The Energy from Waste Industry

Energy from Waste (EfW) or Waste-to-energy (WtE) technologies convert waste materials into energy through processes such as incineration, gasification, and anaerobic digestion. While these technologies offers several benefits, including reduced landfill use, energy generation, and greenhouse gas emissions reduction, they can face numerous challenges in their implementation.

One of the primary challenges is the lack of public acceptance due to concerns about pollution and health risks. Critics argue that waste-to-energy plants emit harmful substances such as dioxins, heavy metals, and particulate matter, which might harm human health and the environment. This has led to several proposed and existing plants facing opposition from local communities, delaying or halting their development with red tape.

However reports published by the Environmental Services Association (ESA) in the UK state that in 2015 waste-to-energy facilities produced around 0.71% of the UK’s NOx emissions, compared to 31.7% emitted from vehicles. The report adds that dioxins emitted from EfW facilities have reduced by 99% since 1990, noting that “bonfire night in 2015 produced 10 times more dioxins than EfW across the whole year.”

Another significant challenge is the high capital costs associated with waste-to-energy plants, sometimes making them appear less economically feasible than traditional energy sources.

Additionally, whilst traditional Energy Recovery via incineration-based waste-to-energy facilities is well proven and well established in the UK and in Europe, for some less mature technologies such as gasification and pyrolysis the risks are perceived to be higher with greater challenges around process integration, operational availability and maintainability. Currently, there is a limited operational experience in this area in the UK, however, this is growing as the experience level in the industry matures.

Despite these challenges, waste-to-energy remains an effective solution to the growing waste management challenges globally. By turning waste into energy, municipalities can reduce reliance on fossil fuels and decrease their carbon footprint. With the support of expert engineering consultancies such as Antony Smith and W2e UK Ltd, these challenges can be overcome, and waste-to-energy benefits can be fully realised.