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(407KB - pdf help)What is Energy from Waste (EfW)?
EfW is a process where energy is derived from burning of waste. The combustion process produces high-pressure steam that can be converted to electrical power by the use of a turbine and generator. This electricity can be fed into the national grid or supplied to local industry.
EfW plants can also be used to supply high-pressure hot water or steam that can be used for industrial or domestic heating. This type of facility is known as a combined heat and power plant, because of the two types of energy it produces.
These plants are highly efficient and strongly recommended by current government policy. It is proposed that the Exeter facility will provide both electricity and heat to neighbouring industrial and municipal facilities.
What is the proposal for the new plant all about?
It is proposed to knock down the old plant buildings and to reduce the transfer operations. Instead, a brand new energy from waste facility will be built, which will operate to the very high standards demanded these days by modern European regulations.
Why put the plant in Exeter?
Exeter is the largest settlement in Devon, and the Waste Local Plan has identified the transfer station at Marsh Barton Estate as a suitable location for the thermal treatment of waste. This conforms with the proximity principle of waste management (which states that waste should be treated as close as possible to its point of arising) and it also avoids altering the existing waste collection rounds.
What happened to the old Exeter incinerator?
The incinerator plant at Marsh Barton Estate closed down in 1996, because it was old and it could not meet new standards introduced during that year. However, the building that housed the old incinerator was left standing and converted to a transfer station, so that the waste could be sent to a landfill instead.
When will the new facility open and how long will it work for?
It is anticipated that construction of the new site will begin in 2008, and operations will begin in 2010. The plant is planned to work for at least 25 years.
What types of rubbish are accepted at this facility?
The facility is for the local community so only accepts household and municipal waste (i.e. the rubbish put out by every household to be collected) from Exeter and the surrounding region. The site does not accept agricultural or clinical waste, hazardous waste, sewage sludge, water treatment residues or silts and dredgings.
Will the plant accept waste from outside Devon?
No, the plant can only accept between 50,000 and 60,000 tonnes per year of waste, which means that it is only designed to accept waste from Exeter and the immediate surrounding area in Devon.
What will happen to the energy from the plant?
The energy will be in the form of electricity and heat; it is intended to establish a local distribution system, so local business and community facilities can take advantage of this environmentally friendly source of energy.
How do I find out if my company is eligible to participate in the district energy scheme?
You can contact the information line on 0845 0944 519 and register your interest in the scheme; one of the project team will then contact you to conduct a more detailed survey.
Why do we need this (or other similar) facilities in the UK?
In the UK today most of the waste we produce is landfilled. However, existing landfill space is running out. A recently introduced EU landfill Directive requires a phased reduction in the amount of biodegradable municipal waste which is landfilled.
At the same time significant efforts are being made to increase the amount of recycling, but this will not completely solve the problem. There is a practical limit to the amount of waste that can be recycled, so other means of treatment are required in order to meet the landfill avoidance targets.
The Government’s policy document, ‘Waste Strategy 2000’, advocates an integrated approach to waste management using several different processes. So to try and reduce our dependence on landfill the Government wants us to look at other processes including recycling and energy recovery
Devon used to rely on landfill for the disposal of the majority of its waste. However, due to the introduction of the ‘Waste Strategy 2000’ and the EU Landfill Directive, Devon County Council needed to look for a different and more efficient approach to waste management. This new facility will allow the Council to reduce its dependence on landfill
Should we not be trying to recycle more?
Devon's recycling and composting rate for 2005/06 was a tremendous 40.6% (see below). The Devon local authorities are aiming to increase this rate to 50% by 2009/10 and 60% by 2019/20. There is to be no let up in the efforts to recycle and compost more waste.
However, there will always be a proportion of our waste which can’t be recycled that will need other solutions. A modern, appropriately sized and regulated EfW facility provides a good way to achieve the required diversion away from landfill.
Could this EfW plant actually inhibit further recycling in the region?
This is a common claim made against waste treatment facilities in general, but where a sensible approach is taken to the sizing of the facility (i.e. limiting the capacity of the plant) then there will always be plenty of scope to increase recycling to national levels set by the government.
One must also consider the growth of waste in the recent past; this has been significant (around 1% every year); it is a key priority for local authorities and the government to reverse this trend, but so far with little success.
The EfW part of the integrated waste management scheme has therefore deliberately been developed to be appropriate to the amount of waste produced by the region, so as not to ‘crowd out’ recycling. Devon County Council, the District Councils and its waste contractor Viridor, are making strenuous efforts to significantly increase the level of materials recycling in the area. However, this also depends to some extent on the market for recycled materials, which is very difficult to control or predict.
For the system to work properly it must be fully integrated; elements cannot be viewed as separate aspects of the process as they are interdependent. This type of integrated scheme is fully in line with UK Government policy and EU Legislation and reflects the move away from landfill towards increased recycling and recovery of waste.
Energy from Waste is therefore just one of these elements in an integrated system.
Is the site safe?
The site and the process is safe. The facility operates proven technology and is heavily regulated and controlled by the Environment Agency to ensure that there is no danger to human health or the environment.
In recent years the standards required for the operation of facilities such as this have increased dramatically, thanks to new legislation from the EU. The performance of modern EfW facilities is in no way comparable to that of older incinerators that have operated in other parts of the UK.
What impact will the site have on local air quality?
The facility will have an insignificant impact on the air quality of the surrounding area and will not increase the risk to human health beyond that which already existed in the area from other activities associated with normal life.
EfW facilities are the most highly regulated industrial plants in the UK in terms of their emissions to atmosphere and are required by law to monitor the levels of any substances emitted.
A thorough environmental impact assessment (EIA) is being carried out for this proposed facility as part of the application process. A similar assessment for an identical size plant in North East Lincolnshire carried out in 2000 concluded that the actual risk to human health from the atmospheric emissions released by the plant were negligible.
This conclusion was checked and supported by independent consultants acting for both the local Council and the Environment Agency. These conclusions are supported by significant and influential organisations and highly qualified individuals in positions of authority and responsibility.
For instance, at a conference organised by the HPA (Health Protection Agency) in Birmingham in March 2005, called “Incineration Sector; Managing the Implications for the Health Consultee”, no adverse opinions were expressed by health professionals concerning the health effects of such installations when operated to modern standards.
Will this new facility mean extra lorries on local roads?
A full assessment is being conducted at present, but it is highly likely that there will be a significant reduction to the present situation, since the current site is in use as a waste transfer station, and has been for the last 10 years. No additional traffic will be produced through residential areas.
Will the site smell?
No, the site will not smell because waste is not stored at the site for very long before being treated. The waste to be burnt is delivered into an enclosed area (the waste hall) and then fed into the kiln; the doors to the waste hall are kept shut, and the area is kept at slightly negative pressure to minimise any odour escape. This is achieved by sucking the air from the waste hall into the furnace as primary combustion air; in effect, any odour which does accumulate inside the plant is burnt.
Who controls the EfW plant and monitors the emission standards?
The Environment Agency (EA) is the regulator for facilities such as this and uses the very tough Pollution Prevention and Control (PPC) legislation to control and monitor operations and emissions. The EA has legal powers to prosecute any organisation that does not operate within the conditions set out in the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) authorisation.
The Exeter energy from waste plant operators will have to apply for and subsequently operate under an IPPC permit.
What about dioxins: there is no safe level of dioxin emissions
Emissions of dioxins are extremely low and well below the threshold at which they could be determined to be a threat to human health. This is supported by a wealth of scientific evidence, and the Environment Agency (which is the body that issues the IPPC Authorisation allowing the plant to operate).
The Authorisation given by the Agency includes strict monitoring of emissions. If these are not maintained, the Agency has the power to shut the plant down.
The emission limits themselves are very tight and allow for several margins of safety – i.e. they would have to be exceeded by several orders of magnitude before a significant pollution risk to health, a hypothetical situation because the plant would be forcibly shut down long before this stage were reached.
The Environment Agency has legal powers of access to the plant for inspection with no prior notice 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. Such powers are used by the Agency at plants throughout the country.
It must be remembered that dioxins are emitted by a wide variety of sources, such as power plants, bonfires, diesel engines, cement kilns, steel plants, open fires in the home, jet engines, forest fires to name but a few. The modern standards to which energy from waste plants must now operate mean that dioxin emissions are equivalent to existing, background levels in urban soils.
There is no justification to state that the plant is a risk to human health because of emissions to air, whether dioxins or otherwise.
What are the solid residues from the plant and where will they go?
There are two types of solid residues resulting from the plant operations, called bottom ash and fly ash.
The bottom ash (sometimes called clinker) is an inert substance that can be recycled as a secondary aggregate, or else used on a landfill for the construction of site roads or as daily cover. The proportion of bottom ash to the incoming waste is about 20% by weight, although the reduction is volume is much greater, at more than 90%.
The fly ash is a much smaller proportion, at around 2.5% of the incoming waste, although this is increased to around 5% by the addition of spent lime, which has been used in the flue gas treatment (anti-pollution) system. The fly ash is taken by sealed tanker to a secondary treatment plant, and then to a hazardous waste landfill, which is very likely to be in the midlands region of the country.
How will pollution be controlled?
The plant has three main methods of controlling pollution, which ensure that it can comply with the extremely stringent standards specified by the European Union, and applied by the Environment Agency through the IPPC Authorisation. These methods are:
How are the emissions from the plant monitored?
The plant must employ a ‘CEMS’ system – Continuous Emission Monitoring – which constantly checks the level of emissions from the plant, to see that they comply with the strict regulations.
It is a legal requirement that the CEMS system operates at all times; if it is not working, then the plant is not allowed to operate.
The results from the CEMS system are displayed on the company website, and are available as a printed copy from the public register.
What will the plant look like?
There is a photomontage of the plant on the website, plus an architectural impression. The building to house the new plant will be slightly lower than the existing building, although it will be longer, in order to house the sophisticated energy recovery and pollution control equipment.
Are there other sites like this in the UK?
In general terms, yes, all Councils in the UK are now adopting integrated waste management strategies and, many are planning or building waste treatment plants. In terms of the energy from waste component, there are about another 16 EfW plants on mainland UK at present.
All the other EfW facilities in the UK are much larger than the proposed Exeter Area EfW plant, with the exception of the plant in Grimsby in North East Lincolnshire. This plant uses the same technology as the proposed plant in Exeter, which is designed and ideally suited for smaller plant capacities of between 30,000 and 75,000 tonnes per year.
The plant in Grimsby operates successfully under a PPC permit issued by the Environment Agency in January 2004; the plant has been in commercial service since April 2004.
In Devon last year (2005/06) we recycled 40.6% of our waste. This represents a massive 7.9% increase compared with the 32.7% achieved the previous year. It is a tremendous result for Devon residents who responded magnificently to the ‘Don’t let Devon go to waste’ campaign. The increase seen this year exceeds the already impressive 6% growth in the recycling rate achieved in (2004/05). Devon’s long-term target is to recycle at least 60% of waste by 2019/20. You can download a PDF of a graph which shows how recycling in Devon has increased over the last 15 years (2KB - pdf help). To find out what you can recycle in your area visit the Recycle Devon website.
Home composting is one of the most effective actions you can personally take to help your planet. You will reduce your waste; reduce air pollution by not having bonfires; reduce the need to water your garden; increase your plant growth and health, by replacing the need to use polluting and toxic chemical fertilisers and pesticides. You can use your compost and leaf mould in potting mixtures and so replace the need to use peat from fast-disappearing peat bogs. For special offers on compost bins visit Recycle Devon.
Community Composting has not only environmental benefits but many social benefits too. There are over 25 Community Composting Schemes across Devon collecting and composting garden waste from their local community. These schemes are set up and run by local volunteers with assistance from their local and County Council. For advice on setting up a community composting project, please contact the Devon Community Composting Co-ordinator on 01647 432880. Further information about Community Composting
Kerbside Collections - Many of Devon’s local authorities are providing a kerbside collection for organic waste such as garden waste, cardboard, and in some cases, kitchen waste such vegetable peelings, old tea bags, and kitchen scraps. Find out if you have an organic collection in your area
Composting at your local Recycling Centre - If you haven't got room to compost at home, you can participate in composting at your local recycling centre. Find out where your nearest recycling centre is.
Reduction and Reuse
The best way to reduce the amount of rubbish we produce is not to create it in the first place, and to reuse as much as possible. Taking personal action can really make a difference such as:
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