UK biomass industry under fire over incinerators

Plans for a huge increase in waste-to-energy plants across the UK are at risk of being "derailed" as a result of protests from green groups campaigning against local waste incinerators.

That is the stark warning from David Williams, chief executive of renewable energy specialist Eco2 and chairman of the Biomass Sub Group on the government's Renewable Advisory Board.

Speaking to BusinessGreen.com, Williams said that groups such as Friends of the Earth were seeking to stir up public opposition to waste-to-energy facilities at a time when the government has just signalled its support for the technology as part of its new renewable energy strategy.

"Every few years the government puts forward a renewables strategy including incineration, only for groups like Friends of the Earth to campaign against it, " he said. "Every time the government has backed down and there is always a chance it could happen again."

His comments came as Friends of the Earth last week joined with campaign group the UK Without Incineration Network (UK WIN) to release a map showing that over 100 waste incinerators are currently being planned across the UK.

Michael Warhurst, senior resource use campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said that the planned incinerators would lead to high levels of pollution for local communities and result in millions of tonnes of recyclable material being wasted.

"The best thing to do with waste is to prevent it or recycle it," he said, adding that local councils under pressure to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill as a result of the EU's landfill directive should focus on increasing recycling rates or developing greener forms of waste-to-energy technology, such as anaerobic digestion, rather than looking to burn rubbish.

He also questioned the green credentials of many biomass projects based on waste incineration. "These projects are being marketed as renewable energy, but they are not because a third of what is being burnt is fossil fuel derived," he argued. "Most waste-to-energy plants are more carbon-intensive than natural gas and are very inefficient."

However, Williams countered that modern waste-to-energy plants are far cleaner and more efficient than Friends of the Earth claims, adding that historic concerns over air pollution from incineration meant that the sector was very tightly regulated.

He added that the argument that anaerobic digestion (AD) would offer a greener alternative than biomass plants was a "red herring", arguing that many AD technologies fail to adequately sterilise waste material and, as a result, it ends up in landfill anyway.

With many local councils currently considering plans for new waste-to energy plants there is an urgent need for greater clarity over their environmental impact, according to Paul Bettison, chair of the environment board at the Local Government Association. "We currently have a situation where council A listens to expert B and makes one decision, while council B listens to expert B and makes a different decision [on what to do with landfill waste]," he said. "We need clearer guidance on what represents the best option."