Waste Facilities in UK

From Wikiwaste

Overview

Each year DEFRA publish an annual Digest of Waste Statistics [1], [2] which brings together a wide range of key statisitics on waste and resource in to one publication; this WikiWaste page (Waste Facilities in UK) and the broader WikiWaste summary page on UK Waste Tonnage are updated annually with the most up to date data available.

The Digest of Waste Statisitics uses a number of data sets which are not all for the same time period with some showing a 'lag' over a number of years due to the reporting period of UK waste arisings data to the EU.

The headline tonnages for 2016 through Waste Facilities in the UK (from a total of 221 million tonnes) were:

Split by Type of Treatment Method

The split by treatment method is heavily distorted by Soil and Mineral Waste contributing significantly to Backfilling and Landfill but also the Recycling and other Recovery (where some categories of application of this material to land are classified as Recovery). The majority of Household and similar wastes were treated at an Energy Recovery Facility.

Final Treatment Methods for Waste, UK, 2016. Percentage of waste material by treatment type.
Waste Material Energy Recovery Incineration Recycling and Other Recovery Backfilling Deposit onto/into Land (Landfill) Land Treatment and Release into Water Bodies
Metallic Waste 0% 0% 14% 0% 0% 0%
Glass Wastes 0% 0% 2% 0% 0% 0%
Paper & Cardboard Waste 0% 0% 4% 0% 0% 0%
Plastic Waste 0% 0% 1% 0% 0% 0%
Wood Waste 8% 13% 2% 1% 0% 0%
Vegetable Waste 0% 1% 4% 0% 0% 0%
Household & Similar Waste 76% 38% 1% 0% 11% 0%
Mineral Waste 0% 0% 55% 5% 6% 60%
Soils 0% 0% 12% 89% 55% 0%
Dredging Spoils 0% 0% 0% 1% 0% 40%
Other Waste 16% 48% 6% 4% 27% 0%
All Wastes 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%

Split by Number of Permitted Facility

DEFRA consolidate information from each of the four UK environment agencies authorized by an Environmental Permit or similar. The data with : in the table is not available, Energy Recovery has R1 status, and excludes sites exempt from requiring an Environmental Permit and intermediate treatment (which includes most Anaerobic Digestion).

Number and Capacity of Permitted Final Treatment Facilities, UK and England, 2014-16
Facility Type Measure UK England
2014 2016 2014 2016
Energy Recovery Number of Facilities 29 37 13 23
Capacity (kt/yr) 4,862 9,808 2,803 7,202
Incineration Number of Facilities[3] 83 78 60 57
Capacity (kt/yr) 9,859 8,474 9,040 8,193
Recovery other than Energy Recovery (includes Backfilling) Number of Facilities 2,660 3,506 1,669 1,944
Capacity : : : :
Deposit onto/into Land (Landfill) Number of Facilities (including closed facilities) 596 604 493 510
Rest (remaining) Capacity (thousand m3) 592,637 554,751 484,370 464,891

Links to other Pages

WikiWaste has a number of pages dedicated to summarizing specific Treatment and Disposal facilities, grouped broadly at present into:

References

  1. UK Statistics on Waste 2020
  2. Digest of Waste and Resource Statistics
  3. The page on R1 gives a more up to date listing of those facilities which are now Energy Recovery