Commissioned by enfinium, one of the UK’s leading energy from waste businesses, the report measured the economic impact of the company’s operations from its employees through to its extensive supply chain across the UK. enfinium currently transforms 2.3 million tonnes of non-recyclable waste into homegrown energy at four facilities across the UK, with a further two currently in construction, including enfinium Kelvin in Sandwell.

The new analysis found that in 2022:

• Contributes nearly £53 million in Gross Value Added (GVA) to the UK economy as a direct result of its construction projects at Kelvin and Skelton Grange in Leeds. This figure rises to a total of £220 million generated for the UK economy across both projects throughout the entirety of their three-year construction periods.
• Contributes a total of 1,199 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) jobs to UK employment at its Kelvin and Skelton Grange sites alone. This rises to a total of 3,314 FTE jobs across both sites throughout their three-year construction periods. This generation of meaningful jobs is vital in the West Midlands, where unemployment rates are among the highest in the country. Birmingham (8%), Walsall (6.5%) and Wolverhampton (6.5%) all feature in the bottom 20 list of local authorities with the highest levels of unemployment.
• Create 85 FTE jobs once the two sites are operational. enfinium’s employees typically live locally and these are highly paid jobs, with median full-time wages for enfinium’s staff at nearly £53,000 per year. This sits well above the average wages paid in the Sandwell area, which are less than £31,000 per year.
• Benefit over 600 businesses across the UK, with a geographical spread spanning more than half of the UK’s local authorities.
• When enfinium’s wider economic contributions are taken into account – such as the jobs and GVA supported throughout the company’s supply chain – their total contribution rises to £242 million in GVA and 1,047 jobs across the UK economy.
• In addition to supporting green growth, by capturing by-products from its processes, recycling materials and diverting waste from landfill, the company delivered emissions savings of over 565,000 tonnes of CO₂ emissions to the UK economy in 2021 – a carbon footprint equivalent to over 113,000 individuals.

The report details that enfinium’s local impact in Yorkshire and the Humber goes beyond the creation of skilled, well-paid jobs thanks to the launch of dedicated Community Funds at each of its sites which cover a wide range of charitable giving. These £50,000 funds provide grants and donations to support areas such as the environment (e.g.: waste reduction/recycling, promotion of clean energy), improved health, safety and wellbeing, social inclusion, and education. These funds have contributed over £148,000 to local causes in 2022, with a large proportion of the donations from the Ferrybridge plant made within Wakefield local authority, an area in the bottom 25% in terms of the most income deprived English regions in 2019 and with one of the lowest levels of GCSE attainment.

Mike Maudsley, Chief Executive Officer at enfinium, said: “The transition to a Net Zero economy represents one of the greatest economic opportunities in the UK’s history. Our modern energy from waste facilities already generate hundreds of millions of pounds of green growth every year and our teams in Yorkshire are driving regional economic growth in areas that need stimulus, while making a measurable contribution towards climate change.”

Beckie Hart, Regional Director, Yorkshire and Humber, CBI, said: “This research shows the contribution enfinium’s energy from waste facilities are making to the UK economy, with much of it benefiting the local economies in Yorkshire. With the green economy offering one of the biggest opportunities for growth, the research shows that we have a brilliant example here in the region of how to couple local job creation and economic development with national efforts to deliver net-zero and safeguard our energy supply for future generations.”

A copy of the CBI Economics report can be downloaded from the enfinium website here.

Wayne Robertson, General Counsel for enfinium, co-presented a session at last week's Energy from Waste Conference, discussing 'Waste to hydrogen - a large scale case study'. Premium members of EfW Net will be able to access the presentation deck here soon.