High Temperature and Clinical Waste Incineration
The incineration of Hazardous Waste and Healthcare Waste (covering both Clinical Waste and Offensive Waste) is, in many cases, the prescribed approach for the disposal of these wastes. In the UK there are 4 High Temperature Incinerators (or HTIs) focused on Hazardous Waste, 18 Clinical Waste Incinerators dedicated to Healthcare Waste (with one further site in construction for delivery in 2021) and 21 Residual Waste EFW incinerators that received Clinical Waste in recent years.
Context
The incineration of Hazardous Waste and Healthcare Waste (covering both Clinical Waste and Offensive Waste) is, in many cases, the prescribed approach for the disposal of these wastes. They can be broadly grouped by:
- High Temperature Incinerators (or HTIs) focused on Hazardous Waste and operating at combustion temperatures of up to 1450°C.
- Clinical Waste Incinerators dedicated to Healthcare Waste, having a primary combustion chamber operating at 800 - 1000°C, and a secondary combustion chamber at a minimum temperature of 1100°C with a retention of gases of two seconds[1].
- Residual Waste EFW incinerators which have historically been able to dispose of specific Clinical Waste streams where they meet the same combustion and handling requirements as set out in preceding point.
In 2019 these facilities received 118,720 tonnes of Clinical Waste and the HTIs received 126,788 tonnes of Hazardous Waste, excluding the Clinical Waste they received. In addition, Cement Kilns also played a significant role in the disposal of some specific Hazardous Waste EWC codes, totaling 129,795 tonnes in 2019.
Sites
The following tables summarise all High Temperature and Clinical Waste Incineration facilities (excluding micro-scale plants and Pet Crematoriums) and those Residual Waste EFW sites that received Clinical Waste in 2019 and/or 2018. This page excludes Cement Kilns which are separately listed in WikiWaste.
Within the tables below the headline plated capacity, the total tonnage received in 2019 and the tonnage of Clinical Waste received in 2019 is listed. The ID numbers refer to the map on this page, with the 'EFW ID' in the last table referring to the corresponding ID in the Residual Waste EFW listing. More detailed information is available on each site by clicking through to the site specific page (which are being progressively added in WikiWaste over time) from the tables below:
List of Clinical Waste Incinerators (ClinIncin)
Of the sites listed below (Haylers End Energy Recovery), near Malvern, has only recently opened and (Scotia Business Park), near Stoke, is in construction for delivery in the summer of 2021. Kings Weston Lane, Avonmouth is not regulated by the EA and has no annual return for 2019 - the local authority were unable to supply any data via an FOI request in late 2020.
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| ID | Site Name | Type of Site | Capacity (t) | Total Received 2019 | Clinical Received 2019 |
|---|
List of High Temperature Incinerators (HTI)
The largest High Temperature Incinerator site in the UK, and one of the most advanced in Europe[2], is Veolia's Ellesmere Port Incinerator which recently celebrated its 30th anniversary[3]. The Fine Environmental Services Seal Sands Facility is a dedicated facility for processing Hazardous Waste from the adjacent industrial facility alone.
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| ID | Site Name | Type of Site | Capacity (t) | Total Received 2019 | Clinical Received 2019 |
|---|
Incinerators that received Clinical Waste in 2019 and/or 2018 (Incin)
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| ID | EfW ID | Site Name | Type of Site | Capacity (t) | Total Received 2019 | Clinical Received 2019 |
|---|
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic the EA published a Regulatory Position Statement (RPS C23) clarifying the circumstances where COVID-19 waste can be incinerated with Municipal Waste Waste (MSW) until July 2021. [4]. Out of all Residual Waste EFW sites, 21 received Clinical Waste in 2019 and/or 2018, with some, such as Tyseley ERF, having a long history of receiving Clinical Waste and others currently applying to accept Clinical Waste in the longer term, such as Sheffield ERF, to enable continued receipt of this waste after RPS C23 expires.
Reporting
Sites tend to report different line items in their annual report tonnages, which do not make the separation of Hazardous and Non Hazardous Clinical Waste always easy to understand:
- They do not report waste received broken down by EWC codes in their annual reports and indeed:
- Some of the 'ClinIncin' have only recently been captured by the need to produce an annual a report
- Some split the Hazardous Clinical Waste tonnage out and report it as either Clinical or Hazardous Waste
- Some group the Hazardous and Non-Hazardous together report it all as Clinical Waste
- Some report the Hazardous tonnage as Hazardous Waste, but report the Non Hazardous Clinical within the general Non Hazardous waste received
- There are a few sites that may have received waste but sent it onward for processing elsewhere, either due to plant breakdown/availability or by using different treatment options for the waste received than incineration in the case of 'ClinIncin' sites
- The plated capacity can be by reference to the Environmental Permit limit, or the design capacity referenced in the annual report for the site, which ever the operating company chooses to report