According to government figures, a record two-fifths of Bedford borough rubbish was incinerated in 2020/21.
In the past, the UK sent nearly all of its waste to landfill sites. These were seen as a cheap and easy way to dispose of rubbish.
When a new landfill tax made this more expensive, councils had to use an alternative, which is to burn the waste, (incineration with energy from waste (EfW)).
David Spencer, spokesperson for Covanta Rookery South, in Stewartby, said: “A benefit with energy from waste is you get a large amount of electricity that you can export to the grid.
“You also get to reuse the ferrous and nonferrous metals that are extracted after the treatment process, and the ash can be used in construction projects.”
Neil Grimstone, general manager at Covanta Rookery South, said: “Also, landfill sites leak methane gas, which is a far more harmful greenhouse gas than the carbon dioxide we emit here.”
Biodegradable waste sent to landfill slowly breaks down emitting methane for many years after it is deposited.
Although it has a shorter atmospheric lifetime than carbon dioxide (CO2) (12 years compared with centuries for CO2), methane has a greater global warming effect (84x greater than per-tonne of CO2 over 20 years).
The Government’s Net Zero Strategy (October 2021) commits it to exploring options for the near elimination of biodegradable municipal waste to landfill from 2028.
A Defra spokesperson said: “Through our landmark Environment Act, we are continuing to take action to prevent waste and to increase the amount of waste that is reused and recycled.
“We are very clear that incineration should be a last resort behind waste prevention, reuse, and recycling. However, using waste to generate energy is preferable to putting refuse into landfill for future generations to deal with.”
In 2017/18, 24.4 per cent (21,166 tonnes) of Bedford borough waste was sent for incineration with EfW. In 2020/21 this increased to 40 per cent (33,499 tonnes).
This increase meant that for the first time the council sent more waste to be incinerated than to be recycled. But this wasn’t due to the council deciding to burn more waste.
A council spokesperson said: “The fall in recycling rates is [due to] a number of factors.
“Covid-19 garden waste collections were suspended, and there was a widespread closure of household waste recycling centres.
“No household waste in Bedford borough is sent to landfill, this is all sent to the local energy recovery facility to power local homes with locally generated electricity.”
However, some waste still ends up in landfill. The council spokesperson said: “A small amount of commercial waste and bulky items are landfilled and we are striving to ensure that this is reduced to zero in the near future.”
Concerns about emissions from the Covanta site were raised at the full council meeting in July. The council did not respond when asked if it ever raised concerns about emissions with the incinerator site it used before switching to Rookery South.
By John Guinn
Local Democracy Reporter
