When I read about the reducing bin collection services offered by Councils up and down the country, I think that where I live we are lucky in the refuse collection service we enjoy. We have a weekly collection of the main rubbish bin, fortnightly collections of garden and glass/plastic/tin waste bins, and four-weekly collection of a paper and cardboard bin. My wife and I recycle extensively, and it is good to feel that we are doing our bit. But are we?

That’s a lot of bin lorries on the road a lot of the time – three in one day in some weeks – and (if you care about this sort of thing) none of them are electric. Then there’s the worry about what happens to all the stuff we’ve put in the recycling bins – does it really get recycled locally, or does it end up being transported to the other end of the country, or even to the far side of the world? And/or does it just go up in flames?

Recycling centre fires

That last troubling thought was triggered by my reading yet another online report of a fire at a recycling plant. This one was at Perth and we are told that it was a major fire which had burned all day. Six fire engines and two height appliances were called out to help tackle the blaze on Sunday, when plumes of smoke could be seen billowing across the city.

That fire came hard on the heels of another major recycling centre fire, this time in Stalybridge. News reports described it as a huge fire, sending smoke high into the sky over Greater Manchester, and residents were warned to keep windows and doors closed.

Not long before that, there was a major fire at a recycling centre at Brentford. Six fire engines and 40 firefighters were called to deal with that one.

Last month seven crews from Cornwall fire service were called to a blaze at a recycling centre in Launceston. They worked through the night to get the fire under control, the items on fire being described in a news report as “rubbish”.

Also last month a huge fire at a recycling centre in Waterston, Carmarthenshire required one hundred fire crew to deal with it. As so often, a large plume of thick black smoke was visible from miles away.

A few weeks earlier, firefighters were called to a major fire at a recycling centre at Bocking in Essex. On this occasion 600 tonnes of waste clothing were alight, and six crews called to deal with it had to work hard to prevent the fire from spreading to nearby woodland. Once more the fire generated a lot of smoke and the public was urged to keep doors and windows closed.

In June 2022, fire crews attended another recycling centre blaze at Linwood in Glasgow, where a huge plume of black smoke from “rubbish” polluted the neighbourhood. Six fire engines and a height appliance attended to bring the blaze under control.

In February this year there was a “large” blaze at a recycling centre in Ipswich. It took six fire appliances and their crews to bring the fire under control.

In August 2021 a “deep-seated” fire at a recycling centre in Fife took more than 24 hours to bring under control. It took so long because it had spread through flammable material.

In April 2021 in Wandsworth part of a mixed recycling bunker containing around 150 tonnes of rubbish was damaged by fire. Crews from Wandsworth, Fulham, Tooting and Battersea fire stations attended the scene.

In that same month a fire covering an area the size of a football pitch took place at a recycling centre in Bury. Its smoke plume drifted for miles around and led to the closure of a motorway junction.

In March 2021 a serious fire at a recycling centre at Wrekenton, near Gateshead caused concerns about the disposal of batteries. It followed hard on the heels of a similar fire at Middlefields recycling centre in North Tyneside just a week earlier, and another similar incident at a recycling centre at Hartlepool in August 2020.

Also in August 2020 there was a huge fire at a recycling centre in Barnsley. As so often, residents were warned to keep their windows and doors shut due to smoke from the fire.

The above reports were gleaned from a very quick and simple online search. The reality is that I could have listed dozens, even hundreds, just within the UK (as it is, I have listed fires in Scotland, Wales, the south of England, Lancashire, Yorkshire and the north east, and East Anglia). They are happening all over the UK, on a frequent basis. However, the problem isn’t limited to the UK – I could have included examples from as far away as Australia. So why have these fires suddenly started to be a problem? The answer is that they haven’t – this is a problem we’ve had for years, and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better.

The troubling fire record of UK recycling plants

This is the heading to an article in the Guardian from July 2017. Even five years ago, this is what we were told:

There are more than 300 fires a year at UK waste and recycling plants. New guidance hopes to reduce this statistic

Fire crews were called out on Tuesday to extinguish a major fire at a waste plant in the West Midlands town of Oldbury. It’s very likely another recycling centre will be calling the fire services this month.

There were on average more than 300 fires per year at waste and recycling plants in the UK between 2001 and 2013. In May, 40 firefighters tackled a blaze that burned for two days at a recycling plant near Rotherham. The same month, 24 residents were evacuated from their homes in Manchester after computer parts went up in flames at a recycling plant in Swinton.

As well as representing an obvious danger to human life, these fires pose a major environmental hazard and impose a significant cost on business in property damage.
Most waste sites are “well run”, says Nicky Cunningham, deputy director for waste regulation at the Environment Agency, and awareness of fire risks is increasing. Yet the combustibility of the materials destined for recycling centres – paper, plastic, wood, cardboard and so on – means it’s impossible for waste businesses to take too many precautions…

…Lithium batteries are a particular concern, according to Stephen Freeland, policy manager at the Scottish Environmental Services Association. He says: “It’s been causing us no end of bother and it’s getting worse as these batteries are appearing in all sorts of electrical products.”
A potential solution is to place an electronic tag on batteries so that waste firms can detect them if they enter the conventional waste stream. The Environmental Services Association is currently lobbying battery manufacturers to introduce such technology, but without success so far.

Given those battery fires in Gateshead, Hartlepool and North Tyneside, we don’t seem to be any closer to solving the battery problem than we were five years ago.

Offshoring

Perhaps, then, the answer is to offshore our recycling problem (just as we have offshored our jobs and manufacturing capability along with greenhouse gas emissions)? Or perhaps not. A little under four years ago we learned that fraud was a problem so far as concerns recycling plastic waste abroad. As well as worries about fraud, there are environmental concerns too:

The growing market in Turkey is also raising fears that more UK plastic waste will leak into the oceans.

One source said: “The concern about Turkey is more whether material is being stored to be recycled later, or not recycled at all and being burnt.”

Another Guardian report went to the heart of the problem:

Since 2002, the amount of waste sent overseas to countries including China, Turkey, Malaysia and Poland has increased sixfold – accounting for half of the packaging reported as recycled last year.

But the NAO said: “We are concerned that the agency does not have strong enough controls to prevent the system subsidising exports of contaminated or poor-quality material.”

There was a risk that some material was not recycled to UK standards “and is instead sent to landfill or contributes to pollution”.

Conclusion

It seems that we lack the ability to recycle our domestic waste adequately here in the UK. When we try to do so via recycling centres, the result seems to be several toxic fires every week. When we send it abroad instead, fraud is an issue, and worryingly, from an environmental point of view, there seems to be a real risk that our waste simply ends up going to landfill or in the world’s oceans instead.

I hesitate to suggest it, but can we not instead devise a means to incinerate our own waste to generate energy in the midst of our ongoing energy crisis? Surely it isn’t beyond us to devise power plants burning rubbish that could be equipped with filters and scrubbers to clean the resulting emissions?

To take but one example at random from the internet, waste to energy (“WTE”) plants seem to be capable of achieving significant benefits:

US WTE plants produce about 14 million MWh of electricity per year, i.e. about 0.55 MWh per metric ton of MSW. Recent WTE plants are more energy efficient, for example the AEB Amsterdam WTE is reported to generate over 0.7 MWh per ton. On average, it can be assumed that new WTE facilities produce 0.6 MWh per ton. Therefore, a WTE facility that processes 300000 tons per year will generate 180000MWhe. If the plant is located within or near a city that has or wants to build a district heating system, the WTE can also provide another 180000MWhth of thermal energy, or more. This second advantage of WTE is utilized fully in Denmark, where 28 WTE plants serve a population of 5.5 million. These plants are nearly always located in or near residential areas and provide 30% of the district heating for the nation.

I hope that those in charge of the net zero project in the UK have not had their heads turned so far that they are ignoring the serious problems associated with recycling centre fires and a possible solution to our major waste problems.





81 Comments

  1. Worcestershire has an excellent recycling facility and an EFW plant, generating electricity. Prices for recyclables may sometimes be a problem, but the EFW plant is fine, with no local objections.
    Apart from that, ban exporting all waste – you may need a 3-year advanced warning, but plenty of time to build local plants and stop the dreadful waste pollution that can be traced back to the UK.

    Like

  3. Dr P, thanks for the info about Worcester.

    John, thanks for the link. I suspected somebody would object to burning waste to generate energy – it’s far too sensible an answer to a real and pressing environmental problem. The thing is, they don’t seem to care about the environmental problem, nor do they have an answer to it. Apparently muttering “but climate change” is all that is required.

    Like

  5. I think Ms Sturgeon once talked about rubbish burning power plants but since she made pals with the Greens all gone quiet .

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  7. I should have looked into energy from waste plants a little more before setting out to write. It seems there are a few (though nothing like so many as there are recycling centres). Curiously, a few seem to be operated by Veolia, the outfit that Lord Deben’s associated with. The only surprise, then, is that there aren’t more of them!

    Given his combined roles with Veolia and the CCC, perhaps someone should draw to Lord Deben’s attention the report mentioned by John Ridgway above. As I hope I made clear, I think these facilities are a good solution to a pressing problem. Funny – not – that the CCC doesn’t seem to have an issue with them!

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  8. The article referenced by John Ridgway takes a very narrow view of Energy from Waste – incineration. It quite correctly indicates that incineration will produce more CO2 than other renewable methods of electricity generation. That is not the point – which is, what you do with waste? Certainly, reduce it; certainly, recycle what you can; certainly, reuse some materials; probably put food waste into AD plants. But there will still be a need to incinerate some waste and landfill is not the answer. All organic matter will rot down and produce CO2. Charges in the UK are about £86/t for untreated waste, but £2.50/t for bottom ash from incineration. One has to be realistic and accept that incineration has a place and is a good way of treating some elements of the waste we produce!!!

    Liked by 2 people

  9. Great post Mark. It made me think of this old EconTalk interview with Michael Munger. At about 28 minutes in he makes a prediction — from the transcript:

    Munger’s prediction: Large plastic strip mining operations for the petroleum. Not worth it now, but in 100 years? We’re close to the point now that the oil in the non-biodegradable plastic could be burned for fuel, useful. Scrubbers.

    https://www.econlib.org/econtalk-by-featured-guest-and-letter/?selected_letter=M#MichaelMunger

    Like

  10. “NGO retracts ‘waste colonialism’ report blaming Asian countries for plastic pollution
    Ocean Conservancy apologises for ‘false narrative’ of 2015 study that put blame for bulk of world’s plastic waste on five Asian states”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/sep/15/ocean-conservancy-ngo-retracts-2015-waste-colonialism-report-blaming-five-asian-countries-for-most-plastic-pollution

    An environmental watchdog has retracted an influential report that blamed five Asian countries for the majority of plastic pollution in the ocean.

    The report, Stemming the Tide, from the US-based environmental advocacy group Ocean Conservancy, also included incineration and waste-to-energy as “solutions” to the plastics crisis. Published in 2015, it was decried as “waste colonialism” by hundreds of environmental, health and social justice groups across Asia.

    The watchdog has now publicly apologised for unfairly “creating a narrative” about who is responsible for producing plastic waste and removed the report from its website. Its apology was welcomed on Wednesday as “long overdue” by Gaia, an alliance of 800 waste-reduction groups in 90 countries, and by Break Free From Plastic, a global movement of more than 2,000 organisations.

    The report had caused years of harm, the groups said, by ignoring the role of countries in the global north for overproduction of plastic and for exporting plastic waste to developing countries in the guise of trade….

    Yet:

    The report not only “wrongly blamed” five countries – the Philippines, China, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand – for the bulk of plastic pollution, but “misled, for years, governments and the public into thinking that burning plastic waste was a solution to the problem”, Grate said….

    …In the Philippines, a national ban on incineration is threatened by new proposals to allow waste-to-energy plants, while in Indonesia, the government continues to push for waste incineration despite a supreme court ruling revoking presidential regulations to speed up the development of waste-based power plants or incinerators…

    …Other research, which Ocean Conservancy is now promoting, recommends interventions to reduce, reuse and better manage plastic across all economies.

    Fine sentiments, perhaps, but not really a solution. Especially when attempts to “reuse and better manage” plastic (and other) waste sees (or, at least, saw) 300 fires a year at recycling centres across the UK. If it’s going to burn anyway, it seems to me that it might as well be used to generate energy.

    Like

  11. But, but…

    Plenty of scope for extracting rents from “interventions to reduce, reuse and better manage plastic across all economies.”

    Like

  12. “Essex waste incinerator ‘better for climate than landfill'”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-63006749

    A new £600m incinerator will be better for the environment than sending waste to landfill, the company building it has claimed, as construction continues.

    The plant at Rivenhall, near Braintree, Essex, will generate electricity by burning unrecyclable waste from 2025.

    Campaigners are concerned about air pollution and reducing recycling rates.

    “Residual waste is being landfilled, which is the worst thing you can do from a climate change perspective,” said John Ahern of waste firm Indaver.

    “Incineration is an improvement.”

    He said about half of the cost of the waste-to-energy project, at a former airbase, went into gas-cleaning technology and environmental control.

    “We can’t just burn things, we’re not allowed to pollute,” he told BBC Essex.

    “[Society] produces too much waste [worldwide], and the UK is not self-sufficient in generating its own electricity – we’re relying on fossil fuels.

    “In the long term we do need to look at the waste we generate, we need to get better.

    “We are solving a problem that is there now.”…

    I’m inclined to agree, but inevitably, not everybody does:

    James Abbot, a Green district councillor representing wards near the site, described what Mr Ahern had said as “green wash”.

    He added the site would produce 600,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, making it the biggest single producer of CO2 in Essex.

    “It will have a massive negative impact on climate change,” he said.

    Like

  13. “A fire broke out at Tesla Gigafactory Berlin; locals call for production stop”

    https://electrek.co/2022/09/26/fire-tesla-gigafactory-berlin-locals-call-production-stop/

    A fire broke out at Tesla Gigafactory Berlin’s recycling plant in the early hours of the morning, and now a local group that has been fighting the project is using the fire to call for stopping production.

    In the early hours of the morning, Tesla’s own fire brigade at Gigafactory Berlin called the local fire department of the municipality of Grünheide, where the factory is located, for help.

    According to a report from Märkische Oderzeitung, a local newspaper, a large pile of cardboard and wood caught on fire at the recycling facility located at the factory (translated from German):

    A fire broke out on Monday night on the premises of Tesla’s Gigafactory in Grünheide. The fire brigades of the municipality of Grünheide were called at 3.33 a.m. by the Tesla plant fire brigade. A pile of cardboard is said to have burned on the site. According to information from the Oderland regional office, several fire brigades from the municipality of Grünheide and the turntable ladder from Erkner were used.

    Eight hundred cubic meters of paper, cardboard, and wood reportedly caught on fire – resulting in significant flames being spotted at the factory.

    It reportedly took hours and 50 firefighters, including 12 from Tesla’s own brigade, to get the fire under control this morning:

    Like

  14. “Bristol residents urged to recycle batteries safely”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-63270050

    Residents in Bristol are being urged to recycle batteries and gas cannisters safely after a number of fires at recycling centres.

    Bristol Waste said seven blazes were caused by flammable items being put in the wrong box or in general waste.

    It is asking people to take care when recycling items with ‘hidden’ batteries like e-cigarettes.

    “It could be really dangerous both for our crews or for people on the street,” said Emma Russell from Bristol Waste….

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  15. so they can’t recycle “hidden” batteries safely?

    if they think most people will think twice about binning old lece toothbrush etc, they have no idea.
    I tried to take my lece toothbrush apart thinking I could just replace the battery. had to wreck it, then found it was soldered anyway, so no chance. so in the bin it went.

    ps – it had to be Bristol, the MSM centre for mad idea’s..

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  16. These fires just keep on coming:

    “Llanelli: Recycling centre fire under control”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-63257811

    A blaze at a recycling centre has been brought under control by firefighters.

    They were called on Friday at about 10:35 BST to the site in Bynea, near Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, where a large amount of waste caught alight.

    Crews from Llanelli, Gorseinon, Tumble, Swansea West, Ammanford, Swansea Central and Pontarddulais attended. Residents were told to close doors and windows….

    Like

  17. Here’s yet another one, though this one is very much small-scale:

    Backwell recycling centre skip blaze tackled by fire crews

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-63302069

    Firefighters have tackled a fire that broke out at a recycling centre in Backwell.

    Four fire crews were sent to the site site in Coles Quarry, Church Town, at around 10:15 BST where they found a skip “well alight”.

    Two water jets and a high-pressure hose reel were used to tackle the blaze, Avon Fire and Rescue Service said.

    A spokeswoman for the service confirmed at 13:45 BST that the fire had been “safely extinguished”.

    The recycling centre is currently closed.

    Perhaps I’ll leave it there. If I link to every ongoing recycling centre fire, I’ll be very busy.

    Like

  18. “Almost 10,000 tonnes of Worcestershire’s recycling rejected”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-63504422

    Almost 10,000 tonnes of waste earmarked for recycling in Worcestershire was rejected last year and sent to landfill instead.

    The county council said clothes, shoes and food waste were the items most commonly placed in the wrong bin.

    In 2020/21, 122,000 tonnes of rubbish was sent for recycling in the county, making up 44% of the waste collected.

    It sounds as though it’s time to send it all to be burned to produce energy.

    Like

  19. “South Yorkshire village endures seventh week of toxic smoke from industrial fire
    Waste stored in Kiveton Park building caught fire in September and is proving difficult to extinguish”

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/nov/11/kiveton-toxic-smoke-industrial-blaze

    Residents of a South Yorkshire village have been left worried for their safety after spending seven weeks engulfed by toxic smoke from an industrial blaze that fire services are struggling to put out.

    People who live and work in Kiveton Park, near Rotherham, have been told to stay indoors and keep their windows closed to avoid inhaling acrid, plasticky smoke being emitted from a building storing waste that caught fire on 21 September.

    Substances present in smoke can irritate the lining of the air passages, the skin and the eyes, they have been warned – a feeling they have become all too familiar with.

    Fire services and the Environment Agency have managed to extinguish about two-thirds of the blaze in the large warehouse filled with what they described as “domestic type waste”, made up of plastic, paper and cardboard.

    But it is proving a challenge as deep-seated pockets are constantly reigniting with the burnt plastic and paper forming a “crust” that blocks firefighting water from reaching parts that are still smouldering, the Environment Agency said.

    For many people, worries about the smoke, which can still be seen rising in thick plumes from the skeleton of the building, began after a couple of weeks and the lack of progress and support is causing tensions.

    Like

  20. “Motorway closed after Perth recycling centre fire”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-64795585

    A motorway has been closed in both directions due to a fire and explosions at an industrial recycling plant in Perth.

    The M90 at Friarton Bridge remains shut while emergency services deal with the fire, which broke out at about 00:40 in the harbour area.

    Diversions are in place but people are being advised to avoid the area.

    Locals reported hearing a number of loud booms from the blasts as the fire took hold.

    Thick smoke was seen billowing across the carriageways of the motorway above…

    Like

  22. “Toxic fire from Indiana recycling plant could burn for days”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-65259260

    A large fire at a recycling plant in Richmond, Indiana, has caused evacuation orders since it sparked on Tuesday.

    Officials warn the toxic smoke could cause health issues for locals. The fire is expected to burn for days.

    Complete with shocking video footage.

    Like

  23. Not a fire this time, but still a very negative story about recycling:

    “Glenrothes recycling plant in administration months after opening”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-65379894

    A modern recycling plant in Fife has gone into administration only seven months after it opened, due to a lack of waste plastic.

    Yes Recycling of Glenrothes, which has 60 workers, is unable to pay its debts because it has been operating under capacity.

    Administrators Grant Thornton are looking for a buyer who can retain the business and staffing.

    Yes Recycling’s parent company in Buckinghamshire is not affected.

    The Fife plant is based on the Whitehill Industrial Estate in Glenrothes and operates a 15,000 tonne per annum plastics recycling facility.

    It began production in September 2022, carrying out recycling of mixed plastics, both 2D and 3D.

    Like

  24. It’s bad enough that re-cycling facilities seem to keep going up in smoke – now this:

    “Recycling can release huge quantities of microplastics, study finds
    Scientists find high levels of microplastics in wastewater from unnamed UK plant – and in air surrounding facility”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/may/23/recycling-can-release-huge-quantities-of-microplastics-study-finds

    Recycling has been promoted by the plastics industry as a key solution to the growing problem of plastic waste. But a study has found recycling itself could be releasing huge quantities of microplastics.

    An international team of scientists sampled wastewater from a state-of-the-art recycling plant at an undisclosed location in the UK. They found that the microplastics released in the water amounted to 13% of the plastic processed.

    The facility could be releasing up to 75bn plastic particles in each cubic metre of wastewater, they estimated.

    “I was incredibly shocked,” said Erina Brown, the lead researcher of the study, conducted at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. “It’s scary because recycling has been designed in order to reduce the problem and to protect the environment. This is a huge problem we’re creating.”…

    Liked by 1 person

  25. “MICROPLASTICS
    T H E E N V I R O N M E N TA L H A R M S OF THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY”

    Click to access Paunio-Microplastics.pdf

    From the press release:

    London, 20 June – A new note from the Global Warming Policy Foundation warns that recycling plastic, mandated in law across Europe, is causing immense environmental harms.

    It highlights a series of recent scientific studies revealing that plants that process plastic waste are releasing astonishing quantities of microplastic particles into the environment.

    The author, Dr Mikko Paunio, explains that there is growing scientific concern that recycling plastic is a mistake that is causing significant environmental pollution. “Even Greenpeace can see that it must stop”, he says.

    Paunio argues that incineration is the most environmentally friendly approach to plastic waste, pointing to its success in his native Finland, but he says that bureaucracy and green campaigners are preventing its more widespread use.

    Dr Paunio also warns that we are about to take another wrong turn:

    “Green campaigners now want to ban plastic outright, and the forthcoming plastic treaty looks worrying in this regard. If they manage to get a plastic ban put in place, the result will probably be to damage public health, just as they damaged the environment by getting us all to recycle in the first place”

    Liked by 1 person

  26. “Fire crews tackle Oxfordshire recycling plant blast through night”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-66991876

    Crews spent the night tackling a fire that started after a lightning strike caused a huge gas explosion at a food waste recycling site.

    A tank at the Severn Trent Green Power site was struck by lightning on Monday at 19:20 BST, causing the gases within it to ignite and explode.

    Witnesses reported seeing a large fireball light up the sky after the blast….

    Like

  27. Here’s another one:

    “Taunton fire: Nerrols School reopens after recycling centre blaze”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-67004218

    A primary school that was closed after a nearby recycling centre set on fire has now reopened.

    Firefighters tackled the fire that started in Taunton Recycling Centre’s textiles area on Tuesday at about 03:00 BST, which has now “calmed right down”.

    A Devon and Somerset Fire Service spokesperson deemed the site “structurally unsafe” and said no one was hurt.

    Somerset councillor Dixie Darch said the cause of the fire is still unknown.

    Nerrols Primary School, which is located nearby, was closed due to the smoke on Tuesday….

    …”This was a fire involving domestic recycling material including large amounts of plastic, cardboard and associated machinery.

    “The fire was contained to the one building, but the contents were completely destroyed by fire and 80% of the building was damaged by fire.”…

    Like

  28. “Taunton Recycling Centre fire started accidentally”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-67098930

    A blaze at a recycling centre was started accidentally, the fire service said.

    Taunton Recycling Centre has been closed since a fire broke out in the material recovery facility building in the early hours of 3 October.

    On Thursday, Somerset Council said the site would remain closed for the foreseeable future.

    Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service said the building sustained 80% damage and its contents were destroyed….

    Like

  29. “Hull city centre waste-burning heating plan backed by council”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-67273645

    Plans for a £26m project that would use energy from burning waste to heat buildings have been given the go-ahead.

    The Hull District Heat Network would pump hot water through pipes to buildings in the city centre.

    The city council’s cabinet approved the scheme last week and a company has been formed to manage the project.

    Councillor Jack Haines said it would help tackle climate change and keep energy costs down in the long term following price hikes since last year.

    According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Mr Haines said the project had great potential.

    “The council is absolutely committed to ensuring it remains a leading authority when it comes to tackling climate change,” he said.

    “We are aware first-hand of the effects it can have on our city and it is important we sustain our long-term future, both environmentally and financially.”

    The council said it could reduce CO2 emissions by up to 126,000 tonnes a year.

    Half of the funding would come from the government’s Green Heat Network Fund for low-carbon energy projects.

    According to the government website, “the investment will deliver 22 GWh heat generated from Hull and East Riding domestic and commercial waste to 46 public and private-sector customers”….

    Seems sensible to me.

    Like

  30. “Taunton Recycling Centre to reopen following major blaze”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-67378211

    A recycling centre is set to reopen following a month-long closure caused by a major fire.

    Taunton Recycling Centre has been closed to the public since a fire broke out in the material recovery facility (MRF) building in October.

    The site will reopen on 13 November and residents are being warned there are likely to be large queues.

    Wellington and Bridgwater Recycling Sites will return to their normal opening hours.

    Firefighters began tackling the flames in the centre’s textiles area at about 03:00 BST on 3 October.

    Up to 60 firefighters and eight appliances were in attendance to tackle the fire at the Biffa-owned site.

    The site’s MRF building was deemed “damaged beyond repair” by structural engineers after sustaining 80% damage….

    I wonder what greenhouse gas (and other, rather more noxious) emissions were associated with the blaze?

    Like

  31. “Industrial waste fire fills sky above Newark with smoke”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-67391110

    Multiple fire crews are at the scene of a large industrial waste blaze in Nottinghamshire.

    The fire in Northgate, Newark on Trent, has sent a huge plume of black smoke into the sky above the town.

    Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service said on social media at 15:00 GMT that firefighters were at the scene. Smoke could be seen from the A46 and A1.

    Firefighters asked people to avoid the area and keep windows and doors closed while it dealt with the incident.

    …One onlooker said: “You can see the flames and feel the heat – there’s ash falling from the sky.

    “Traffic is slowing on the A46 because of it.

    “There’s a lot of police and a lot of fire here.”

    Others reported seeing the plume from as far as Shelford 12 miles (19 km) away.

    The BBC manages to avoid mentioning that this a recycling centre blaze, but other online reports make it clear that this is the case.

    Like

  32. “Dumfries waste plant insurance cost rises by more than 90%”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-67405348

    The insurance cost of a council-run waste processing plant in southern Scotland has risen by more than 90%.

    The annual bill for the facility at Lochar Moss near Dumfries has gone from £468,000 to nearly £900,000.

    Dumfries and Galloway Council’s (DGC) finance committee is being asked to endorse the decision of its chief executive to accept the increase.

    A report said the costs could be covered by using existing resources and reserves.

    The plant was built as part of a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) which the local authority signed nearly 20 years ago.

    It was hailed as a pioneering project at the time as it took waste and broke it down into re-usable components – eliminating the need for homeowners to separate their own rubbish.

    That meant that, in 2011, the council was one of just two in the UK which was able to collect just a single bin from households.

    However, a change in regulations forced the reintroduction of more bins – at a cost of millions of pounds – to allow for separate collections.

    By 2018, operators of the plant admitted they were unable to meet new landfill and recycling targets and it came under council control.

    It cost DGC more than £6m to end that 25-year PFI contract early….

    All that is bad enough, here’s the nub of the current problem:

    …A report to the finance committee said that any waste processing facility was considered to be “high risk” by insurers.

    It said the main danger was considered to be the possibility of a fire breaking out, even though a range of protection measures had been put in place.

    Since 2021, the council has needed specialist waste site insurance which has now nearly doubled in price….

    Like

  33. “Pitsea recycling centre fire affects 250 tonnes of material and plant”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-68034241

    Smoke could be seen pouring out of a recycling centre in Essex after about 250 tonnes of material and plant machinery caught fire.

    Firefighters arrived at the centre in Archers Fields in Pitsea where the large fire broke out at about 12:30 GMT.

    Crews said they would remain on the scene for several hours and residents should expect smoke in the area.

    Residents were urged to keep their windows and doors closed.

    Initially nine crews from across Essex were called to the scene and an aerial ladder platform to extinguish the fire.

    Like

  34. “Recycling centre bans lithium batteries after fire”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ceqjzp4gv0xo

    “A recycling centre has stopped accepting items containing lithium batteries following a fire.

    Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue spent seven hours battling the blaze at the Nationwide Metal Recycling site in Cadwell Lane, Hitchin, at 23:50 GMT on 7 February.

    The company claimed it started in a storage area for domestic appliances, and the most likely cause was a lithium-ion battery found in hoovers and electric scooters.”

    Liked by 1 person

  36. “Large Corby fire breaks out at metal recycling plant”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-68368819

    Firefighters have remained at a metal recycling plant where a blaze broke out.

    Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service was called to Gretton Brook Road, Corby, at 05:44 GMT on Thursday.

    Residents were warned by the service to keep all “windows and doors closed” due to large smoke plumes.

    “We have two appliances still on scene and crews are making steady progress with the fire now being damped down,” a fire service spokesperson said.

    “We will remain on site for a number of hours into the evening and would once again like to thank residents and businesses for their ongoing patience.”

    Four crews attended the scene.

    Residents near Priors Hall in Corby had received warnings to keep windows and doors closed….

    Liked by 1 person

  38. “Government delays decision on incinerator opposed by Steve Barclay”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68754274

    “The government has temporarily banned permits for new incinerator plants in England, including one the Environment Secretary Steve Barclay is fighting to stop being built in his constituency.

    The environment department will now consider how many plants are needed.

    It comes after a top government lawyer warned a plan being explored to pause permits was “unlawful”.

    This month Mr Barclay said the proposed incinerator in his Cambridgeshire seat was a “massive blot on the landscape”.

    The large energy-to-waste plant is being proposed in Wisbech, in the North East Cambridgeshire constituency….

    …In a letter to the agency’s head, Sir Mark says he is worried about the risk that expanding incineration capacity could pose to environmental obligations.

    He describes it as a “temporary pause” to allow government officials to “lead a piece of work considering the role of waste incineration in the management of residual waste in England”.

    The work will consider whether the capacity being developed fits with government objectives to reduce the amount of waste incinerated and will look at concerns about “over-provision”. It could lead to a further formal review….

    I should have thought it was better to burn waste in a controlled environment and create energy for the grid in the process, rather than – as often is the case – see waste at recycling plants go in flames with loads of wasted energy and potentially dangerous toxins in the air.

    Liked by 1 person

  39. Mark, here’s a song that Steve Barclay may enjoy singing while opposing the waste-to-energy* plant in his own constituency:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mM-ExNTKGA

    Moving stuff! Well done, JoJo ‘Mockney’ Mehta.

    That event was held in April 2016 at Stroud Brewery. It officially launched a project calling on celebrities and local people to invest millions of pounds in an alternative to a proposed waste-to-energy plant at Javelin Park. The alternative plant was to have been something that was very efficient at digging out and recycling plastic, metal, glass etc from the waste in black bin bags and turning the residue into biomass.**

    Gail Bradbrook can be seen in the front row of the audience. She had only just returned from her chat with Mother Ayahuasca in Costa Rica – hence, perhaps her day-glo jacket.

    Jeremy Irons appeared at the event only via a video-link, probably from his castle in Cork (although it could have been from one of his other homes in Oxfordshire, Notting Hill, the Isle of Wight and California). Irons was a very early supporter of the alternative scheme. In May 2015 he urged anti-Javelin Park campaigners to be ‘really naughty’.***

    Others involved in the campaign: Polly Higgins, Jonathon Porritt and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

    And, as always in such Stroudy things, Sarah Lunnon.

    ===
    *Auntie Beeb has now corrected its initial arsey-versey description.

    **Javelin Park won. Did the alternative lose because it was a total fantasy from start to finish or because it was crushed by the usual evil globalist corporatists? Wake up, sheeple!

    **https://www.stroudnewsandjournal.co.uk/news/12953940.actor-jeremy-irons-urges-campaigners-to-be-really-naughty-to-stop-javelin-park-incinerator-being-built-near-stroud/

    Liked by 1 person

  40. “Fire crews tackle major blaze at recycling plant”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0klwg8128ro

    “Fire crews are continuing to tackle a major blaze which broke out at a recycling plant in North Ayrshire on Monday night.

    Emergency teams were called to the site on Byrehill Road in Kilwinning just after 22:00.

    The road has been closed and local residents are being asked to keep their windows and doors closed as a precaution….”

    Like

  41. The BBC report on the fire at Kilwinning now contains a bit more information:

    Damian Lambkin from Fenix Battery Recycling told BBC Scotland News the plant’s response team contacted emergency services, who he thanked for the “prompt and professional handing of the incident”.

    He said: “While the cause of the fire is still under investigation, we are fully co-operating with the authorities by providing all necessary information and support and Fenix Battery Recycling will continue to liaise closely with emergency services, regulatory bodies, and local authorities throughout the ongoing incident.”

    https://fenixbatteryrecycling.com/

    Our vision is to be a market leader in waste battery reuse, recycling and recovery and be a significant influencer in the recycling revolution, harvesting resources from yesterday’s waste products to create a circular, pollution free, zero-waste future.

    We aim to do this by developing next-generation technologies for battery recycling to improve efficiency, enhance the recovery of raw materials from end-of-life products, reduce carbon emissions and the negative impact of dealing with waste and mining on the planet.

    We have a state-of-the-art recycling and shredding plant in Kilwinning, Scotland and we will be expanding sites across the UK to provide production capabilities for all battery types

    Like

  42. “Firm’s £200m bid to be at carbon capture forefront”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c7208qze386o

    “A waste plant is investing £200m in what it said was an effort to be at the cutting edge of carbon capture and storage in Wales.

    CCS reduces carbon dioxide emissions by stopping them entering the atmosphere and storing them deep underground.

    Enfinium’s Parc Adfer facility on Deeside, Flintshire, converts up to 232,000 tonnes of non-recyclable waste into electricity every year.

    The company is bidding for a UK government grant to create a new plant to remove 100,000 tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere a year, which CEO Mike Maudsley called “pioneering”.

    If you live in north Wales, there is a good chance your non-recyclable rubbish will end up at Parc Adfer – it processes waste from across the region by burning it, producing enough energy to power 30,000 homes.“

    Meanwhile:

    “MP Andrew Murrison wants Westbury incinerator permit revoked”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-68780666

    “An MP is calling for the government to revoke the permit for a planned incinerator in his constituency.

    Andrew Murrison has written to the Defra minister Sir Mark Spencer about the pause to incinerator permits to see if the one for Westbury in Wiltshire can be revoked.

    Plans to build the controversial incinerator were granted in February.

    “The future isn’t in burning our waste, it’s in managing our waste far more responsibly,” said Dr Murrison...

    …The government has temporarily banned permits for new incinerator plants in England.

    Sir Mark Spencer instructed the Environment Agency [EA] to temporarily stop granting licences, saying he was worried about the risk that expanding incineration capacity could pose to environmental obligations.“

    I wonder what impact all the recycling plant fires are having on our “environmental obligations”?

    Like

  43. “Green energy entrepreneurs sentenced after fire”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cl5ky2eq05vo

    A North Yorkshire green energy entrepreneur and her partner have been sentenced for environmental offences following a major fire at a plastic recycling plant.

    Laura Hepburn, 44, and convicted fraudster Jonathan Guy Brudenell, 53, of Sandsend near Whitby, set up a business called Greenology which they ran before the premises burned down in April 2020.

    Teesside Crown Court heard the pair were investigated by the Environment Agency because the plant, near Redcar, was operating without a permit and the amount of waste stored there “vastly” exceeded agreed limits.

    Hepburn was sentenced to two years, suspended, and Brudenell to two years and 10 months for offences including depositing waste without authorisation and illegally operating a regulated facility.

    At the time, officers warned them that plastic bales at the site were packed so tightly together that they presented a fire risk, but their advice was ignored.

    The fire, which broke out during lockdown when residents living nearby could not be evacuated from their homes, effectively ended activities at the site and left its owner facing large financial losses.

    Yet Hepburn quickly moved on to lease further land in Middlesbrough where she began recycling old tyres and continued to operate without authorisation....

    ...Hepburn is a prominent businesswoman who has attended UN climate change conferences and been a panel speaker at environmental summits.

    She told Middlesbrough Council that her ambition was to set up a pyrolysis plant where tyres could be turned into biofuel….

    Like

  44. It’s becoming a classic business model: people pay you to take their worthless rubbish, and then you pretend to recycle it, allowing it to pile up in small mountains until it eventually “accidentally” catches fire.

    Liked by 1 person

  45. Jit,

    The story could stand as a metaphor for the whole green boondoggle – prominent greens who enjoy access to UN climate change conferences and speak at environmental summits recklessly trash the environment in their efforts to make lots of money.

    Like

  46. “Council is sending recycling to India and Thailand”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c033k6p53k4o

    Buckinghamshire Council has been recycling waste in countries as far away as India and Thailand, new figures have revealed.

    The authority sent paper to India, cans to Thailand, mixed plastics to the Netherlands and card to Turkey last year.

    The items were among more than 9,000 tonnes of waste shipped overseas in 2023, according to data released by a Freedom of Information (FOI) request.

    That would be this Buckinghamshire Council:

    https://www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/environment/climate-change-and-sustainability/

    Liked by 2 people

  47. Mark – from your last link – Reducing transport emissions | Buckinghamshire Council

    “Reducing transport emissions

    Transport is the largest source of greenhouse gas and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) emissions in Buckinghamshire.

    To help reduce emissions from transport, we:

    are working closely with public transport operators

    have implemented an electric scooter trial

    are currently developing an electric vehicle charging plan

    are continuing to support active transport modes such as cycling and walking“

    From the BBC link –

    “‘Efficient’

    The spokesperson added: “Once materials have been sorted, recycled materials become commodities in the worldwide market.

    “This means that some materials may travel abroad where there are better developed industries for recycling.

    “The small percentage of recycling sent outside of the UK is sent to be recycled. It travels by road to Europe and by sea if travelling further afield.

    “Often the raw materials are part of a reverse logistics chain, which means they travel on lorries/ships that would otherwise be empty – which makes the transport more efficient.”

    So it seems Buckinghamshire Council & maybe more, “Often” have nothing better to export than garbage commodities.

    Wonder how much money they get back, against money spent on transportation?

    Like

  48. PS – can’t work out/make sense of the tonne figures from the BBC article. Partial quotes –

    “The items were among more than 9,000 tonnes of waste shipped overseas in 2023, according to data released by a Freedom of Information (FOI) request.” – so this waste was “shipped”

    “The information obtained by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, external revealed that a total of 37,196 tonnes of recycling were collected at the kerbside in 2023. Of this, 34,078 tonnes were recycled by the council over the same period.” – so roughly 4,000 tonnes wasn’t recycled by the council & shipped abroad.

    “The authority said more than 95% of its household waste collected in Buckinghamshire was dealt with in the UK. More than 130,000 tonnes of waste was dealt with inside the county, it said.” – household waste, so why include that in the article? bet they phoned the council & repeat word for word the response, with no “verify”/thought needed.

    Like

  50. Fairly even-handed reporting from the BBC, I would say, and worth a read:

    “South West Wiltshire: What’s the burning issue?”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clddgwxdv6xo

    One of the biggest issues in South West Wiltshire is the Westbury incinerator, which has been dividing opinions for years.…

    ...A waste company – Northacre Renewable Energy, made up of local business Hills Waste and Evero energy – wants to build a waste-to-energy incinerator in the town and there has been a long campaign against it over air quality, the environment, health and the lorries to feed it...

    …Northacre itself said it would be a “major investment in Wiltshire’s energy infrastructure” and would “provide employment both during construction and operation”.

    It has called it a “sustainable, long-term solution” for waste in the area, which is “currently destined for disposal in landfill or export to Europe.”

    It has said throughout the process that the electricity generated would be able to power thousands of homes.…

    ...Matthew Dean is a local pub landlord and also an independent councillor.

    He said: “People are absolutely horrified. We’re worried about pollution.

    “We desperately need a proper waste management strategy for this country.

    “The burning of waste by incineration close to residential areas should be a no-no.“…

    ...The argument for waste incinerators comes down to landfills being bad for the environment.

    Waste accounts for about 3% of the UK’s carbon emissions, largely because organic waste in a massive pile breaks down and produces a significant amount of methane, which is more than 25 times better than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere.

    The theory is by burning things that could not be reused or recycled, you can avoid that and produce energy at the same time.

    However, biodegradable waste isn’t the only thing we send to landfill – and incinerators also burn things like plastic, made from fossil fuels like oil.

    That non-renewable part has significant emissions….

    I don’t care about the carbon emissions, but I do care about the environment. I think it’s a shame that other than at a local level politicians don’t seem to be much interested in this issue.

    Like

  51. “Landfills across England could be leaking harmful toxic ooze, warn experts

    More than 21,000 old sites may be releasing ‘forever chemicals’ into land often left as open space”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/jun/28/landfill-sites-across-england-could-be-leaking-harmful-toxic-ooze-warn-experts-forever-chemicals-pfas

    Thousands of polluted landfills across England could be leaking toxic chemicals into the environment and harming people who live nearby, experts have warned.

    A few decades ago, the method for getting rid of industrial and domestic waste was to stick it in a hole in the ground, cover it up and hope for the best. It was known as “dilute and disperse” and it assumed toxic substances would seep into the surrounding soils, air and water and become harmless.

    There are more than 21,000 of these “historic” landfills across England, with contents that are largely unknown. A report in the British Medical Journal found that 80% of the British population lives within 2km of a functioning or closed landfill site. The location of historic landfills and current waste sites can be viewed on a new pollution map published by Watershed Investigations, along with thousands of other potentially polluting sites.

    Tragically, it might be too late to do anything about existing landfill sites, but for the future, surely we need to look at incinerating rubbish and using it to generate energy.

    Like

  52. Press release from last month from the fire chiefs:

    “…new research shows lithium-ion batteries thrown in household rubbish bins have led to over 1,200 fires in the waste system in the last 12 months, compared to 700 in 2022.”

    The future’s bright. The future’s on fire. But it also comes with vast clouds of toxic smoke. No news on the cause of the Linwood fire that I can see online, but a pound to a penny it was started by a battery. The FBU are not impressed with the direction of travel either:

    The Fire Brigade Union (FBU) also voiced some concerns it has about the blaze.

    Gus Sproul, chair of the FBU in Scotland, said: “The FBU have concerns about the speed of the introduction of technology and the regulations around EVs, battery storage etc. and that these will be shared by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

    “We know that there are many hazardous materials contained in the kinds of devices stored at this facility and that many of them are very challenging to extinguish when involved in a fire.

    “We hope that all the crews in attendance are safe and able to protect themselves at the incident and properly decontaminate afterwards.

    “We cannot comment further until we have more details of the cause of the fire.”

    Liked by 1 person

  53. “Lithium battery believed to be behind Scrapco Red Lodge fire”

    A huge fire at a scrapyard in west Suffolk is believed to have been caused by a lithium battery. The owners of Scrapco in Red Lodge say a fire at their yard in The Carrops was started by the batteries, which they do not accept.

    EDP link (maybe paywalled).

    Saving the planet one lithium battery at a time.

    Like

  54. “Burning rubbish to create energy could end landfills. But some worry where Australia’s new path is leading

    Some conservationists believe the ‘incineration industry’ is trying to gain a foothold in Australia and say the trend will end up damaging the environment”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/sep/29/burning-rubbish-to-create-energy-could-end-landfills-but-some-worry-where-australias-new-path-is-leading

    Australia’s first major waste-to-energy power plant has begun accepting rubbish, marking the start of a contentious nationwide shift towards burning household refuse to generate electricity.

    At least 10 developments are under way across the country, sparking concern from some conservationists who argue the trend will be environmentally damaging and at odds with plans to develop a circular economy.

    Local councils have started sending truckloads of garbage to Kwinana Energy Recovery facility, south of Perth, as the country’s first commercial-scale project heads towards full-scale operation.

    The Kwinana plant is designed to burn up to 460,000 tonnes of non-recyclable waste annually – about a quarter of the amount Perth sends to landfill.

    Another 300,000-tonne-a-year generator is under construction just down the road at East Rockingham. Four licences to build major waste-to-energy facilities have been issued in Victoria and there are proposals in New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia. Combined, the projects in development would have the capacity to incinerate 2m tonnes of waste a year – a quarter of what Australian households throw away.

    Waste-to-energy has experienced a surge of interest in Australia as landfills near capacity. Proponents say it could mean an end to landfill, and that air pollution and ash can be managed under existing environmental regulations. ​

    But not everyone is convinced. The environmental group Zero Waste Australia calls the approach “the most polluting and expensive way to generate energy and manage waste” and has raised concerns about the environmental and health consequences.

    Jane Bremmer, the group’s campaign coordinator, says the number of waste-to-energy proposals is “gobsmacking”, and a sign the “incineration industry” is trying to gain a foothold in Australia as it was being pushed out of Europe, where some plants are being decommissioned….

    Like

  55. The obsession with CO2 seems to be turning some people into haters of the environment. Landfill is better for the planet than burning waste to produce electricity?

    “Burning rubbish now UK’s dirtiest form of power”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp3wxgje5pwo

    Burning household rubbish in giant incinerators to make electricity is now the dirtiest way the UK generates power, BBC analysis has found.

    Nearly half of the rubbish produced in UK homes, including increasing amounts of plastic, is now being incinerated. Scientists warn it is a “disaster for the climate” – and some are calling for a ban on new incinerators.

    The BBC examined five years of data from across the country, and found that burning waste produces the same amount of greenhouse gases for each unit of energy as coal power, which was abandoned by the UK last month.

    The Environmental Services Association, which represents waste firms, contested our findings and said emissions from dealing with waste are “challenging to avoid”.

    Nearly 15 years ago, the government became seriously concerned with the gases being produced from throwing away household rubbish in landfill and their contribution to climate change. In response, it hiked the taxes UK councils paid for burying waste.

    Facing massive bills, councils turned to energy-from-waste plants – a type of incinerator that produces electricity from burning rubbish. The number of incinerators surged – in the past five years the number in England alone has risen from 38 to 52.….

    Liked by 1 person

  56. Top story on the BBC website today – the BBC seems to be on a mission to stop the UK burning waste to generate electricity:

    “Flies, rats and offers of hush money – the price of living next to a ‘monster’ incinerator”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwylepd79d5o

    I have no doubt that it is very unpleasant to live near to an incinerator (as it is to live near wind turbines), but if we don’t burn it we export it (to others who burn it or out it in landfill) or we put it in landfill. At least by burning it we generate some useful power. Seems like a least bad option to me.

    Liked by 1 person

  57. The BBC campaign continues:

    “Incinerator plans ‘feel forced’ – council leader”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9dl1ql7vlxo

    A council leader has written an open letter to the government expressing his “deep disappointment” that planning permission has been granted for an incinerator.

    Dorset Council leader Nick Ireland said he “stands firm” with those who oppose the burning of waste on the Jurassic coastline, for environmental, economic and health reasons.

    The power-generating facility at Portland Port was given the go-ahead last month by the government.

    Powerfuel Portland said its plant would allow Dorset’s non-recyclable waste to be “managed locally in a more sustainable way”….

    ...BBC analysis on the burning of household waste in large incinerators found that it is now the dirtiest way that the UK generates power.

    The council leader said: “The proposed incinerator has knee-capped our own net-zero ambitions.“

    He questioned the number of jobs the incinerator will create, the potential impact on tourism and the effect on the wider environment.…

    I understand concerns about incinerators – of course I do – but it seems to be that the opposition to them is driven by that statement about “knee-capping” net zero ambitions more than anything else. Waste has to be dealt with somehow, and using it to generate energy seems to me to be a sensible option.

    Many of the arguments rehearsed in that article against incinerators are also made against renewable energy: questioning the number of jobs they will create, potential impact on tourism, the effect on the wider environment – but I don’t see the BBC running a campaign against them, despite the overriding argument that they are also expensive, unreliable and damaging to our energy security.

    Like

  58. “Fire crews tackling blaze at waste recycling site”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwy93wg27kjo

    An MP has called for a “national conversation” on lithium battery fires after a large blaze at a waste recycling site.

    Six fire engines and aerial ladder platforms were sent to Wallace Way in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, at 02:30 GMT after a large fire.

    More than 60 emergency calls were made to report the fire and a high-volume pump was set up, resulting in the closure of a junction between Cadwell Lane, Wilbury Way and Woolgrove Road.

    There have been multiple waste site fires in Hitchin recently. Labour MP Alistair Strathern hoped to spark conversation on the dangers of batteries fires, but admitted it was too soon to tell the exact cause of this incident….

    Like

  59. “Crews tackle fire at recycling centre”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cqxwlzyyyl4o

    Firefighters are tackling a blaze involving about 50 tonnes of mixed waste at a recycling centre in south London.

    London Fire Brigade (LFB) was called to the Reuse and Recycling Centre on Devon Street in Southwark at about 12:30 GMT.

    Six fire engines and about 40 firefighters from New Cross, Old Kent Road, Peckham and Deptford fire stations are at the scene….

    Like

  60. This is interesting at a number of levels, and not just with regard to the shouty headline:

    “UK pension fund loses more than £350m with waste incinerator power plants

    Shareholder accuses Aviva Investors of ‘calamitous’ investments as three sites expected to go bust”

    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/nov/20/uk-pension-fund-loses-350m-waste-incinerator-power-plants

    …The Guardian understands that Aviva Investors will put three incinerators into administration this week after pouring millions of pounds into what has been described as the country’s “dirtiest form of power generation”….

    …Aviva has written off £368m for the plants, which were originally intended to run on biomass waste wood and later converted to burn household waste, but which struggled to reach their targets….

    …There were 60 fully operational energy-from-waste (EfW) plants in the UK at the end of last year, which generated about 3.1% of the country’s total net power generation and kept 16m tonnes of residual waste from heading to landfill….

    …The plants in Hull and Boston have generated far less electricity than planned, while the plant in Barry has been mothballed due to a planning row with the Welsh government….

    The Chancellor of the Exchequer, of course, wants to make local authority pension funds invest in renewables, if I understand her planned reforms correctly. This, then, is interesting:

    …The decision follows months of criticism from individual shareholders. Speaking to the Guardian, one shareholder accused Aviva of making “calamitous investments” on behalf of its UK pension fund investors….

    Liked by 1 person

  61. “Controversy over recycling sent to Malaysia”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c78d8n5ry5lo

    Recycled cardboard being sent more than 6,600 miles away to Malaysia has sparked concerns over a council’s carbon footprint.

    Opposition Conservative councillors questioned how environmentally friendly it was for Cotswold District Council to send recycling halfway across the world.

    The council said it was steadfast in its commitment to addressing the climate emergency and achieving net-zero carbon emissions.

    Cabinet member Tristan Wilkinson said it had a commercial agreement with its contractor Thamesdown Recycling and what happens to the recycling “is kind of down to market forces, unfortunately”.…

    Perhaps they would have done better to burn it and generate some power in the process?

    Like

  62. “Recycling lorry dumps waste after battery fire”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy094yr8dyyo

    A lorry load of recyclable waste had to be dumped on a road after batteries caused it to catch fire.

    Dorset Council said discarded batteries caught fire when they were crushed inside the refuse collection vehicle as it operated near Bridport, Dorset….

    Like

  63. “Discarded batteries cause second bin lorry fire”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c80vxn19eymo

    A lorry load of waste has burst into flames after batteries were accidentally crushed in the vehicle’s compactor.

    A Dorset Council bin collection crew saw smoke coming from the back of the truck on Summerhill Road in Lyme Regis earlier.

    The driver immediately took the lorry to a wider road and ejected the load, which then caught alight, the authority said.

    On Thursday, the council reported a similar fire in Bridport, which was also caused by batteries wrongly left in wheelie bins….

    Like

  64. “Batteries of any kind should never be places in any recycling bin.”

    What about ordinary waste bins, bet most people discard them there without a second thought.

    Like

  65. “Labour under fire over plans for 40 more ‘greenwashing’ waste incinerators

    Communities across the UK are fighting ‘catastrophic’ proposals to build new energy-from-waste plants”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/dec/29/labour-under-fire-over-plans-for-40-more-greenwashing-waste-incinerators

    Labour faces a growing backlash across the country over proposals to build a new generation of more than 40 waste incinerators to burn household and commercial rubbish.

    Communities are fighting plans for the new energy-from-waste incinerators which have been called the UK’s dirtiest form of power. The plants, some of which can burn more than 500,000 tonnes of rubbish a year, are often located in more deprived areas.

    There are already about 50 waste incinerators across England, but new figures reveal a further 41 have been given planning permission. Of these, 27 have already been granted environmental permits and some are already under construction.

    Ministers are expected to announce new curbs on waste incinerators on Monday, as they face growing public concern over their impact. Campaigners want the government to revoke the permits of the incinerators which are not yet under construction and ban any new projects.

    Shlomo Dowen, from the UK Without Incineration Network, the campaign group which collated the figures on projects in the pipeline, said: “There are already far too many waste incinerators across the UK, meaning that most of what is burned is material that could and should have been recycled or composted….”

    That’s all very well, but what do we do with the stuff that can’t be recycled or composted? What do we do with the uncontrolled and spontaneous fires at recycling centres that take place on all too regular basis? We don’t more landfill, and we don’t want to send it abroad for (often spurious) re-cycling, so what do we do? At least incineration can generate electricity, and with the current government’s mad plans for our energy system, that would be a very useful thing indeed.

    Liked by 1 person

  66. “Tougher rules to restrict new waste incinerators”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgrl72e975o

    Ministers say fresh rules announced today will limit the development of new waste incinerators, which burn rubbish to make electricity and emit gases that are harmful for the environment.

    Just under half of all the UK’s household rubbish is now burned, and a recent BBC investigation showed that incinerating bin bags, which can release large amounts of carbon dioxide, was as bad for the climate as burning coal.

    Now the government is proposing that new household waste incinerators in England can only go ahead if they meet strict requirements, such as ensuring they reduce the amount of rubbish going to landfill or replace older, less efficient incinerators.

    Ministers hope that if recycling and the reuse of rubbish improves, the country will produce less residual waste in the years ahead, and therefore less waste will need burning….

    ...Over the past two decades governments have tried to limit the amount of waste going to landfill, as the planet-warming methane that’s emitted from these sites is very damaging to the climate.

    They’ve done this mainly by raising the landfill taxes that councils have to pay to bury waste.

    As a result, local authorities across the UK turned to burning waste for energy in large incinerators, often built in disadvantaged areas.

    With 49% of waste collected now incinerated, this is having a negative effect on the climate because increasing amounts of plastic, made from fossil fuels, are being thrown away and burned, releasing large amounts of carbon dioxide….

    Sound familiar? It’s not that long ago that Gordon Brown’s government was busy encouraging us all to buy diesel cars.

    Like

  67. “Essex county council sends 95% of non-recycled waste to landfill, data reveals”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/dec/30/essex-county-council-sends-95-of-non-recycled-waste-to-landfill-data-reveals

    New government data published on Monday showed that 95% of non-recycled waste in Essex is sent to landfill, as ministers launched their plans for a circular economy.

    The data revealed that seven local authorities in England reported sending more than 40% of their residual waste to landfill in 2022 to 2023, with Essex county council at the top of the list.

    Next came Cambridgeshire county council, (87% of waste sent to landfill), Southend borough council (74%), Darlington borough council (61%), Lancashire county council (59%), Leicester city council (57%) and Newcastle upon Tyne city council (56%).

    At present, non-recyclable waste is either incinerated for energy or sent to landfill….

    …On Monday, as part of the circular economy strategy, a plan was announced to crack down on new incinerators and incentivise recycling instead. Almost half of all waste (49%) collected by local authorities in 2022-23 was incinerated, with just 40% recycled.

    But the plans come against a backdrop of falling recycling rates, according to the latest data. In 2021, the household recycling rate was 44.1%, falling to 43.4% in 2022.

    The new strategy will make it harder to get planning permission for incinerators. In order to build them, developers will have to demonstrate that their projects help lower the amount of non-recyclable waste sent to landfill or enable the replacement of older, less efficient plants.

    Developers will also need to ensure new projects are built carbon-capture ready, once the requirements come into force, and show how they will make use of the heat they produce, which could be used to decarbonise other sectors. Incineration facilities provide about 3% of the UK’s energy generation.

    The circular economy minister, Mary Creagh, said: “For far too long, the nation has seen its recycling rates stagnate and has relied on burning household waste, rather than supporting communities to keep resources in use for longer….

    I’m all in favour of recycling. We do so extensively in our household, and the main waste bin goes out most weeks with very little in it. However, in the face of falling recycling rates, if waste isn’t incinerated, it goes to landfill, which is appalling. At least if it’s incinerated, it generates waste, and the incineration takes place in a controlled environment, unlike the fires that break out regularly in recycling plants, causing hazard and pollution.

    How ironic that at the very time the Government is tearing up planning laws to allow foreign/multi-national subsidy seekers to plaster the country in wind farms, solar farms and BESS, in the face of local opposition, the Government is making it more difficult to burn in safety (and thereby to generate energy) the growing volumes of non-recyclable waste.

    Like

  68. “Friarton Bridge reopens after recycling site fire”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cr53m71jjd2o

    The Friarton Bridge in Perth has reopened after smoke from a blaze at a nearby recycling centre forced its closure for almost 10 hours.

    Emergency services were called to the centre, which is underneath the bridge, on Lower Friarton Road at about 03:00.

    The bridge had been closed in both directions, with traffic being diverted through Perth....

    Like

  69. “Almost 70 firefighters tackle blaze at Derry recycling plant”

    https://www.rte.ie/news/ulster/2025/0117/1491407-almost-70-firefighters-at-derry-recycling-plant-blaze/

    A large number of firefighters remain at the scene of a fire at a recycling plant in Co Derry.

    The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service said the alarm was raised over the fire at the site on the Craigmore Road in Coleraine just after 2am.

    A spokesperson said there was nobody in the building at the time.

    However they added that it was too early to say what the scale of damage would be.

    A total of 67 firefighters attended the scene and used eight pumping appliances, two aerial appliances, and two water tankers to try extinguish the fire.

    A command support unit also attended.

    The public are being advised to avoid the area as operations are ongoing.

    The fire service also asked those living nearby to keep windows and doors closed to avoid smoke inhalation.

    Liked by 1 person

  70. “Tax on UK incinerators may push councils to send more waste to landfill

    Government scheme to penalise pollution from burning rubbish won’t ensure more is recycled, consultants warn”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/feb/02/tax-on-uk-incinerators-may-push-councils-to-send-more-waste-to-landfill

    Councils may be forced to send more rubbish to landfill or export it overseas because of a new pollution tax set to be imposed on the UK’s network of waste incinerators.

    There are already more than 60 energy-from-waste incinerators across the UK and the Observer revealed in December that as many as 40 new plants are in the pipeline. Many local councils have supported the policy of burning waste, which is cheaper than sending it to landfill.

    But the government is now set to impose pollution charges on the sector under the UK emissions trading scheme (ETS). The cost to councils could be more than £1bn a year.

    A significant chunk of the waste that many householders carefully sort for recycling ends up being burned.

    Councils now face the prospect of millions of pounds of pollution charges for burning waste. The energy-from-waste incinerators have been described as the dirtiest way the UK now generates power, with campaigners warning that plants in England emit about 12m tonnes of carbon dioxide a year…..

    Like

  71. “Millions of UK tyres meant for recycling sent to furnaces in India”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c14jy2dd8jeo

    Millions of tyres being sent from the UK to India for recycling are actually being “cooked” in makeshift furnaces causing serious health problems and huge environmental damage, the BBC has discovered.

    The majority of the UK’s exported waste tyres are sold into the Indian black market, and this is well known within the industry, BBC File on 4 Investigates has been told.

    “I don’t imagine there’s anybody in the industry that doesn’t know it’s happening,” says Elliot Mason, owner of one of the biggest tyre recycling plants in the UK.

    Campaigners and many of those in the industry – including the Tyre Recovery Association (TRA) – say the government knows the UK is one of the worst offenders for exporting waste tyres for use in this way.…

    Liked by 1 person

  72. Has the drive for achieving high levels of household recycling sort of died a death? After having Councillors boldly holding forth “We will achieve 100% recycling” it seems to me most of them are trying to dodge the statements hiding behind government budget cutbacks.

    Trying to achieve high levels in the household is becoming ever harder, recycling instructions for toothpaste tubes “do not recycle”, hand sanitiser dispenser ” recycle bottle , pump do not recycle” the list goes on and on. Plastic sleeves on Plastic and glass bottles “remove sleeve do not recycle” , plastic bags ” return to outlet” all you get is ” don’t do that” or “we only recycle our own stuff coming in”. I think the most annoying thing is the total disregard of what happens to the stuff not recycled .

    Liked by 1 person

  73. “Hospital could be heated by burning rubbish”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdd27v0jg63o

    Burning rubbish could help to heat Staffordshire’s main hospital amid plans for a new incinerator.

    Proposals are being drawn up for the Royal Stoke University Hospital to receive both heat and electricity from a planned Energy Recovery Facility at Hanford, which is due to replace the existing waste incinerator by the end of the decade.

    Bosses at University Hospitals of North Midlands (UHNM), which runs Royal Stoke, said the scheme would help protect the hospital site from spiking global energy prices and reduce its carbon emissions….

    Like

  74. “Waste incinerator gets environmental green light”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c70xyr4l4ngo

    A controversial waste incinerator has received a permit from the Environment Agency (EA).

    Campaigners had previously claimed the Tees Valley Energy Recovery Facility (TVERF), which will be built at Teesworks in Grangetown, Redcar, would be “unfair and dangerous”.

    Seven local authorities across north-east England will use the facility, burning up to 450,000 tonnes of waste per year, external, to generate energy, according to plans.

    EA official Ian Preston said he wanted to “reassure” people that the permit ensured “robust levels” of environmental protections would be met. Developer Viridor declined to comment….

    Like

  75. It’s important to put both sides of the argument, so when I saw the headline, I thought it only right to post a link:

    “Europe’s big trash-burning experiment has become a dirty headache

    Waste-to-energy was sold as a greener option to landfill, but evidence is mounting that burning garbage is far from clean.”

    https://www.politico.eu/article/europe-experiment-zubieta-waste-electricity-homes/

    There’s just one problem – the “pollution” complained of appears to be overwhelmingly CO2, rather than anything that normal people would refer to as pollution. Still, an interesting read if you have the time.

    Like

  76. Mark – a few quotes I could lift, but will settle for this –

    “Asked if there’s a risk the new incinerator could become a stranded asset, Zdanowska said she “would love to have such a scenario that we really produce less waste in the future.”  

    “When the amount of waste goes down in the future and recycling goes up, then probably only a couple of plants will be left in the area and they will not limit themselves to collecting waste only from the city but they will expand their area for the whole region.””

    Wonder where she thinks/and how the “recycled waste” is going to be recycled.

    ps – had a tour round the IOM incinerator a few years back, messy operation but better than landfill option.

    Like

  77. dfhunter, nicely put:

    …messy operation but better than landfill option.

    That’s my view. Incinerators are undoubtedly problematic, and I wouldn’t like to live next door to one – but then I wouldn’t like to live next door to a landfill operation either. In the my view it’s the lesser of two evils – unlike landfill, it produces something useful (energy) and is probably less environmentally damaging than landfill.

    Like

  78. “UK plastic waste exports to developing countries rose 84% in a year, data shows

    Campaigners say increase in exports mostly to Malaysia and Indonesia is ‘unethical and irresponsible waste imperialism’”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/oct/08/uk-plastic-waste-exports-to-developing-countries-rose-84-in-a-year-data-shows

    Britain’s exports of plastic waste to developing countries have soared by 84% in the first half of this year compared with last year, according to an analysis of trade data carried out for the Guardian.

    Campaigners described the rise in exports, mostly to Malaysia and Indonesia, as “unethical and irresponsible waste imperialism”….

    Liked by 1 person

  79. Mark – as usual, thanks for the link, Partial quote –

    “Data analysed by the The Last Beach Cleanup, a US group campaigning to halt plastic pollution, showed that the increase in UK exports in the first half of 2025 was mainly to Indonesia (24,006 tonnes in 2025, up from 525 tonnes in 2024) and Malaysia (28,667 tonnes, up from 18,872 tonnes in 2024).”

    If those figures are correct, Indonesia went from 525 tonnes in 2024 to 24,006 tonnes in 2025!!!

    It also makes you wonder if anybody has a world map on the wall & realises the sea journey to export this from UK to Indonesia & Malaysia.

    Like

  80. “Landfill ban ‘delayed’ by two years after BBC investigation”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj97renygrzo

    A ban on sending black-bag waste to landfill is effectively being delayed by two years after a BBC Scotland investigation found up to 100 truckloads of rubbish would have to be transported to England each day.

    Not enough waste incincerators have been built in time to cope with the additional waste being diverted from landfill creating a “capacity gap”.…

    ...In the first year, 600,000 tonnes of waste would have nowhere to go in Scotland because of a lack of additional capacity at incinerators.

    The documentary revealed that most of that rubbish would have to be transported to England or overseas for processing if the ban came into force.

    One expert said that equated to between 80 and 100 lorries crossing the border each day and there were even concerns that there wasn’t the transportation capacity to move the waste….

    Like

  81. “The dirty truth about Britain’s waste incinerators

    Mountains of rubbish that could be recycled are instead burnt, and foreign companies are largely the ones profiting from it”

    https://archive.ph/gRADx#selection-2345.4-2349.127

    I struggle with yet more of UK’s infrastructure being foreign owned, but I still feel that burning non-recyclable waste and thereby generating energy, rather than sending it to landfill, makes sense. Still, an interesting Telegraph article.

    Like

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