Rise in incineration of waste faces pollution concerns, as Nottinghamshire County Council send 90,000 tonnes less to landfill
An increase in incineration has seen 90,000 tonnes less of the county’s waste sent to landfill — but experts now suggest it is not the ‘green’ solution it seems.
Figures collected and released by the Local News Partnership’s shared data unit have revealed that Nottinghamshire County Council sent 28% of the county’s waste, which equated to 115,321 tonnes, to landfill in 2014-15, compared to 5% of the county’s waste (21,795 tonnes) in 2022-23, a 23% decrease.
In the same period, a 23% increase in the proportion of waste incinerated with energy recovery has been recorded — with more than 95,000 tonnes more disposed of in this way.
As of 2022-23, incineration accounted for 50% of Nottinghamshire’s waste disposal — over 204,000 tonnes.
A waste manager at Nottinghamshire County Council said: "It is clear that the management of waste in Nottinghamshire has undergone significant changes from 2014-15 to 2022-23.
“The increase in Energy Recovery and corresponding reduction in landfill usage reflects our commitment to using more environmentally sustainable disposal methods. Utilising Energy Recovery Facilities (ERFs) allows us to recover energy from waste which would otherwise end up in landfills, reducing our carbon footprint in line with DEFRA’s waste hierarchy.”
The hierarchy prioritises prevention, followed by re-use, recycling, other recovery, and, at the bottom, disposal.
Other recovery encompasses incineration with energy recovery, and landfill falls into disposal.
A Defra spokesperson said: “We are committed to cutting waste and moving to a circular economy so that we re-use, reduce and recycle more resources and help meet our emissions targets.
“We are considering the role waste incineration will play as we decarbonise and grow the economy.”
There are also regulations in place to prevent recyclable materials such as paper and glass, which haven’t been treated in a way which prevents recycling, from being landfilled or incinerated.
The Environmental Services Association, the trade body which represents the waste and environmental services industry in the UK, also maintains that energy-from-waste (EfW) facilities play a vital role in dealing with waste left over after recycling.
Based on a report by consulting engineers Fichtner in 2021, it stated: “It is estimated that EfW saves approximately 200kg CO2e for every tonne of waste treated compared with landfill.”
Nottinghamshire County Council is one of many across the country which has increased incineration in favour of landfill, with 49% of England’s household waste dealt with by incineration as of 2022-23.
However, experts are now suggesting that incineration with energy recovery is not the ‘green’ solution it was previously sold as — with CO2e (a calculation of emissions of greenhouse gasses carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide) emissions from incinerators having grown 40.4% between 2019 and 2023 — and incineration being used as a cheaper alternative to landfill.
In 2023, incinerators, which provide monitoring reports detailing their emissions figures, were responsible for 14.58 million tonnes of CO2e.
The county’s waste is sent for incineration at sites including Eastcroft Energy from Waste in Nottingham, Sheffield Energy Recovery Facility, and Enfinium Ferrybridge Multi-fuel 2 in West Yorkshire.
The sites also handle waste from other authority areas, and are monitored by the Environment Agency.
2022 annual reports revealed; Eastcroft Energy produced 205,613 tonnes of CO2e, Sheffield ERF produced 156,912.7 tonnes of CO2e, and Ferrybridge 2 produced 677,316 tonnes of CO2e.
Tonne-for-tonne, the pollution from the 52 main incinerators in England has been on a par with coal in terms of emissions produced.
Dr Dominic Hogg, an environment campaigner and founder of the environmental consultancy company Eunomia, said: “[Incineration is] the dominant way of dealing with the stuff we're not recycling… as the landfill tax has gone up, so the competitiveness of incineration has improved. So more and more has got built. And we've ended up now with the majority of the stuff that you in your home will be throwing away that’s going to incineration.
“We have no tax on incineration, and that's effectively subsidising incineration because we're ignoring the environmental damages that it's doing. Whereas we're taking that into account in the impact of landfill.”
On average, incinerators breach their permits five to six times annually — which accounts for issues such as the release of harmful gases above safe limits.
In 2022, Eastcroft Energy had three permit breaches, Sheffield ERF had none, and Ferrybridge 2 had two breaches.
Public Health England’s risk assessment for incinerators states: “Modern, well run and regulated municipal waste incinerators are not a significant risk to public health.
“While it is not possible to rule out adverse health effects from these incinerators completely, any potential effect for people living close by is likely to be very small.”
The shared data unit’s investigations also found many councils across the country were tied into years-long incineration contacts worth millions of pounds.
Nottinghamshire County Council’s waste disposal is managed by FCC/Veolia, and currently has nine years of a £769.38million contract.
The council waste manager added: “Our contracts with waste management companies do not specify fixed proportions for disposal methods, allowing us the flexibility to adapt our waste disposal strategies to align with best practices and environmental guidelines. The Energy Recovery facilities we use, such as Eastcroft Energy from Waste, Sheffield ERF, and Enfinium Multi-fuel 2, are modern, well-regulated facilities that are monitored by the Environment Agency, upholding rigorous health standards.
“Although we cannot provide specific greenhouse gas emission figures [related to waste disposal] for Nottinghamshire alone due to the integrated nature of the facilities we use, we continue to work with our partners to minimise the environmental impact of our waste disposal processes. The energy generated from Energy Recovery Facilities is substantial, but the distribution and usage of this energy is managed by the facility operators, not the county council.”
Campaign groups also fear the push towards incineration over landfill is preventing improvements in recycling rates. Groups such as the Green Alliance and the UK Without Incinerators Network claim the focus and investment in incinerators has prevented meaningful work to improve recycling.
Professor Ian Williams, a professor of applied environmental science, associate dean and head of centre for environmental science at the University of Southampton, said: “We have this insane situation where in England, we've already got more than 45% incineration in most regions of the country, which means we can't possibly theoretically meet our recycling target the next year and we're planning to build more incinerators which will take us further and further away from our own targets.
“It makes no sense whatsoever to have national targets and entire sectors working on reducing single use plastics, reducing packaging, and so on, which means that your waste arisings will go down, but then building more incinerators on the premise that they're going to go up, but they're clearly not.”
In Nottinghamshire recycling has declined by 2%, or an equivalent of 7,000 tonnes of waste, when comparing 2014-15 and 2022-23.
In 2022-23, 41% of Nottinghamshire’s waste was accounted for by recycling.
The county council says the 2% drop “mirrors the national rates” and has been influenced by factors such as austerity measures, the absence of statutory targets, and disruptions caused by the covid-19 pandemic.
Upcoming initiatives in the Government’s Simpler Recycling proposals within the Environment Act aim to boost recycling rates in the coming years, the waste manager explained, and said: “We remain committed to enhancing waste management practices across Nottinghamshire.
“As we look to the future, we are optimistic about the positive impact the upcoming waste reforms will have on the environment.”
