How To Move Waste Up The Thermal Value Chain

As the climate crisis develops, we have to ask ourselves why we send so much waste to conventional mass burn Energy from Waste (EfW) plants when it’s a high cost form of disposal that doesn’t extract the full value from waste? It’s a very pressing question, especially as the technology is already there to unlock the value of waste for the circular economy, reduce costs and lower CO2.

The answer is almost certainly habit, and because there is still a lack of transparency, autonomy and information surrounding waste. However, as the impetus for environmental change increases, waste creators must embrace other methods and demand different solutions from their waste handlers. This will only be achieved if business leaders feel empowered to interrogate their waste handlers’ decisions and insist that their waste be treated as a valuable commodity in the circular economy.

Moving waste up the thermal value chain is not only an investment in the circular economy – it’s a means to reduce waste disposal costs and carbon emissions. Plus it also enables positive steps towards improved ESG goals and the UK’s pledge to be carbon neutral by 2050. With news that the EfW industry is optimistic about future growth – it’s imperative to look for greener alternatives to EfW and to educate business leaders about the value of waste.

By removing the organic fraction of waste, our biotechnology makes the resulting waste of higher thermal value. It’s a better quality end product – or as we call it floc – and it can have tremendous value to the circular economy. As such, it means that conventional mass burn EfW is no longer the only disposal route for mixed residual waste.

Conventional mass burn EfW plants are excellent at combusting unprocessed or crude waste that comes from households or the I&C sector but, unlike mainland Europe, most UK plants are not connected to a heat offtake. This means significant heat loss – which results in a UK EfW plant being only 42- 50% efficient.

When mixed residual waste goes through our aerobic process the resulting floc is a consistent, homogenous and high quality material. It’s such high quality that it can go on to be used as a Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF) which means it is more suited to energy-efficient thermal processes. So, it could be used to replace carbon-emitting coal to power a cement kiln, in gasification or pyrolysis to produce green gas for heating homes or to mine it for useful chemicals. In giving waste greater value through this process, the circular economy benefits. It reduces waste, recovers resources and uses them for greater endeavour. Quite simply, biotechnology can help make greater use of waste than conventional mass burn EfW.

For businesses and waste producers, there’s a compelling financial benefit to moving waste up the thermal value chain in this way. The current (Dec 2021) cost to send waste to conventional mass burn EfW can vary from £80 to £130 per tonne, whereas sending it as an SRF for either blending with other materials or for direct use, reduces it by 40%.
This striking reduction in disposal costs is a significant incentive to change waste management practices. When you consider the reduced carbon emissions and improved ESG goals it supports too, the benefits become even more compelling.

The biggest challenge here is that many businesses and even their waste handlers, particularly smaller ones, don’t always understand the waste journey or the potential value of their waste. Smaller waste handlers may not have the extra processing space needed to handle SRF so send all waste in bulk to conventional mass burn EfW, or they’ve come from a haulage background and simply don’t know enough about waste. Larger waste handlers may have large EfW quotas to meet, which take precedence over embracing more innovative alternatives.

Giving waste greater value makes great sense. Great sense for business and great sense for the planet. As the country pushes towards being carbon neutral by 2050 – it’s time to do things differently.