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UK Permitted Waste Management Throughput by Method 2006
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Underpinned by EU
waste and renewable energy directives, most particularly the target
requirements of the Landfill Directive, the UK Government has
pledged to invest some £10bn plus into expanding and upgrading the
UK’s solid waste recovery and treatment infrastructure up to 2020.
However, industry sources suggest that to meet the Landfill
Directive’s targets for 2010, 2013 and 2020, possibly as much as
£30bn worth of investment could be necessary.
For 2007,
Government sources indicate that there was around £550m of capital
investment into buildings, transport, plant and other equipment in
the solid waste management sector. Of this, around £230m was
invested in new building works, up by around 5% on 2006. For 2008,
it is estimated that contractors output will have increased by a
conservative minimum of 10% to at least £260m. In addition to
general legislation aimed at reducing waste being landfilled and at
increasing recycling levels, market drivers specific to improving
waste treatment and EfW infrastructure include DEFRA’s Waste
Infrastructure Development Programme - in particular the New
Technology Demonstrator Programme - and Waste Infrastructure
Capital Grants scheme and WRAP’s Organics Capital Programme. |
Because of the high levels
of capital investment required, and associated levels of risk, 25 -30
year PFI/PPP contracts have become the main route for procuring the
delivery of new treatment and EfW facilities. Although there are
currently no legal requirements for organisations in the commercial and
industrial (C & I) sectors to reduce their waste being sent to landfill,
there nevertheless have been a large number of independent initiatives
taken by both waste management contractors and businesses in the
manufacturing and distribution sectors. These include the development of
own-use and merchant recycling facilities.
Over the next 10 -15 years,
the key areas of new waste treatment and EfW development will be in
large-scale mechanical biological treatment (MBT) plants, advanced
biological treatment plants (in particular anaerobic digestion and
in-vessel composting), alternative heat treatment systems (such as
large-scale merchant autoclaves) and the newest types of technology,
advanced heat treatment (gasification and pyrolysis). Most controversial
of all has been the Government’s support for expanding the UK’s network
of large-scale EfW incinerators, which many local authorities are also in
favour of using as part of their waste treatment and EfW development
programmes.
Over the short to medium
term, there is likely to be a slowdown in the rate of development, with
many programmes being delayed until economic conditions improve. One key
factor impacting on the rate of development has been the marked fall in
the prices of recyclables, in particular scrap metal, plastic packaging
and paper. Over the longer term, with the increased level of investment,
will come growth in the number of start-ups, diversification and
employment levels.
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