Business lobbyist the CBI said on 14 February that to cut carbon emissions and increase the UK's energy security the Government should introduce policies that made more use of energy-from-waste (EfW) technologies. Such a move would also lessen the risk of breaching EU landfill targets.

The report 'Making Ends Meet: Maximising the Value of Waste' warned the Government that it needed to send clearer signals to private sector investors to ensure that the 2,000 new EfW plants and recycling facilities needed by 2020 were built in a timely fashion to replace the 300 landfill sites due to close over the next decade.

But it noted that the £10bn of private sector investment required to build new EfW plants and recycling facilities will not be forthcoming without incentivising businesses to sell recyclable waste and councils to share facilities.

One of the issues identified was the length of time caused by planning delays-up to four years-which was a hindrance when attracting investment. A more integrated approach to deal with planning issues across government departments was needed.

A few days earlier London mayor Boris Johnson attended the ground-breaking ceremony of the UK's largest advanced gasification plant. Sited in Dagenham, the 19MW facility will cost £80mn once completed in 2013. It is expected to process 100,000t of household waste to produce electricity. Ford will use some of the energy generated to power its Dagenham factory, which is already partly powered by two wind turbines, with the rest of the energy exported to the grid.

Source: CBI