Putting our waste in landfill doesn’t seem like a very good idea. It will be there for centuries, toxic chemicals may leak into our water supplies, and whilst some sites have methane extraction, most landfill will decompose and release greenhouse gases.
But if we burn the waste, there is just a small amount of ash to dispose of and we get to light our homes and drive our EVs in the process.
The UK has 329 ‘Waste to Energy’ incinerator plants. The growth of these over the last 10 years has been dramatic, driven by a landfill tax which charges around £4 per tonne, and good returns from the electricity produced. The largest is in Runcorn, where 1.1m tonnes of waste are burnt every year. About half of the UK’s waste is destined for these incinerators.
Is this really such a good idea?
Nottingham council is 100 miles from Runcorn but sent 350 tonnes there last year, and Scotland, where new incinerators are banned, is 230 miles away but sent 650 tonnes. But for Runcorn residents, air quality has got so bad they’ve received payouts.
Ingenious individuals and journalists have also placed GPS trackers in their waste to see exactly where it goes and there’s growing suspicion that about half of waste put out for recycling ends up in the flames.
In theory, the UK's Clean Power 2030 plan to have 95% of generation being zero emissions should shut the incinerators down but there’s a convenient fudge in the calculation. The emissions from ‘Waste to Energy’ plants are counted as waste emissions, rather than power generation emissions, and so new plants are still built.
But perhaps the real issue is the amount of waste we’re producing in the first place. A lifestyle of disposable coffee cups, internet delivery packaging, or a small Easter egg in a huge box.
