Conservatives plan to ban EfW plants and other green initiatives ahead of general election                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

In a tense race to win the impending 2024 UK general election, coming up on 4th July, multiple political parties vying for prime position have been hitting the headlines recently with their intended renewable and green policies; many of which look favourably upon the renewable industry and the need to adopt green energy sources more widely.

Over the last few days, however, the Conservative Party, led by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, has pledged some surprising changes to the Party’s green & renewable roadmap going forward.  

Firstly, on 11th June, just 2 days ago, and as part of their new manifesto, the Conservative Party pledged to stop the construction of new waste incinerators, including those that have already been granted permits; halting permits altogether.

This, following a ‘temporary pause’ on incineration permits lasting 7 weeks from the beginning of April this year, plus a move to include Energy from Waste plants in the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) just a few weeks ago, which would ultimately increase operation costs and put a cap on EfW plant emissions.

Following this, the very next day on 12th June, it was then reported that the Conservatives plan to scale back green levies and boost nuclear power projects, going on to lay focus on the need to maintain the energy price cap to ensure households aren’t at risk of being overcharged for energy consumption.

And, whilst energy prices do indeed need to be appropriately capped going forward, and energy prices significantly reduced from their recent peak, some of the Conservatives’ newest green decisions feel counterproductive to widespread, consistent and future renewable energy adoption.

Nuclear is and has been a somewhat controversial subject for many years, especially where nuclear waste disposal is concerned, but there seems to be less of a debate around the potential of nuclear energy and the energy security and independence it could very well provide us here in the UK. So, the idea of the government investing more heavily in nuclear energy isn’t a bad one. In fact, it could mark the beginning of an exciting time for the UK’s energy security.

However, ‘fast-tracking’ nuclear power projects, if the Conservatives win the upcoming general election, will likely still see these projects take years, if not decades, to develop from the earliest stages to consumer stage and - should the Conservatives really strip back green levies and ban EfW plants, this could leave the UK with a significant gap in renewable energy sources right now and certainly risks development of future projects, not just EfW plants.

This is problematic for a multitude of reasons.

Firstly, as of 2022, there are a reported 57 Energy from Waste plants operational throughout the UK which contribute around 3.2% of the UK’s total energy generation, annually. This, from 15.32Mt of waste combusted throughout the same year, an increase of 2.6% when compared with the 2021 total.

Alongside this, presumed improvements in technology and operational methods have improved and decreased CO2 emissions from EfW plants from 1.4 to 0.94 per tonne where the average estimated biogenic content of CO2 emitted from UK EfWs was 52.5%.

So, if EfW plants are contributing a significant amount to the UK’s annual energy generation, are effectively and efficiently disposing of and converting over 15Mt of waste into usable energy per year, and are emitting less and less carbon emissions every year, surely Energy from Waste plants should be encouraged as we move further and further towards Net Zero deadlines, not banned?

And, given advancements and adoption of carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) technologies in recent years, these technologies could indeed serve to further reduce carbon emissions from EfW plants, instead capturing said carbon to either safely store it or make good use of it within manufacturing processes.

This, not to forget that - in disposing of increasing amounts of waste, annually - EfWs also reduce reliance on landfill which, given the eye-watering increase in landfill tax as of 2025, is also something that the Conservatives would want to encourage?

Looking, then, at scaling back green levies within this context again feels like a step back for renewable and green projects as it’s these levies that support and encourage the construction and development of various types of renewable projects; green gas levies require gas suppliers to buy a certain amount of green gas (biogas) and pay a levy if they do not meet this obligation.

As such, scaling these back would reduce support and consumption of green gas which would surely leave us increasing our consumption of fossil fuels to bridge the energy gap whilst we await these nuclear projects?

Not only this but all of the above could also lead to a potentially devastating lack of confidence in the renewable energy sector; significantly reducing investment in all manner of new green projects, not just EfWs, as investors will inevitably feel incentivised and understandably cautious of backing any new projects, no matter how promising.

Essentially, it feels as though the new Conservative manifesto has been created to appeal to the public’s desire to drive down and reduce ongoing energy prices as quickly as possible, rather than considering the long term impact of renewable energy projects on the UK economy, energy security & independence and carbon emissions.