Tag: Dr Colin Church

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

Stop, Sort, Burn, Bury: Incineration review published

An independent review of the role of incineration in Scotland, which recommends a  cap on future incineration capacity, has been welcomed by the Circular Economy Minister.

Friends of the Earth Scotland have also welcomed it’s findings but say a clear exit strategy is still needed.

The report, which was authored by waste sector expert Dr Colin Church, reviews the role of incineration in the waste hierarchy, with a focus on aligning national capacity with Scotland’s waste reduction targets.

The report makes 12 policy recommendations for the Scottish Government, local authorities and the wider waste industry, including:

  • no further planning permission should be granted to incineration infrastructure within the scope of this Review, unless balanced by an equal or greater closure of capacity.
  • developing an indicative cap that declines over time for the amount of residual waste treatment needed as Scotland transitions towards a fully circular economy.
  • to strengthen community engagement and trust before, during and after development.

The Scottish Government will set out its initial response to the Review in June.

Public consultations on a Circular Economy Bill and a Waste Route Map will launch this month.

Dr Colin Church said: “The evidence I received shows that, whilst well-regulated incineration does have a role to play in managing unavoidable residual waste in Scotland, the capacity currently being proposed is likely to be more than needed, so a lot of it should not be built.

“For the proportion that is developed, the level and quality of engagement with local communities needs to be excellent, which unfortunately has not always been the case to date.

“There is also more that must be done to reduce the climate impacts of waste incineration, and I look forward to revisiting my provisional recommendations in this area in due course.”

Circular Economy Minister Lorna Slater said: “I would like to thank Dr Church for delivering this work, which will play a pivotal role in shaping Scotland’s future waste policy.

“We want to create a circular economy, where materials stay in use for as long as possible, and nothing is wasted. Only by increasing reuse and recycling can Scotland meet its net zero targets, and we will be publishing ambitious proposals to achieve this soon.

“It is clear from the review that although incineration has a role to play in managing Scotland’s unavoidable, unrecyclable residual waste in a safe way, that role is inevitably limited. As we transition to a circular economy, Scotland will need significantly less incineration capacity than is currently projected and it is vital that we do not have more capacity than we need.

“Dr Church has proposed some valuable recommendations and outlined some important considerations for how we can align the management of residual waste in Scotland with our net zero ambitions. We will consider the recommendations carefully and provide an initial response in June.”

Environmental campaigners have also welcomed the independent report which calls for an immediate ban on new incinerators – but say a clear exit strategy from incineration is still needed.

The report from an independent review has been published today (10 May), and shows the scale of the nation’s incineration problem. The report makes 12 policy recommendations for the Scottish Government, local authorities and wider waste industry.

Kim Pratt, circular economy campaigner at Friends of the Earth Scotland, said: “This report shows that the alarming rise in incineration in Scotland must be stopped immediately – rapid action is needed to prevent the loss of valuable resources and stop the climate-wrecking emissions being caused by burning plastics.

“A ban on new incinerators is the first step in turning Scotland’s waste management system around, but it’s only half of the solution. The report makes it clear that more must be done to minimise waste and recycle as much as possible.

“Our current incinerators are some of Scotland’s biggest polluters so they must be phased out if Scotland is to meet its climate goals. It is concerning that the report does not include a detailed carbon assessment, given the direct threat of incinerators to our climate goals.

“Burning plastic releases more carbon than coal and the only way to cut emissions from incineration for good is to stop burning waste. We need to value resources properly, rather than taking from nature, using once then burning or burying the waste.”

The capacity analysis from the report shows that in five years time (2027) Scotland will have more incineration capacity than there is available waste to burn.

One of the first major actions undertaken by Lorna Slater, Minister for the Circular Economy, was to initiate an independent review of incineration of waste. Scotland now joins Wales, which banned incineration in 2021 and has the third highest recycling rates in the world.

Over 1,000 people supported Friends of the Earth Scotland’s calls for an immediate ban of new incinerators and of plastics being sent to incinerators, and a phase out of those already operating.

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