What happens to our rubbish - Energy from waste
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What is Energy from Waste (EfW)?
Energy from Waste is a term that covers any waste treatment process where energy is produced; not just incineration. Despite recovering some methane, the purpose of a landfill site is not to recover energy and so government are encouraging more EfW facilities to be built.
Legislation is one reason why there will always be a need for other ways of disposing of our waste, rather than rely on the convenience of landfill. EfW processes offer a number of different options, including the main types below;
Incineration
What is it? – Waste that is not recycled or composted (residual) is burnt at very high temperatures (8500C+) to produce energy. The UK has approximately 20 incinerators with many more being planned, including Exeter and Plymouth. In Europe there are about 400 incineration plants supplying over 12 million people with energy.
Did you know?
It takes approximately 7 tonnes of incinerated waste to provide enough power for a typical household for a year.
Anaerobic digestion
What is it? – Organic waste (such as food) is treated in sealed containers (without air) and uses bacteria to produce methane and compost type material. The methane is then used to produce power.
Mechanical Biological Treatment
What is it? – This process takes mixed rubbish and removes recyclables (such as tins and glass). The remainder is shredded, dried and used as fuel.
What are the main issues with EfW?
EfW is a sensible way of producing energy from our rubbish, at a time when Energy and Waste are high priorities for the country.
However, incineration in particular appears to raise a number of issues for the public, including;
1) Planning
It takes approximately 9 years for a typical EfW facility to become operational. In part, planning is one reason for the long time span. This is mainly because of the highly technical nature of these applications and perhaps not surprisingly, few people actually want ‘industry’ built on their doorstep. One further complication is that the UK public tend to have had a dislike of ‘waste treatment’ because of the negative association with the term ‘waste’. Elsewhere in Europe however, resistance is less with some treatment facilities winning awards for architecture.
2) Location
Waste is mainly produced in urban areas because a great number of people live there. Because of this, there are a number of typical advantages to building in an urban area, including;
a) Reduced traffic
What is this? – Lorries delivering the waste from local households tend to travel less distance; producing less pollution, than delivering to a site in the Countryside.
b) Heat and Power
What is this? – Depending on the facility, heat and power may be produced. In urban areas, it is cheaper and more effective to provide heat energy to local businesses rather than pipe it long distances from rural areas. Electricity can generally be added back into the grid relatively easily.
c) Visual
What is this? - A well designed modern facility can blend into an existing urban setting rather more than in the Countryside. This of course depends on the design!
Building a facility in an urban area also has a number of typical disadvantages, including;
a) Public objection
What is this? - Sometimes known as ‘Not in my back yard’ (NIMBY) and is typical of most large planning projects such as housing or industry. Objections can make the planning process slow down, increase costs and relate to a number of general issues; not just the location of the development. Local pressure groups can also form, often supported by National groups, to object to the type of process being planned. The latter issue relates to opinion as to the best way forward.
b) Increased local pollution
What is this? – Whilst overall pollution from waste traffic will reduce, more traffic may visit the site using local roads to get there. Local roads may therefore get busier.
c) Visual
What is this? – This is both an advantage and disadvantage depending on your view. Planning issues are often based on how the facility will look rather than concern about pollution and a good design can make a big difference.
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3) Pollution
The first incinerator was built in 1874 and by 1912; there were over 300 in the UK. However, because these historic ‘facilities’ were built purely to get rid of waste, only 76 produced electricity. During the 1980’s new legislation was introduced to reduce pollution from EfW facilities; this led to many closing down because they were not able to meet the new tight controls.
Incineration is now one of the most regulated industries in Europe, and is controlled under the EU Waste Incineration Directive.
Any burning (or combustion) produces some pollution. However scientists show no evidence to date, that emissions from modern incinerators have any health effects on humans. Our cars, lorries and even bonfires contribute far more air pollution than these modern facilities.
A useful guide to Energy from waste has been produced by the Environment Agency.
Did you know?
The Health Protection Agency has identified that 'any potential damage to the health of those living close-by [municipal waste incinerators] is likely to be very small, if detectable'. Air pollution from incinerators specifically, accounts for less than 1% of ‘particulate’ emissions in the country. Industry and traffic account for 50%.
A common concern is that EfW processes could replace recycling and composting schemes. In Europe however, high recycling rates and high levels of EfW treatment simply result in less waste buried in landfill. Locally, Devon already recycles over 50% and has targets to recycle 65% by 2029/30.
This website is intended to provide a broad introduction to waste management in Devon, if it doesn’t answer all your waste questions, please contact us via the ‘Ask a question’ page on this site and we will do our best to answer it.
