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'Turn rubbish into electricity for 2million London homes'
Mark Blunden28 Oct 2009
Rubbish could be transformed into enough electricity for two thirds of London homes, according to a report out today.
The London Assembly hopes councils will stop burning waste or transporting it to landfill sites. Instead it wants to convert everything that cannot be recycled - from tyres to old furniture - into electricity.
The report, "Where there's Muck there's Brass", suggests several ways of converting non-recyclable waste. These include breaking matter down using bacteria and "thermal treatment" using a super-high temperature oxygenated heating processes, called gasification.
Only one fifth of the 22 million tonnes of waste London produces each year is recycled and much of the rest goes to incineration plants - some of which produce electricity.
The report estimates that if every tonne of rubbish was re-used, it would generate enough power to heat up to 625,000 homes and supply electricity to two million of London's 3.3 million households.
Members of the Assembly's environment committee want waste companies and councils to invest in conversion systems. Committee chairman Murad Qureshi said: "Waste-to- energy technology will help the capital reduce greenhouse gases, cut down on waste sent to landfill, increase renewable energy generation, benefit the economy and create jobs."
But he said a stumbling block was that council contracts with waste firms can last up to 30 years.
The report also says that air pollution could affect the health of people living and working near the new conversion plants and recycling rates could fall.
Michael Warhurst, of Friends of the Earth, said the new technology could be more inefficient than sending waste to a tip. "We should be focusing our ambitions on how high we can get our recycling rates," he said.
"Lots of these processes have their own problems and many companies claim to have the best technology."
The report is intended to influence Mayor Boris Johnson's waste strategy, which will be ready later this year.
David Hawkins-Leth, of Safe Waste and Power consultants, estimates that councils investing in the conversion systems could take up to a decade to recoup their outlay.
Reader views (3)
Start with the London Assembly itself, send the Mayor and all its ancillary office equipment & paperwork to be recycled. Will save on the environment and the cost of putting up with the dirigibles of nonsense generated.
- Bill, Hay~Heath UK, 29/10/2009 02:04
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Why can't we just send it for landfill in poorer countries, after all they would probably be glad of the revenue generated.
- P Staker, London, 28/10/2009 11:54
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Even if you want to recycle and be green the local council still won't take: Yogurt pots / Plastic containers (meat or veg).
As these items (both with recycling marks on them), appear to take up at least 50% of my weekly rubbish, it stands to reason, that were the council able or willing, to recycle these items, the amount sent to landfill would drop dramatically. Stop putting the emphasis on the consumer! Its time local councils pulled together and came up with a united plan rather than the current, each council does his own thing! Also try and stop dumping our waste in other countries such as China and Africa, it might reduce our landfill but its doesn't do much for the globe!
- Carl, London, 28/10/2009 10:02
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