Report says UK must reduce landfill by using energy from waste

In its new report, 'Going To Waste: Making The Case For Energy From Waste', the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) stresses the necessity of using non-recyclable waste to meet the UK’s energy needs. It said this is crucial for reducing the amount of rubbish being sent to landfill sites and meeting climate change targets.

"We cannot continue dumping rubbish in landfill sites," said Neil Bentley, CBI Director of Business Environment. "Waste that can’t be recycled could be used to heat homes and produce electricity, as well as improving our energy security."

Energy from waste projects
This report comes out on the same day the Adnams Bio Energy, in Southwold, Norfolk, will deliver to the National Grid the first renewable gas made from brewery and local food waste from its anaerobic digestion (AD) plant.

Earlier this week, energy company Centrica opened a plant at Didcot works sewage in Oxfordshire, which will be the first in the UK to produce renewable gas from human waste for household cooking and heating.

"This has been an excellent week for progress in renewable energy," said Climate Change Minister Greg Barker.

Contents of the report
These projects utilise several of the technologies cited in the report, including AD, where biological processes produce biogas from waste. The report also suggests thermal treatments, such as gasification and pyrolysis, which involve heating waste to produce gas.

The CBI also argues that non-recyclable waste should be incinerated, saying that it is cleaner and more efficient than burning fossil fuels or relying on landfills.

"Across Europe, generating energy from waste is common and compatible with high levels of recycling," said Bentley. "The Government needs to encourage the development of more anaerobic digestion and incineration plants, and tackle delays in the planning system."

Non-recyclable waste is an overlooked resource for generating low carbon energy, according to the CBI. Currently about 1.5 per cent of the UK’s energy is produced from waste, most of which is from landfill gas sites that are gradually being depleted. With the Government’s help to create more of energy from waste projects, the report estimates that the UK could increase the proportion of energy it generates from waste to six per cent by 2015.

The CBI said that this type of action is in the best interest of the nation, because the UK could face fines from the European Union of around £182.5 million a year if it doesn’t take steps to reduce landfill use. However, the UK would have to spend about £10 billion on upgrading the country’s waste treatment infrastructure in order to realise the benefits of reusing rubbish, the CBI said.

Today’s report follows comments by Communities Secretary, Eric Pickles, that he is considering whether to offer financial incentives for households living near proposed new energy-from-waste plants as a way of encouraging councils to grant planning permission for the facilities.

Adnams Bio Energy
Facilities like Adnams Bio Energy will help decrease landfill use as food and brewery waste can now be used to create energy rather than just being dumped.

In partnership with British Gas and the National Grid, Adnams Bio Energy will generate up to 4.8 million kilowatt hours per year, which is enough to heat around 235 family homes. In the future, the facility will produce enough renewable gas to power the Adnams brewery and run its fleet of lorries, while still leaving up to 60 per cent of the output for injection into the National Grid.

"For a number of years now, Adnams has been investing in ways to reduce our impact on the environment," said Andy Wood, chief executive of Adnams. "The reality of being able to convert our own brewing waste and local food waste to power Adnams’ brewery and vehicles, as well as the wider community is very exciting."

Waitrose is the first business to pledge to supply waste to the facility and has promised to send food waste from seven Waitrose stores and one John Lewis store.

The plant, which has cost £2.75 million to develop, consists of three anaerobic digesters, sealed vessels in which naturally-occurring bacteria will act without oxygen to break down up to 12,500 tonnes of organic waste each year.

Renewable gas
Renewable gas, produced from organic material like food waste, is very similar to natural gas and, once upgraded to grid specification, can be injected into the gas network for end use by customers. A study by National Grid shows that biogas has the potential to account for at least 15 per cent of domestic gas consumption by 2020.

"It is great to see British households using renewable gas to heat their homes and cook their food," said Gearóid Lane, managing director of Communities and New Energy at British Gas. "This project demonstrates how local communities can help us move to a low carbon energy future. Using waste that would otherwise end up in landfill to produce renewable gas is mutually beneficial for the environment and homes and businesses."