Proposed Energy-from-Waste facility snapshot
New Zealand is facing a landfill crisis
A report from the Ministry for the Environment concluded that there is no denying New Zealand has a problem with the amount of waste being generated and being sent to landfill.
New Zealand’s disposal of waste to municipal landfills increased by 48% in the last decade. This culminated in some 3.68 million tonnes of waste going to municipal landfills in the 2018/2019 year. Methane, such as emitted by landfills, is the second largest contributor to global climate change.
New Zealand produces more rubbish than it can safely dispose of and many South Island landfills are old and failing, as was seen with the 2019 Fox River landfill environmental disaster. Extreme weather washed out an old landfill on Fox River that saw more than 14,000 household rubbish bags of waste strewn across 21km of riverbed and 51km of coastline along the West Coast. More than 300 old dumps are at risk of coastal erosion and flooding.
Energy-from-Waste facilities uses rubbish, destined to go landfill, as a fuel for generating power. The process heats water into steam that drives a turbine to create electricity. Under the New Zealand Government’s Ministry of Energy renewable energy plan, Energy-from-Waste is listed as a renewable energy source.
The Energy-from-Waste plant technology proposed for Project Kea is the latest, best practice, internationally accepted design to ensure emissions standards are significantly lower than the limits that will be required to meet the Resource Management Act in New Zealand.
The National Climate Change Risk Assessment for New Zealand undertaken by the Ministry for the Environment found the risk to landfills and contaminated sites from increasingly extreme weather and sea-level rise is “major”, with the release of heavy metals, glass, plastics and asbestos leading to “potentially cascading consequences for public health, ecosystems and the economy”.
The Waste Hierarchy
The Waste Hierarchy is a tool that defines waste management strategies in terms of their desirability and environmental impact. Energy-from-Waste facilities fall into ‘Recover’ – recovering the energy and raw resources embedded in the waste.
Europe are the leaders in the use of Energy-from-Waste technology
Energy-from-Waste is not new technology internationally. More than 2,500 similar plants successfully operating throughout the northern hemisphere, many located within city boundaries.
Energy-from-Waste technology is an energy recovery process that converts waste into practical forms of energy including electricity, heat or steam.
Most European countries are committed to using Energy-from-Waste plants as a viable and environmentally safe alternative to landfills. Scandinavian countries and Switzerland no longer permit landfill use and are currently mining redundant landfills to remove the environmental danger of ongoing emissions and leachates.
From 2035, European leading countries have banned the use of landfills and they are debating bringing that decision forward to 2030. This is in line with Europe’s target of Zero carbon from the disposal of waste by 2040, which existing and new Energy-from-Waste plants will fit.
In Europe from 2025, all waste that is landfilled must be treated - meaning there will be no emissions from the degradation of the waste. New landfills can now not be consented in Europe.
Germany, Netherlands, Austria, Denmark, Belgium and Sweden have achieved almost zero landfill by a combination of regulations (ban on the landfill of all waste suitable for recycling or incineration) and landfill taxes. These have been achieved by a combination of Energy-from-Waste and recycling (these countries have the highest recycling rates in Europe).
The use of Energy-from-Waste plants has now accelerated worldwide with Asian countries also adopting the technology as the alternative to landfills. Recently Australia approved its first Energy-from-Waste plant in Perth which is now under construction. NSW and Victoria proposals for plants are well advanced into the planning stages and final consenting process.
Energy-from-Waste plants have now been recognised by most developed countries as an important step, a viable and economic solution to the landfill issues and fit perfectly within the standard internationally accepted waste hierarchy cycle.
Please note: Energy-from-Waste and Waste-to-Energy are interchangeable.
Fraser Scott, a waste industry expert Consultant from True North Consulting, was commissioned by local and central Government and reported:
“Waste-to-Energy (WtE) has numerous forms and can operate at different scales and with different technologies. In recent times public opposition to WtE has become more prominent but is often based on outdated information and misunderstanding of how WtE technology and applications have moved over the past decade.
“WtE has, in some cases, become much more reliable, ‘greener’ and able to achieve better economic returns. It is also becoming recognised as a more flexible and useful alternative to landfill for waste that cannot be economically recycled or otherwise utilised further up the waste hierarchy.
“A number of Territorial Authorities and waste processors are recognising the advantages of using WtE rather than sending waste to landfill. There are also potential climate change benefits from WtE, and this area is becoming increasingly important.
“WtE is very likely to increase in profile in the near future and is also likely to become part of municipal waste strategies, particularly for major centres.”
- Fraser Scott, True North Consulting — Advisor to Climate Change Commission, MfE, CCC, ECan
Reports
Energy-from-Waste technology is rapidly evolving, particularly in Northern Europe and Scandinavian countries. Learn more about those projects below.
Energy-from-Waste in Denmark
RenoSam: The most efficient waste management system in Europe. The Danish Energy-from-Waste facilities make up the cornerstone of the disposal of non-recyclable waste, and at the same time they produce electricity and heat for approximately 400,000 households in Denmark.
Virtuous circle of district heating, Energy-from-Waste and CHP
The increasingly urgent problem of climate change has focused attention on district heating, Energy-from-Waste systems, and combined heat-and-power (CHP) as techniques that reduce greenhouse gas emissions while bringing other sustainability benefits.
CO2 from Dutch plant to be used for greenhouses
Dutch waste recycling and Energy-from-Waste firm, AVR, will start the construction of a large-scale CO2 capture system as it seeks to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.
Energy-from-Waste in Paris
Syctom, the Greater Paris public authority for solid waste management, processes 2.3 million tonnes of waste annually, produced by six million residents in the Metropolis of Greater Paris. As the largest public authority for household waste management in Europe, Syctom processes 10 % of all waste produced by the French population.
The Scientific Truth about Energy-from-Waste
Report from The City College of New York about Energy-from-Waste playing a key role in the reduction of greenhouse gases and complementing recycling efforts.