The impact of Brexit on the UK’s trade in waste will be discussed at a round table hosted by the House of Lords EU Energy and Environment Sub-Committee.

The UK exports 3 million tonnes of waste annually. The Committee concluded in its report, Brexit: environment and climate change, that restrictions, or  tariffs on the UK’s trade with the EU in recycling and waste could significantly increase the costs of waste management.

The meeting will be at 10.30 on 22 November and will be broadcast on Parliament TV

 

More from New Power‘s October issue:

The UK should re-examine its energy-from-waste strategy in the light of Brexit and the opportunities that advanced conversion technologies (ACT) offer, the industry says.

A report from waste management company Suez noted that the percentage of waste being recycled was growing (from single digit in the 1990s to an expected target of 65% in 2030). But meanwhile, landfill capacity has declined faster than expected, with the number of sites falling from about 500 in the early 2000s to 120-130 in 2016.

Suez also expects that existing large-scale exports to feed waste-to-energy plants in Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden will decline, because economic recovery in those countries has increased local waste arisings.

Meanwhile, Suez says the falling value of sterling, and potential tariffs and administrative costs after Brexit, are making exports less economic. That adds up to a “gap” in waste-management options, the company says.

The Renewable Energy Association argues that new energy technologies can fill part of that gap. The industry says ACT can deliver waste-based renewable transport fuels, heat and green chemicals as well as power. But the REA said it was disappointed that, despite a large number of energy-from-waste projects ready to deploy, only six were awarded contracts in the government’s auction of contracts for difference. It said: “The CfD is meant to be the primary policy mechanism for delivering new energy-from-waste sites, but its structure does not fully recognise the additional benefits derived from ACT beyond power production.”