Monday 28 May 2012

Waste treatment overcapacity - report's warning



The on-line planning newsletter I receive contains the following article - page linked here:




Britain could soon end up with more residual waste treatment capacity than it needs if all schemes with planning permission go ahead, according to a research consultancy.

Figures from Eunomia Research & Consulting suggest that the market for residual waste facilities could be saturated within three years. The oversupply will increase further if waste arisings continue to decline, the firm adds. 

The researchers calculate that in 2011/12 Britain had 14.8 million tonnes of residual waste treatment capacity in operation or under construction. This left a "capacity gap" of 13.5 million tonnes of waste for which no treatment facilities were available and landfill was the only option. 

But if all currently consented facilities, which have a total capacity of 18.2 million tonnes, go ahead, the current shortfall would turn into an oversupply of 4.7 million tonnes’ capacity by 2015/16, according to Eunomia.

In addition, the researchers predict that if the 4.5 million tonnes of capacity for which planning consent is currently being sought is implemented, the oversupply could grow to 9.2 million tonnes by 2020/21. 
"The waste treatment industry continues to tell us that the planning system is preventing us from achieving high levels of landfill diversion. The facts tell a different story," said Eunomia director Dr Dominic Hogg.


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