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Are “energy from waste” systems the green way forward?
15/10/2024
One third of all of Oxfordshire’s waste was incinerated in 2023
Since 2015 Oxfordshire County Council has reduced the amount of our waste its sends to landfill – by increasing the amount that is incinerated.
Last year over one-third of county’s waste was used in “energy from waste” systems, where rubbish is burned to generate electricity.
Oxfordshire County Council has a contract with Viridor for this service, provided at a site at Ardley. But a BBC investigation has claimed facilities like this are pumping out levels of harmful greenhouse gases at a rising rate.
In 2015 19.4 percent of waste in Oxfordshire went to landfill and 21.4 percent was burnt.
By 2023 the amount going to landfill had reduced to 3.2 percent but the volume of waste incinerated had increased by 15.6 percentage points to 37 percent.
The BBC found that tonne-for-tonne the pollution from “energy from waste” sites is on a par with coal in terms of emissions produced, as much of the waste contains plastics. Across the country the amount of harmful greenhouse gases pumped out of England’s network of 52 major incinerators has increased by 40.4 percent in just five years.
A spokesperson for Oxfordshire County Council told Banbury FM “Incineration is better than landfill for greenhouse gas emissions.
“Nothing about our energy recovery facility arrangement prevents us from maximising waste prevention, reuse, recycling and composting.
“Nationally recycling rates have plateaued and we are the best county in the country for this.”
The County Council’s contract with Viridor is worth £550m and has 16 years left to run.
The Environmental Services Association, the trade body representing the waste and environmental services industry, said :”Disposing of household-like residual waste in landfill, which is a mixture of biogenic and fossil-based materials, releases methane – a powerful greenhouse gas (GHG). An independent report produced by consulting engineers Fichtner, in 2021, estimated that the net GHG emissions of sending one tonne of residual waste to landfill is 432.7 kgCO2e.
“By comparison, Fichtner estimated that the net GHG emissions of sending one tonne of residual waste to conventional EfW is 230.9 kgCO2e. It is therefore estimated that EfW saves approximately 200kg CO2e for every tonne of waste treated compared with landfill.”
Published: by Banbury FM Newsteam