Destination recycling
What happens to your recycling after it’s been collected? Where does it go? What’s it turned into?
Despite having some of the best recycling rates in London, the four SLWP boroughs collect around 200,000 tonnes of waste from households every year that either cannot be recycled or has not been sorted by residents for recycling.
Until recently, this residual waste (or ‘rubbish’) was buried in a landfill site in Beddington, Sutton. But in 2019, a state-of-the art energy from waste facility (the Beddington Energy Recovery Facility) opened its doors, providing the boroughs with a safe, cost-effective and environmentally sustainable alternative to landfill.
The Beddington Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) was built in the northeast corner of the vast 120-hectare landfill site. The landfill itself closed in December 2022 and is currently being restored into a nature reserve.
The Beddington landfill site. In the foreground is the Beddington Energy Recovery Facility (the facility was under construction at the time this image was taken and the ‘construction village’ pictured to the right of the facility has been removed). At the top of photo are the lakes which form part of the new nature reserve.
The Beddington ERF is...
It diverts rubbish away from landfill, cuts carbon emissions by c.200kg per tonne of waste treated (compared to landfill) and produces enough low-carbon electricity to power 60,000 homes.
One-third of Beddington ERF is dedicated to capturing, filtering and cleaning the flue gases. Emissions are monitored every 10 seconds, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The results are fed back to the ERF Control Room, so any potential issues are known about immediately and appropriate action can be taken.
The results from the continuous emissions monitoring systems (CEMS) are reported to the Environment Agency (the regulator for the facility) and uploaded by Viridor to a publicly-accessible website (www.beddingonterf.info). The EA sets limits (based on 10-minute, 30-minute, and daily averages) for different types of emissions. The Beddington ERF has been designed to operate at the very highest international standards and, during normal operating conditions, emissions are well below the limits set by the EA.
There is no reputable evidence that modern energy from waste facilities have a measurable negative impact on human health.
The ERF saves millions of pounds every year for the boroughs (and therefore local council tax payers) when compared to the cost of sending waste to landfill.
The Beddington ERF provides a safe, cost-effective and environmentally sustainable alternative to landfill.
How does the Beddington ERF treat waste?
The Beddington Energy Recovery Facility burns rubbish at very high temperatures in strictly controlled conditions. This super-heats water in special boilers which produces steam and drives a turbine to generate electricity – and lots of it: the facility produces enough electricity to power itself plus 60,000 homes. The electricity is fed into the National Grid.
Watch the film:
For more information about the Beddington ERF (including a detailed virtual tour featuring videos from inside the facility itself), visit the dedicated website: www.beddingtonerf.info
Putting emissions into perspective
Energy from waste has a relatively poor reputation in the UK with some concerned that the emissions produced by the treatment process can adversely affect human health. These views are outdated as they are based on the early generations of waste incinerators; relatively rudimental disposal-only plants that simply burned waste to reduce its volume. The introduction of landfill diversion targets in the mid 1990s helped drive a new generation of energy from waste plants, designed to meet much stricter emissions standards, and provide valuable low carbon energy.
Public Health England’s position on energy from waste (EfW) is that “modern, well run and regulated municipal waste incinerators are not a significant risk to public health.” They say: “While it is not possible to rule out adverse health effects from these incinerators completely, any potential effect for people living close by is likely to be very small. This view is based on detailed assessments of the effects of air pollutants on health and on the fact that these incinerators make only a very small contribution to local concentrations of air pollutants.” Public Health England reached this view following a comprehensive study conducted by Imperial College London.
It would be misleading to say that modern EfW plants have no impact on air quality, but the impact they do have must be set against the vital role they play in dealing with our rubbish and put into context by comparing it against other common sources of atmospheric emissions:
Energy from Waste (EfW) emissions compared to...
November Bonfire Night celebrations (on and around 5th November) release four times more dioxins into the atmosphere than all the UK’s 50+ energy from waste (EfW) plants do during an entire year. EfW plants contribute 0.70% of the UK’s total dioxin emissions compared with 3.0% from bonfire night celebrations alone. ***
Over a quarter (28%) of the UK’s Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) emissions are produced by us driving our cars, vans and lorries. In comparison, all the UK’s 50+ energy from waste (EfW) facilities combined only produce 2.3% of the NOx emissions dealing with all our non-recyclable rubbish. ***
Domestic wood burning stoves and open fires produce 100 times more particulate emissions each year than all the UK’s 50+ energy from waste (EfW) plants combined. EfW plants produce 0.1% of UK particulates (PM10 and PM2.5), compared with 10.4% from domestic wood burners. ***
We would all like to see a future where residual waste treatment facilities are not needed. But the reality is that – for now at least – they are a vital part of our waste management infrastructure.
There are three options available to the boroughs for treating the residual waste they collect: bury it in landfill, export it out of the area for someone else to deal with (which would significantly increase local traffic movements and carbon emissions) or treat it in a modern energy from waste facility within our borders. We are confident that in the Beddington ERF, we have the best available option for dealing with our non-recyclable waste.
Three quarters (73%) of residents who live in the SLWP region think that energy recovery is preferable to landfill. ****
* Figures based on 2019/20 Waste Data Flow
** Figures based on October – December 2022 data
*** Data based on 2020 estimates from the UK National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory
**** SLWP Triennial Resident Survey, 2022
Destination Recycling
The Waste Hierarchy
Most preferred environmental option
Reducing waste is the most preferred option. Minimising the amount of waste we produce in the first place is by far the most effective way of reducing the impact we have on the environment.
When waste is created, the waste hierarchy prioritises reuse. Where possible, reusing products and materials before it becomes waste is the next best option. By cleaning, repairing and refurbishing items, we can significantly increase the number of things we reuse.
Recycling is the most environmentally sustainable solution when it comes to disposing of waste. Recycling essentially turns our waste into new items or products, reducing the amount of raw materials required.
For waste that can’t be re-used or recycled, energy recovery is the next best option. Energy from waste is the process of incinerating non-recyclable waste to produce electricity. It helps to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels for power generation and decreases carbon emissions.
At the bottom of the waste hierarchy is the least desirable option: disposal. This is when waste is either sent to landfill or treated in an older-style incinerator that doesn’t recover energy from the process. Disposal should always be the last resort for waste.
Least preferred environmental option
