishing the session, Ian Crummack, managing director of Cobalt Energy looked at some of the potential impacts of Brexit on the energy from waste sector.
Mr Crummack noted that the majority of the major suppliers of energy from waste technology are based outside of the UK, and that construction of plants could be affected if access to foreign labour is impacted by the UK’s exit from the EU.
The Energy from Waste Conference was organised by MA Business.
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Source: letsrecycle.com Waste Managment
