Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of changes to the mix of waste sent for incineration since 2017 on the carbon emissions of each unit of electricity generated by incinerators compared to (a) coal, (b) gas, (c) nuclear, (d) biomass, (e) offshore wind, (f) onshore wind and (g) solar.

Defra made no assessment of the effect of changes in the mix of waste sent for incineration on the carbon emissions of each unit of electricity generated by energy recovery facilities when the Rt Hon member for North East Cambridgeshire was Secretary of State. Defra is currently undertaking a composition analysis study of residual waste treated at energy recovery facilities. This will enable us to better understand the overall composition of residual waste treated at energy recovery facilities and, in due course, can form the basis for a better understanding of the fossil carbon portion of waste sent to incineration.