RDF Intervention

摘要

We welcomed Defra's call for evidence about RDF in March this year and submitted our insight as an RDF producer and operator of three EfW facilities (with two additional plants under construction). From our experience, the Environment Agency should increase the monitoring and policing of the RDF market using existing powers and the permitting system to clamp down on illegal activity which discredits the sector. However, too much governmental intervention could damage the viability of the market. There is a shortage of EfW treatment capacity in the UK, whilst there is overcapacity in Europe due to decreasing tonnages of residual waste. Low shipping costs and the current strength of sterling make exporting RDF less expensive and more environmentally suitable than landfill disposal. More EfW capacity is currently under construction or planned in the UK and these facilities, once they become operational towards the end of the decade, will compete against exporting opportunities for RDF.