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The growing role of waste incinerators in the UK waste industry
Recent waste statistics show that over 50% of all waste collected by local councils in England is processed in an incinerator.
Over the past few decades, incineration has replaced landfill as the main disposal route for non-recyclable waste. Today, only around 6% of waste ends up in landfill.
In contrast to landfill sites, incinerators generate electricity and occupy significantly less space. However, opponents argue that incinerators harm air quality and reduce recycling rates.
In this guide, we use the latest statistics to explain the role of waste incinerators in the UK. Here are the key sections of our guide:
- What is a waste incinerator?
- Types of waste incinerators
- How waste incineration works
- Energy from waste incinerators in the UK
- Why does the UK rely on waste incineration?
What is a waste incinerator?
A waste incinerator is a facility that burns waste at high temperatures to significantly reduce its volume, destroy harmful substances, and often generate electricity.
Modern incinerators operate under strict environmental controls. Waste is combusted under carefully monitored conditions at high temperatures to ensure the complete destruction of organic materials and pathogens.
The gases produced during combustion are cleaned through complex air-pollution control systems, which remove particulates, acidic gases, heavy metals, and other pollutants before the treated gas is released into the atmosphere.
Residual materials such as bottom ash and air-pollution-control residues typically amount to less than 10% of the original waste volume.
The difference between incineration and burning
One of the key controversies surrounding waste incinerators is the idea that incineration is simply the uncontrolled burning of waste material.
However, there is a key difference between incineration and burning. Incineration is a controlled industrial process in which waste is combusted inside a specially designed facility under tightly regulated conditions of temperature, oxygen supply, and residence time.
This process ensures the complete oxidation of organic material and minimises harmful emissions.
Types of waste incinerators
There are three main types of waste incinerators operating in the UK. The section below explains the purposes, processes, and technologies used in each case.
Energy from Waste facilities
Energy from Waste (EfW) facilities process general, non-recyclable waste. This waste is collected either by local councils for household waste or by private commercial waste collection providers for business waste.
In these facilities, waste is fed onto a moving grate, which carries it into a combustion chamber.
The heat produced by the burning waste is used to boil water into steam, which rotates turbines to generate electricity. The electricity is then fed into the local power grid.
Clinical waste incinerators
Clinical waste facilities are built to process healthcare waste, including infectious waste, sanitary waste, and pharmaceutical waste that may contain pathogens.
Clinical waste collection services transport waste to these facilities and process it at much smaller volumes than EfW facilities.
Clinical waste incinerators do not generate electricity but instead process waste under strict controls, using a series of incinerator chambers to ensure that pathogens are destroyed.
Hazardous waste incinerators
Hazardous waste facilities focus on processing specialist commercial waste types, including chemicals, industrial residues, and materials containing Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs).
Hazardous waste collection services transport these materials to facilities that use specialist combustion chambers capable of maintaining much higher temperatures, up to 1,450 °C.
Hazardous waste incinerators do not generate electricity but instead use flue gas treatment and ash management technologies to minimise their environmental impact.
How waste incineration works
Below, we provide a step-by-step overview of how a typical UK waste incineration facility operates:
1. Reception and inspection
Waste lorries arrive at an enclosed tipping hall. A weighbridge is used to measure the amount of waste material being delivered. A waste transfer note is issued to the waste firm delivering the load to demonstrate the legal transfer of the material.
Loads are visually inspected and then tipped into a large enclosed storage area, called a bunker, where the waste is stored prior to incineration.
2. Furnace feed
Larger, bulky items in the bunker are shredded to allow them to fit into the incinerator.
Overhead cranes feed the waste at a steady rate onto a moving grate, which transports the material into the furnace.
3. Combustion
Combustion of waste occurs in the main furnace chamber of an incinerator.
Inside the chamber air temperature is held at least 850 °C, which triggers the ignition reaction. The ignition reaction converts the waste into hot gases and ash.
In Energy from Waste incinerators, the heat contained in the hot gases is used to generate electricity.
4. Flue-gas cleaning
Flue gas cleaning removes pollutants from the gases produced during combustion before they are released into the atmosphere. This process typically includes:
- Particulate removal: Electrostatic precipitators and/or bag filters.
- Acid gases: Lime or sodium reagents (dry, semi-dry, or wet scrubbing).
- Dioxins, mercury, and organics: Activated carbon injection.
5. Bottom ash handling
Non-combustible residue from the incineration process falls off the moving grate as incinerator bottom ash.
After cooling, any recoverable metal waste is removed using magnets so that this valuable material can be recycled. Following treatment, the remaining ash is commonly used as a construction material.
Regulation and oversight of waste incineration
Waste incineration in the UK is tightly regulated to protect human health and the environment.
All incinerators operate under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 (and equivalent legislation in Scotland and Northern Ireland).
These laws implement the Industrial Emissions Directive (2010/75/EU), which sets strict limits on emissions such as particulates, nitrogen oxides, acid gases, heavy metals, and dioxins.
Facilities must hold an Environmental Permit issued by one of the following authorities:
- Environment Agency (EA) – England
- Natural Resources Wales (NRW)
- Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)
- Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA)
These regulators inspect plants, review monitoring data, and can take enforcement action if a site breaches its permit. Continuous emissions monitoring equipment tracks key pollutants in real time.
Energy from Waste incinerators in the UK
The UK Government’s Renewable Energy Planning Database provides quarterly data on the number of Energy from Waste incinerators operating across the country.
According to the latest data, there are 60 Energy from Waste facilities currently in operation.
This figure continues to grow, with 19 incinerators under construction, 34 with granted planning permission, and 9 with pending planning applications.
Distribution of Energy from Waste facilities
The table below shows which UK regions contain operational or planned Energy from Waste facilities.
| Region | Operational | Under Construction | Planning Granted |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Midlands | 3 | — | 4 |
| Eastern | 4 | 2 | 3 |
| London | 4 | — | 2 |
| North East | 6 | — | 4 |
| North West | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| Northern Ireland | — | 1 | — |
| Scotland | 5 | 5 | 2 |
| South East | 11 | 1 | 2 |
| South West | 6 | 2 | — |
| Wales | 2 | — | 2 |
| West Midlands | 8 | 5 | 2 |
| Yorkshire and Humber | 8 | 1 | 10 |
| Total | 60 | 19 | 34 |
UK’s biggest Energy from Waste facility
According to the Government’s Renewable Energy Planning Database, the Runcorn Energy from Waste (EfW) facility in Cheshire has the largest power output, with a capacity of 100 MW.
This facility processes over 1.1 million tonnes of waste each year and produces enough electricity to power around 211,000 homes.
Why does the UK rely on waste incineration?
The British waste sector is becoming increasingly reliant on incineration for waste management. This section explains the key reasons why waste incineration has effectively replaced landfill.
Landfill tax
The UK Government introduced the landfill tax in the early 1990s to slow the filling of landfill sites, which were rapidly reaching capacity, and to encourage waste minimisation and commercial recycling.
As a result, incineration became an economically attractive alternative to landfill and recycling.
Public policy
Public policy recognises Energy from Waste incinerators as a source of low-carbon energy, providing electricity and heat from material that would otherwise be sent to landfill.
While an incinerator’s environmental credentials depend on its efficiency and the composition of the waste feedstock, the EU Directives adopted by the UK prior to Brexit promoted energy recovery from waste over landfilling.
As a result, waste-to-energy incineration remains embedded in the UK waste hierarchy, where it is prioritised above landfill.
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