Environment Agency reopens debate around incineration of waste

The new consultation follows a BBC analysis in October 2024 that found burning household rubbish in large incinerators to make electricity is now the ‘dirtiest’ way the UK generates power.

Over the past five years the number of incinerators in England has risen from 38 to 52. Currently 3% of the UK’s energy comes from waste incinerators.

On the Swadlincote development, an Environment Agency spokesperson said: “Due to concerns raised through the planning permission consultation and subsequent refusal by Derbyshire County Council, the Environment Agency considers there is more public interest than was initially generated.”

The Environment Agency also confirmed that Defra was “considering the role waste incineration will play as we decarbonise and grow the economy”.

However, a spokesperson for the Environmental Services Association, described the ‘dirty’ incineration claims as misleading. 

The spokesperson said: “It is simply incorrect to compare the carbon intensity of energy produced as a by-product of waste treatment with other forms of energy generation without accounting for the avoided emissions associated with landfill – since the primary role of energy from waste is to treat residual waste. Clearly, other forms of energy generation do not also fulfil this vital function.”

In terms of air quality, the spokesperson said: “Emissions are monitored constantly and any temporary emissions limit breaches are reported to the Environment Agency, alongside the cause and remedial action taken.” 

Steve Palfrey, Chair of the ADEPT Waste Group (Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning & Transport) and Head of Waste Services at Suffolk County Council said that councils were in a difficult position.

He said: “Waste disposal authorities are required to dispose of the waste we generate as a society. Where councils dispose of waste through incineration, energy can be recovered. It is a well-established and robustly regulated technology, treating more than 14 million tonnes of residual waste every year in the UK.

“The alternative is landfill, the worst option overall for the management of household waste as well as being far worse than energy recovery in terms of greenhouse gas emissions.”

Professor Anna Hansell, Director of the Centre for Environmental Health and Sustainability at the University of Leicester, played down the health impacts. She led on a study funded by the Health Protection Agency that investigated potential associations between reproductive and infant health and emissions from municipal waste incinerators (MWIs). 

She says: "We did not find any such links. However, living close to incinerators is associated with a very small increase in the risk of some congenital anomalies. However, we couldn’t determine whether this was because MWIs are often sited in industrial/deprived areas, which tend to have higher risks whether or not there is an MWI.

From a planetary health perspective, it’s much better to produce less waste in the first place than to find ever more creative ways to dispose of it."