Leaving the EU will give the government the full control of environmental policy for the first time in decades and the UK response should include a new waste and resource policy “which better suits the UK context”, according to a new report from think tank Policy Exchange.
The government should take this opportunity to prioritise high efficiency energy from waste technologies (producing ‘green gas’ or Combined Heat and Power) as these are more efficient than electricity-only incineration facilities, the report said.
Existing subsidy support schemes need to be amended to reflect this shift of focus, the report said. The authors noted that the subsidies available for biomethane injection (under the RHI) are considerably lower than for the generation of electricity from waste (under the CfD and FiT). They commented: “This appears somewhat perverse, in that government policies provide the most generous levels of support to the least efficient, and least useful energy from waste technologies.” It recommended that government focus support under the RHI on the most cost effective technologies such as biomethane injection, and caps support for the most expensive technologies.
On energy from waste, the report also recommended that the government:
- Provide clarity about the future of the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme beyond 2020/21.
- Work with waste management industry to increase transparency about the efficiency and environmental impact of energy from waste facilities.
- Explore the creation of community benefit schemes for communities which host energy from waste facilities.
- Tighten the definition of “refuse derived fuel”, such that operators are required to extract all economically-recoverable materials prior to export of materials for energy recovery abroad.
Policy Exchange’s head of environment and energy, Richard Howard, who co-wrote the report, said:
“The EU’s proposed ‘Circular Economy package’ is ill defined and poorly thought through. It focuses too much on the means rather than the ends. The UK needs to take back control of our rubbish and develop a more coherent set of waste policies which better serve UK businesses and households, as well as the environment.”
Related content:
Waste-to-gas plant to help ‘green’ gas network
Energy from waste industry takes a new interest in the energy side of the equation
Perspective: Brexit strengthens the case for a full review of the energy from waste sector
Can energy square the waste circle?
Barriers to new energy from waste plant: truck movements, negative gate fees and British Summer Time
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