Construction begins on £100m tyre-to-fuel facility in Sunderland
Construction begins on “UK’s first fully circular” tyre-to-fuel facility dedicated to the sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) value chain at the port of Sunderland. Tyre-to-fuel business Wastefront said the new facility is the largest of its kind in Europe. The facility’s first commercial phase will start at the end of 2026, with the second phase launching a year later. Once fully operational, Wastefront said the plant will process 10 million end-of-life tyres annually and convert them into tyre-derived oil for refining into SAF and other sustainable fuels. Vianney Valès, CEO of Wastefront, commented: “Our circular process not only prevents millions of tyres from being discarded in landfills but also provides…
New EfW facility in Leeds accepts first waste delivery
A new Energy-from-Waste facility in Leeds has accepted the first delivery of unrecyclable waste as 200 tonnes arrive at the site. enfinium, a leading UK Energy-from-Waste (EfW), said the Skelton Grange is important for the development of a circular economy and decarbonisation of unrecyclable waste for West Yorkshire and the wider region. Once operational, enfinium said the facility will divert up to 410,000 tonnes of unrecyclable waste from landfill every year and generate up to 49MW of energy enough to power over 100,000 UK homes. enfinium said the facility will divert up to 410,000 tonnes of unrecyclable waste from landfill every year. Commenting on the delivery, Dan James, Plant…
Recycling rates for English households fall to 43.4%
England’s recycling rate for “waste from households” fell by 0.7 percentage points to 43.4% in 2022 compared to 44.1% in 2021. The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) released statistics on local authority collected waste management for 2022/23, showing a fall in recycling rates. “Waste from households” is the official recycling measure used for reporting at a harmonised UK level. Household waste is broader than “waste from households” as it includes waste from street bins, street sweepings, and parks and grounds – but it does not include metals from incinerator bottom ash. In 2022, total “waste from households” decreased to 21.5 million tonnes from 23.1 million tonnes…
What does EfW joining the UK ETS mean for local authorities?
Jane Cherrington, Director – Climate at Local Partnerships and Resource Conference Cymru 2025 Panel Moderator, dives into the challenges local authorities and private waste collectors will face when Energy-from-Waste joins the UK Emissions trading scheme in 2028. At a CIWM event last year, a colleague described the UK emissions trading scheme (UK ETS) as a silent express train tearing towards us. Even after years of communication about the inclusion of energy from waste and incinerators in the trading scheme, it can certainly still feel that way. To say UK ETS is a slow burn for the waste sector (no pun intended) could be an understatement. The primary goal…
CIWM urges caution when introducing ETS into UK EfW Sector
A new report by the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM) highlights considerations for integrating the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) into the Energy from Waste (EfW) sector. The report, produced by Ceres Waste, Renewables, and Environment in partnership with CIWM, calls on UK ETS Authority to ensure that the cost allocation of ETS charges for the EfW sector fully reflects the waste composition and that there is a practical system for ensuring this is the case. CIWM said it believes failing to do so will not fully incentivise the intended reduction in carbon in EfW feedstock, which it calls the “primary driver” for introducing ETS to the sector. The…
Courtauld Commitment 2030 to become UK Food and Drink Pact
WRAP renames the Courtauld Commitment 2030, the UK’s longest-running food system transformation programme, the UK Food and Drink Pact in rebranding move. The fundamentals of the programme remain the same but the branding change aligns with WRAP’s other voluntary agreement the UK Plastics Pact. WRAP, the environmental non-governmental organisation (NGO), has also recently expanded its international focus with the global Food Pact Network. Nearly 200 organisations across the food and drink supply chain, as well as trade bodies, local authorities and charities, signed up to the Courtauld Commitment 2030. Current members include Aldi, Arla, ASDA, Bidfood, Co-op, Costa, Danone, Diageo, Lidl, M&S, McDonald’s, Morrisons, Nestle, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Unilever,…
EPR Scheme Administrator to publish final base fees in June
A joint statement from the four UK nations has announced the extended producer responsibility (EPR) base fees for 2025/26 will be published by June 2025. The policy statement was made jointly by the Environment Secretary, and Ministers in the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs of Northern Ireland (DAERA) in Northern Ireland, Scottish Government and Welsh Government. The policy statement outlines the environmental effects the four nations want EPR to achieve. These are: The use of environmentally sustainable packaging; the prevention of packaging becoming waste; an increase in the reuse of packaging, and the quantity and quality of packaging materials recycled; a reduction in the packaging material placed…
