Life by 'monster' incinerators as West Midlands second for most operational rubbish sites
by Ben Perrin, https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/authors/ben-perrin/ · Birmingham LiveWest Midlands has the second highest amount of 'monster' incinerators used to burn household waste in the UK. It comes as burning rubbish in giant incinerators to make electricity is alleged to be the 'dirtiest way the country generates power', BBC analysis claims.
The BBC discovered that burning waste produces the same amount of greenhouse gases for each unit of energy as coal power after examining five years worth of data. Half of waste produced is being burnt, with the West Midlands currently having eight operational incinerator sites, which includes Veolia on James Road, in Tyseley, MES Environmental (CNIM Group) on Lister Road, in Dudley, and two in Wolverhampton.
While there are three planned projects and another three sites under construction, including at the Former Spread Eagle Works, on Portway Road, in Wednesbury, and at Giffords Recycling, on Kelvin Way, in West Bromwich.
READ MORE: Birmingham shooting as three people on e-bikes hunted after gunshots fired on street
Barbour ABI chief analyst Ed Griffiths told BirminghamLive: “The surge in energy from waste generators – essentially incinerators – has gathered pace over recent years as councils have sought alternatives to landfill. We have certainly witnessed more planning applications in the West Midlands area."
It comes as Mandy Royle, a resident living closest to the UK’s biggest waste incinerator at Runcorn, in Cheshire, said: "We have been inundated with flies, rats, smell, noise. It's just been horrendous."
The Environmental Services Association, which represents waste companies, said they play a “vital” role in producing energy from waste facilities. It comes as 16 million tonnes of waste was incinerated last year in the UK. It claimed disposing of household waste in landfill produced more greenhouse gases than by at energy-for-waste facility.
In a statement, it said: "It is simply incorrect to compare the carbon intensity of energy produced as a by-product of waste treatment with other forms of energy generation without accounting for these avoided emissions associated with landfill.”
A Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said: “We are committed to cutting waste and moving to a circular economy so that we re-use, reduce and recycle more resources and help meet our emissions targets. We are considering the role waste incineration will play as we decarbonise and grow the economy.”
The eight operational incineration sites in the West Midlands:
MES Environmental (CNIM Group) - Dudley EfW - Lister Road, Dudley - Operational
MES Environmental (CNIM Group) - Wolverhampton EfW - Crown Street, Wolverhampton - Operational
MES Environmental (CNIM Group) - Stoke-on-Trent EfW - Campbell Road, Sideway, Stoke - Operational
Veolia - Tyseley ERF - James Road, Tyseley, Birmingham - Operational
Coventry & Solihull WDC - Coventry - Bar Road, Coventry - Operational
Veolia - Battlefield EfW - Vanguard Way, Shrewsbury, Shropshire - Operational
Veolia - Four Ashes EfW - The Dell, Enterprise Drive, Four Ashes, Wolverhampton - Operational
Mercia Waste Management - EnviRecover - Oak Drive, Hartlebury Trading Estate, Worcester - Operational
EfW Incinerators in operation:
Region | In operation | Total Capacity (MWelec) |
South East | 11 | 291.8 |
West Midlands | 8 | 110.6 |
Yorkshire and Humber | 8 | 211.6 |
North East | 6 | 131.3 |
South West | 6 | 136 |
Scotland | 5 | 57.5 |
London | 4 | 188 |
Eastern | 4 | 95.7 |
North West | 3 | 144.3 |
East Midlands | 3 | 67.4 |
Wales | 2 | 46 |
Grand Total | 60 | 1480.2 |
Three incineration sites under construction in West Midlands:
Kew Technologies (formerly JCB Broadcrown) - Former Spread Eagle Works, Portway Road, Wednesbury
Private Developer - Hangmans Lane, Hanley Castle
Enfinium Energy Limited - Giffords Recycling, Kelvin Way, West Bromwich
EfW Incinerators planning and under construction:
Region | Projects | Potential Capacity (MWelec) |
Yorkshire and Humber | 17 | 643.05 |
Scotland | 10 | 154 |
East Midlands | 10 | 218.5 |
North West | 8 | 204.28 |
South East | 8 | 285.8 |
Eastern | 7 | 188.1 |
North East | 6 | 134.9 |
West Midlands | 6 | 123 |
South West | 5 | 64.15 |
London | 3 | 170.5 |
Wales | 2 | 2.5 |
Northern Ireland | 1 | 14.9 |
Grand Total | 83 | 2203.68 |
Stay up to date with the very latest from your Birmingham or West Midlands street or neighbourhood with our Birmingham News Email Updates