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The government has announced it intends to consult over plans to ban waste wood from landfill sites. Experts believe that all waste wood should either be recycled or used as fuel to generate low carbon electricity, as proposed by Peel Energy at its biomass-fired Barton Renewable Energy Plant project in Trafford.
Published on 14 June, the Government Review of Waste Policy in England 2011 states that “landfill should be the last resort for most waste.” The document explains that the government intends to “consult on introducing a restriction on the landfilling of wood waste, with the aim of diverting the still substantial tonnages that end up in landfill to better uses up the waste hierarchy and delivering clear environmental benefits.”
At present, it is estimated that approximately 4.5 million tonnes of waste wood is generated each year, much of which is landfilled rather than recycled or used for energy generation. The waste wood comes from diverse sources such as municipal waste facilities and building construction and demolition sites. The north west region is one of the top three generators of waste wood, responsible for over 540,000 tonnes annually.
Waste wood sent to landfill sites also emits methane which is 20 times more potent as a green house gas than carbon dioxide when released to the atmosphere.
Addressing Parliament, the Minister for State for Climate Change, Gregory Barker MP, explained: “Wood in landfill is particularly dangerous because it decays and generates methane, so the government are actively considering how best to make further reductions in the amount of waste going to landfill as part of the review of waste policies.
“In particular, we want to address the priority of moving wood up the waste hierarchy so that it best delivers the right environmental outcome. The waste hierarchy will be legally binding in the UK, so we will seek better to address the potential for diverting treated wood waste, which is not suitable for use in the wood processing industries, from landfill to energy recovery.”
Peel Energy project manager Jon England said: “The latest government proposals demonstrate that our own plans to generate electricity from waste wood are sensible, sustainable and in accordance with expert thinking.
“The BREP proposal would generate enough low carbon electricity to meet the needs of about 37,000 homes by diverting about 140,000 tonnes of waste wood from landfill in the north west annually at a time when energy demand is increasing and climate change concerns are intensifying.” |
