Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Duncan of Springbank on 5 November 2019 (HL460), what were the greenhouse gas emissions produced per tonne of waste processed in an energy from waste incinerator in (1) 2012, and (2) 2018.

There are two categories in the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory that include waste being processed in an energy from waste incinerator:

• The incineration of municipal solid waste (MSW) in “Power Stations”;
• The incineration of MSW in “Miscellaneous industrial/commercial combustion”.

In 2012, an estimated 0.4 tonnes of CO₂e (carbon dioxide equivalents) were emitted per tonne of waste processed in UK “Power Stations” and 0.8 tonnes of CO₂e were emitted per tonne of waste processed in an energy from waste incinerator in UK “Miscellaneous industrial/commercial combustion”.

In 2018, an estimated 0.4 tonnes of CO₂e (carbon dioxide equivalents) were emitted per tonne of waste processed in UK “Power Stations” and 0.6 tonnes of CO₂e were emitted per tonne of waste processed in an energy from waste incinerator in UK “Miscellaneous industrial/commercial combustion”.

Emissions from biogenic waste material are not included in these figures, consistent with domestic and international reporting of greenhouse gas emissions.