Energy from Waste: A Wasted Opportunity?

Waste: Use It, Don’t Lose It

A brand new report from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers highlights the imperative to find environmentally sound solutions to the problem of waste disposal and to consider the sustainable (environmental, social and economic) benefits of energy from waste.

Each year the UK produces over 300 million tonnes of waste per year - enough to fill the Albert Hall every two hours.  With growing environmental awareness on the part of the public, landfills - the traditional solution to dealing with waste – are no longer regarded as acceptable, with the result that we could shortly be up to our necks in waste with waste, and apparently, few options for tackling the problem. Recycling is seen as the way to do this, but this is simply not the case if: there is no demand for the recycled materials; more energy is consumed and more greenhouse gases are emitted in the recycling process than would be used to manufacture a new product; and we don’t actually recycle but instead just sort the waste into piles of different materials and then ship those piles overseas with no control over what happens to them after that.

As the public begins to feel the impact of global energy price rises, the UK needs to quickly find sustainable and secure sources of energy, using reliable, well-proven technologies. And to have any chance of minimising the impacts of global climate change, countries such as the UK must finds ways to meet their material and energy needs whilst rapidly and significantly cutting their greenhouse gas emissions.

Can we realistically tackle the dual problems of waste disposal and sustainable energy? Yes. We can change our perceptions of waste and its disposal, contribute to our battle against climate change and help meet our needs for affordability and security of energy supplies.   

In recent years the Institution of Mechanical Engineers has been advocating that waste should not be regarded as a problem to be ‘dealt with’ but as a valuable resource which could help us meet our national and regional environmental targets and commitments.

Download the Energy from Waste report (PDF, 2Mb)