A new report published by SITA highlights the potential for the waste resources industry to increase its contribution to the UK economy.

Identifying the pivotal role the UK government has to play in creating the right environment for green growth, the waste management giant notes that ‘by providing domestic outlets for the use of recovered and recycled materials rather than exporting them overseas, the benefits of job creation in the sector can be retained in within the UK’. This includes channeling millions of tonnes of recyclate directly into UK manufacturing, reducing the need to import virgin materials.

SITA believes that up to 36,000 jobs could be created by as much as £25 billion investment in new infrastructure by 2020, plus a further 48,000, as part of the indirect supply chain. These would largely be more highly skilled than traditional waste management roles, primarily connected with energy-from-waste, materials recovery facilities, anaerobic digestion and composting plants.

Commenting on the potential that the report highlights, David Palmer-Jones, CEO SITA UK said: “The UK currently has a unique opportunity to revitalise its economy by changing the way it manages waste. Investing in new waste treatment facilities will not only create employment and economic growth but consolidate a more secure energy supply. The more effective use of recyclables will help reinvigorate UK manufacturing where waste provides the base materials for new products previously destined for landfill.”

SITA is currently a major supplier of electricity generated from landfill gas, but the company notes that as the UK moves away from reliance from landfill, this will also reduce energy generated from methane capture at these sites. With suitable government support and incentives, SITA believes that the energy derived from waste could triple to 3.6 terawatt hours over the next decade, capable of providing electricity for one million homes.

However, anti-incineration campaigners challenge the rationale for this report. Shlomo Dowen, Head of the UK Without Incineration Network (UKWIN), commented: “This is hardly an independent evaluation. It has been written with the express purpose of attracting a new crop of investors, suggesting the energy for waste (EfW) lobby are having a difficulty selling their product. The talk is about an opportunity for £25 billion investment, but what can you say, everywhere there is opportunity for investment.

“This is a business facing many risks, including there being insufficient feedstock and that whatever feedstock is available will be exported to the continent to fuel over provision elsewhere. SITA would be well advised to recognise EfW in UK is not a growth industry.

“The recession is over for lawyers because every incinerator action is going to face one or more legal challenge from local parties. There is now a backlog of incinerators with planning permission but not built because would be operators are failing to reach financial closure.”