In 2003, the previous government launched a project with the aim of ‘encouraging the development of new technologies for the recovery of value and the diversion of biodegradable municipal waste from landfill’. The New Technology Demonstrator Programme aimed to help the UK meet EU Landfill Diversion targets by overcoming ‘perceived risks’ to implementing new technologies, like anaerobic digestion, gasification and pyrolysis.

Rather than overcoming the perceived risks, though, the project may have served only to highlight them, at least as far as advanced thermal treatment (ATT) is concerned. Of 10 projects chosen, one pulled out even before the funding agreement was finalised, and in the course of the programme, the Novera gasification pilot withdrew for commercial reasons, the Compact Power gasification and pyrolysis plant was unable to commence construction and the Yorwaste pyrolysis plant was never able to start meaningful operation. Indeed, the programme’s concluding report notes: ‘The demonstrator projects based on advanced thermal treatment fared less well.’

The only ATT project to complete a demonstration to a meaningful degree was the retrofitted Energos gasifier on the Isle of Wight. The report notes, however, that the retrofit ‘itself caused a number of operational difficulties’, before highlighting its problems ‘in developing a reliable energy balance’. The plant was subsequently closed in the summer and autumn of 2010 for emissions breaches, though it then became the first waste-fuelled plant of its kind to receive Renewables Obligation Certificates.

The other demonstrator projects – which included anaerobic digestion (AD), various forms of in-vessel composting, mechanical heat treatment and mechanical biological treatment – fared better, though, and AD in particular seems to really be taking off now. A recent study for WRAP by the National Non-Food Crops Centre (on which our overleaf map is partially based) found there are now 214 AD plants in the UK, 44 of which are fed from industry and/ or segregated municipal waste sources. Combined, these facilities have a processing capacity of 3.7 million tonnes per annum (tpa), with the potential of generating 54 megawatts of electricity. What’s more, 78 additional waste-fed plants have already received planning permission, while 80 plants of all varieties are awaiting outcomes of applications. In its Waste Review of last year, the ‘greenest government ever’ said its ‘ambitions for waste highlight the importance of putting in place the right waste management infrastructure at the right time and in the right location’, though it also notes: ‘provision is largely left to market mechanisms and local government’. The Chancellor’s Autumn Statement included the launch of the National Infrastructure Plan, which highlighted waste as a key area of investment, but again, mechanisms and details are somewhat lacking. And, of course, we are still waiting for more information on the Green Investment Bank, although we do know that commercial and industrial waste is at least a ‘priority sector’.

Voices on the ground suggest that markets aren’t moving fast enough in all areas: in CIWM’s recent survey of the waste industry, a mere eight per cent of us said enough waste infrastructure was being built in the UK; more than half of people blamed planning issues and lack of investment for the shortage, while more than a third thought a lack of confidence in new technologies played a part. True, AD seems to be progressing, and there are some large new technology plants of other varieties in the pipeline; building of a 100,000tpa Biossence gasification plant is currently underway in East London, for example, and Energos alone has secured planning approval for six facilities. Nonetheless, it’s fair to say that some of the newer technologies have yet to take off.

AEA’s Adam Read explains: “The UK is still short of the necessary mix of waste treatment technology to meet industry demands. With the continual debates surrounding planning and community engagement, we are struggling in some parts of the UK to get the infrastructure in place we need to deal with MSW, whilst C&I waste streams still need new investment. Although the government cut PFI funding as they believed sufficient infrastructure was in hand, some MSW projects have stalled and the funding crisis has put the brakes on some merchant facilities, too.”

He adds: “All in all we still need more infrastructure and we need more direction, strategy and leadership to ensure we get the right mix of facilities in the most appropriate locations. Time is ticking for 2020, and action is now overdue.”

Read does make clear, however, that he thinks good progress has been made over the past few years, and the results are reflected in our map of the UK that follows: you’ll notice it’s dotted with many new technologies.