Energy-from-waste firm calls for carbon capture mandate

An energy-from-waste firm has said no new plants should be permitted in the UK from 2025 unless they are ready to be fitted with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology or incorporate hydrogen production or heat supply.

In a new report, which it described as a manifesto for the sector, Enfinium called for organic waste to be diverted to plant with CCS to facilitate the removal of carbon from the atmosphere and for these removals to be included in the UK’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) from 2030 to incentivise investment.

The company’s chief executive Mike Maudsley said: “Despite long-term efforts to reduce, reuse and recycle, the UK has never produced more waste. We also do not deal with our waste effectively enough and too much is either sent to climate-damaging landfill, or shipped overseas. This needs to change.

“With the support of government, we believe the UK can both reduce its waste footprint, while making better use of the waste that cannot be recycled. Diverting more waste from landfill and overseas will increase the UK’s homegrown energy generation which, when coupled with carbon capture technology, will remove carbon from the atmosphere and make a material contribution to achieving net zero by 2050.”

The report also called for the deployment of energy-from-waste plants with carbon capture to be accelerated through the government’s CCS cluster sequencing programme and for the creation of a strategy to connect dispersed emitters to CO2 transport infrastructure. It said emissions controls for older energy-from-waste plants should continue be tightened, while regional capacity should be introduced to ensure new plants are only built where they are needed.

Furthermore, the report said the government should support the rollout of heat networks from energy-from-waste facilities by offering free ETS allowances for heat offtakes, whilst plants that use electrolyser technology to produce low-carbon hydrogen should be supported through its Net Zero Hydrogen Fund.

Enfinium said the export of waste overseas and the dumping of combustible waste in landfill should both be banned by 2028. Meanwhile, the government should consult on a strategy to prevent any waste going to landfill by 2040.

The company also called for legislation to require manufacturers to reveal “the actual waste footprint of their products – not just in disposals but from point of extraction.” It said right to repair legislation should be broadened to cover a wider range of products.

“The only logical long-term solution to more waste is to get better at using less,” Maudsley wrote in the foreword to the report. “We need to make reuse easier. Then we need to recycle more. We need companies to be clearer with the public about the whole waste footprint of what they do. Radical transparency, forced or otherwise, almost always results in changed behaviour.

“We also need to accept that zero waste is both technically and scientifically impossible. That which we do generate cannot be forever put in holes in the ground. Nor should we export our waste, making it a problem for someone else. Instead, we must put it to good use.”

Enfinium currently operates four energy-from-waste plants in the UK with a total generation capacity of 265MW and is also building two more.