The government must phase out EfW plants according to campaigners

A letter, signed by Greenpeace, Extinction Rebellion, the UK Without Incineration Network and XR Zero Waste is to be delivered to the government, urging the Prime Minister to phase out Energy from Waste plants.
The government must phase out EfW plants according to campaigners
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The letter sets out a ten point action plan to phase out waste incineration and accelerate the transition towards a low carbon circular economy.

The letter calls on the government, and particularly targets the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and His Majesty’s Treasury. 

The letter calls for the government to act now with 'an immediate moratorium to prevent any new incineration schemes coming forward. This means a ban on the granting of new planning permissions and on the issuance of new permits'. 

Beyond this, it calls for a gradual 'National Incineration Exit Strategy' which would require the government to strategically ' decommissioning the oldest and least efficient incinerators first and then to progressively phasing out other capacity as we move towards zero waste'. 

The letter also stated that 'public funding of waste plants should be withdrawn', and an incineration tax should be introduced into the UK Emissions Trading Scheme. The tax should be priced to 'ensure alternatives such as recycling and waste minimisation are always less expensive than incineration and thus more attractive to investors and decision-makers'.

Campaigners also want to see a ban on the 'import of refuse-derived fuels (RDF) and solid recovered fuels (SRF) from outside the UK' and 'enhanced commitments to monitoring and reducing pollution from incineration'. 

Research by UKWIN shows that there is currently 15.6 million tonnes of operational capacity in England and this could grow to 27 million tonnes, while feedstock is expected to fall to around 13 million tonnes by 2042. This would result in 14 million tonnes of English incineration overcapacity. 

UKWIN believe that an immediate moratorium would cap English incineration overcapacity at around 8.5 million tonnes. 

The letter is expected to be hand delivered later today.

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To find out more, visit UKWIN: https://ukwin.org.uk/national-campaign/

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