A State-of-the-Art Alternative to Incineration for Residual Municipal Waste- MBT

Publication date: February 2003

Summary
The aim of this study is to assess the possibilities for a system for managing residual waste which does not include any thermal treatment process. The study includes a review of mechanical biological treatment (MBT) systems and their potential effects.

MBT systems are not new. In their more primitive guises, they can be considered a basic evolution from the (usually failed) mixed waste composting plants of two decades ago. However, the potential for integrating systems based around biological treatment of degradable fractions with increasingly efficient mechanical separation techniques is a more recent development, as is the tendency to look to employ digestion techniques for the biological treatment phase as opposed to aerobic treatments.

Submission to the Governments Strategy Unit review of UK waste policy

Publication date: July 2002

Summary
The UK Government knows its current waste policy is not working and not popular. It has set up an investigation into whether the reliance on incineration should be abandoned. Greenpeace has attended the seminars held by the Strategy Unit and submitted the following document:

Greenpeace believes that the Government's "Waste Strategy 2000" is not achieving its desired outcome either in terms of quality ("more sustainable waste management") or quantity (maximising the amount of waste recycled and reducing the quantity of waste produced).

Although mandatory recycling targets are beginning to encourage better collection methods and increased recycling of some materials in some areas, the strategy as it stands is unlikely to achieve more than very moderate gains.

This is because of clear policy shortcomings, particularly a lack of incentives for local authorities to avoid waste disposal altogether, incentives for some forms of disposal (particularly incineration under the guise of "energy recovery") and extreme ambiguity from the Government regarding best practice.

Greenpeace briefing

Publication date: May 2002

Summary
The entire waste management industry is currently in a state of virtual paralysis with regard to composting.

The Department of the Environment says that composting of municipal organic waste is "a vital component of meeting Waste Strategy targets" and that "The Government supports the composting of waste". (DEFRA Briefing note on compost June 2001). Yet it's regulatory body, the Environment Agency, will not currently permit compost derived from kitchen waste to be used in the open and has made it virtually impossible for new composting initiatives to gain a licence.

As a consequence local authorities and waste companies are turning to incineration to get organic waste out of landfill sites. This is totally nonsensical. Incinerators release many chemicals with potentially severe health impacts in stack gases and in ashes. Food waste, mixed with all manner of other materials is dumped in huge bunkers where it can remain rotting for days. Kitchen waste is a very poor material to burn - it is very wet and has a low calorific value. The organic material should be going back into the soil where it can return nutrients, carbon and improve soil texture. Compost has a high environmental value. It also has a potentially high economic value, but not until the Government sorts out the mess it has made.