Reducing emissions from waste

Keeping plastic out of incinerators will help meet climate targets

Stopping plastics from being incinerated is one of the key recommendations of an independent review of decarbonising the treatment of residual waste.

The report follows last year’s independent review of the role of incineration in Scotland, which recommended placing a cap on future capacity and led to Ministers putting restrictions on the development of further incinerators.

Report author Dr Colin Church has made several new recommendations to reduce the carbon impact of residual (or ‘black bag’) waste treatment infrastructure, including stopping plastic from being incinerated in Scotland.

In addition, he has recommended:

• taking forward policies to reduce plastic production and use
• promoting source segregation of all plastics, and implementing advanced sorting to remove plastics from black bag waste
• using the heat from incinerators where possible, for example for homes and businesses

Dr Colin Church said: “Incineration remains a more climate-friendly method of managing residual waste than traditional landfill, and more practical than any other currently available approach.

However, without further action, this advantage will erode over a relatively short time. That is why my second report sets out a series of recommendations to improve the carbon impact of residual waste treatment, of which the most urgent and potentially most impactful is the cessation this decade of the incineration of plastic.”

Circular Economy Minister Lorna Slater said: “I would like to thank Dr Church for this report, which will make an important contribution to ensuring that the management of residual waste in Scotland aligns with our greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.

“Of course, the best way to reduce harmful emissions from our waste is to prevent it from occurring in the first place. That is why we have already banned many of the most problematic single-use plastic products and will soon be presenting a draft Circular Economy Bill to parliament. This will establish the legislative framework to support Scotland’s transition to a zero waste and circular economy.”

Environmental campaigners have welcomed the recommendation that incineration of plastics must end by 2030 in Scotland. The call came as part of an independent review commissioned by the Scottish Government into reducing the climate impact of the country’s incineration problem.

The review makes several recommendations including:

• the burning of plastic should end by 2030
• operators should try to include to deploy combined heat and power with incinerators
• incinerators with potential for carbon capture should be prioritised and the Government should offer more support for carbon capture technology.     

No Scottish incinerators have functioning combined heat and power plants yet despite this being a requirement within 7 years of being granted a permit by SEPA. The end of plastic burning will significantly reduce the carbon produced from incinerators, thereby reducing the need for expensive and risky carbon capture. Campaigners say that other carbon-based waste, such as food, paper and wood waste, should be recycled.

Campaigners previously welcomed the move by the Scottish Government to implement a moratorium on planning permission for new incinerators, following the first report from Dr Colin Church, but say a clear exit strategy from incineration is still needed.

Friends of the Earth Scotland’s Circular Economy Campaigner Kim Pratt said: “Plastics are fossil fuels, so burning them cannot be part of a zero carbon future. That’s why the key recommendation of this review, to ban the burning of plastic by 2030, must be supported and immediately acted on by the Scottish Government.

“Instead of setting out a clear phase out plan, the review suggests incinerators can be made more sustainable by increasing the amount of heat they provide. We know that generating heat from incinerators emits even more climate changing emissions than gas boilers so following this path will ultimately compromise Scotland’s chance of creating a zero carbon, circular economy.

“Once fossil-based plastics are banned from incinerators, their emissions will plummet. Deploying risky and expensive techno-fixes like carbon capture when there are almost no emissions to capture is a waste of time and resources.

“As this review states, heat generation and carbon capture must not be used to justify new incinerators. But Scotland will have more incineration capacity than there is waste to burn by 2027, so Ministers must go further than the recommendations of this review and reduce capacity in line with our climate commitments.

“Incinerators are amongst the largest single sources of emissions so the Scottish Government must create a plan to phase out incineration, plant by plant, and as rapidly as possible if it hopes to meet its own climate targets.”

Dr Church’s report on Decarbonisation of Residual Waste Infrastructure in Scotland

Dr Church’s initial report, Stop, Sort, Burn, Bury, was published in May 2022