With 250 waste to energy leaders gathered in London for the 2015 World Waste to Energy City Summit, we pooled the vast array of expertise in the room to create a vision for the future of the waste to energy industry.
Divided into small groups, delegates were asked to generate ideas across the following core areas: Policy, Technology, Finance, Feedstock and Public Engagement.
We collated these ideas to create the following roadmap for the future of the industry:
POLICY
- Government committed to the promotion of renewables
- Waste elevated politically: Policy driven centrally from one department
- A switch from subsidies (carrots) towards taxation (sticks)
- Clarity over CfDs with a better risk/reward balance for developers
- Consistency over planning decisions nationally
- Mandatory separation of biowaste by 2025
- Long-term policy stability beyond the 5-year government cycle
TECHNOLOGY
- ACT proven to work long-term, including O&M costs
- Proven and transparent efficiency figures of over 40%
- Scale of plants accurately matched to each waste stream
- ACT plants producing gas, liquid fuels and chemicals
- Heat as a reliable revenue stream, with district heating integrated into all new urban planning
FINANCE
- Ready availability of finance for merchant plants
- Help given to the funding market to assess the merchant waste risk more accurately
- Refinancing available during the operational period – with GIB taking on some of the risk
- More commercial lenders attracted into the sector, reducing overall financing costs
- Better risk-sharing schemes between the EPC contractor, developer and technology provider
FEEDSTOCK
- Rebirth of the proximity principal – local waste for local plants
- Scale of plants smaller so less risk in sourcing feedstock
- Waste owners offering stable long term supply to ACT facilities
- Clearly defined and standardised RDF specification driven by the market
- Stringent SRF testing for export with greater enforcement
PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT
- A new generation with a strong awareness of the value of waste as a resource
- W2E perceived the same as any other piece of strategic infrastructure
- Better understanding of the trade-offs between centralised and distributed plants
- Outreach and education about the value / benefits of waste separation and collection
- Standardised infrastructure and rules for waste separation at source
- Public perception of waste to energy matches that of Copenhagen
Save the Date:
WORLD WASTE TO ENERGY CITY SUMMIT May 24-25, 2016
For more information on how you get can involved in shaping the debate at the 2016 summit, contact:
Stephan Groves on +44 1273 789989 stephan.groves@rethinkevents.com