Pollution concerns over high proportion of waste Sheffield Council sends to incinerators

In one of the largest studies of its kind, the BBC Shared Data Unit found the amount of harmful greenhouse gases being pumped out of England’s network of 52 major incinerators has increased by 40.4 per cent in five years.

According to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Sheffield City Council has nearly eradicated its use of landfill sites for waste, falling from 6.8 per cent to 0.8 per cent in 2023.

The authority has also boosted recycling - up 4.4 per cent to 33.9 per cent in 2023.

However, like many councils, Sheffield is burning the vast majority of waste in facilties, which the BBC found pollute on a par with coal in terms of emissions produced, tonne-for-tonne.

Some 65.3 per cent of waste is incinerated in Sheffield - the second highest proportion in Yorkshire and The Humber, trailing only Kirklees. It is also significantly higher than the average across England.

The BBC found across the country 49 per cent of waste was incinerated with energy recovery from 2022-23 - 41 per cent was recycled and seven per cent was sent to landfill.

In 2011, the government committed that, by 2020, 50 per cent of waste would be prepared for re-use or recycled, and a further target was later added for 65 per cent of municipal waste to be recycled by 2035.

But over the last five years, the government has reported that, while the tonnage of waste sent to landfill has significantly reduced, recycling rates have stagnated, never reaching the 50 per cent mark in England and Scotland.

Instead, and with councils struggling from dwindling resources, incineration has proved a cheaper alternative to both recycling and landfill.

Dr Dominic Hogg, an environmental campaigner and founder of the environmental consultancy company Eumonia, told the BBC: “I think the reality is, it looks like a disaster because we've looked at it too much as though it's a power generating facility.

“The reality is this is a way of disposing of waste. And we should treat it as such. And we should consider emissions in the round and compare it with things like landfill for the stuff that we really cannot do anything better with. But we should stop considering these things as power stations, because they're not good examples of power stations, their principal objective is to get rid and to reduce the volume of waste.”

Sheffield City Council’s contract with Veolia, the firm which run the incineration facility, has 14 years remaining, the BBC found.

This contract has a clawback agreement, which means the council earns money back from the waste it sends to be burnt. The BBC said the council did not disclose how much it gets back due to commercial sensitivity.

Councillor Joe Otten, chair of Waste and Street Scene Policy Committee at Sheffield City Council, said: “Managing waste worldwide is a big responsibility and everyone needs to play their part in reducing waste and in recycling as many items as possible. We are focussing on this in Sheffield.

“The Sheffield Energy Recovery Facility forms an essential part of the UK’s waste management infrastructure once the options of waste reduction, reuse and recycling have been exhausted. In 2023/24 we sent just 0.01 per cent of waste to landfill, which makes Sheffield one of the top performing councils in terms of landfill diversion.

“Our energy recovery facility operates under a very stringent Environmental Permit regulated by The Environment Agency and supports the National Grid. It provides electricity for approximately 25,000 homes, as well as one of the largest District Energy networks in the UK which saves up to 15,000 tonnes of CO2 per year compared to gas boilers.

“Sheffield’s approach provides residents with a comprehensive range of recycling services which combined with the energy recovery facility, balances affordability, sustainability, and environmental benefit.

“The Environment Act became law in November 2021, and we are currently consulting on changes that will see new recycling collections introduced for plastic pots, tubs and trays, aluminium foil, cartons and plastic films.”

Sheffield residents are invited to have their say on the changes by visiting www.sheffield.gov.uk/waste and clicking on the Simpler Recycling link.

A Defra spokesperson said:“We are committed to cutting waste and moving to a circular economy so that we re-use, reduce and recycle more resources and help meet our emissions targets. 

“We are considering the role waste incineration will play as we decarbonise and grow the economy.”