Request for information on energy from waste plant emission breaches

Thank you for your request for information, received on 3 September 2025. Please note our reference number: 2025-255.

Your request has been processed in accordance with the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. We can confirm that the North London Waste Authority (the “Authority”) holds the information relevant to the subject matters you specified.

Please find our response below.

Your request:

Please provide me a copy of all the reports to the Environmental Agency of notifiable emission limit breaches in the last 5 years: 1st September 2020 to end of August 2025. Please provide me with information of remedial and mitigation measures undertaken after all these breaches. 

Our response:

Please find attached a breakdown of the notifiable emissions from September 2020 to end August 2025 as requested.

While the age of the current facility contributes to occasional brief emission breaches, most of the breaches were brief and caused by gas canisters in the waste stream, resulting in short lived spikes of approximately 30 minutes each. For the most recent Environment Agency (EA) compliance assessment report EA received (2024), the majority were category 4, which are non-compliance with no foreseeable impact on human health, quality of life, or the environment. Over the period in question, the facility was 99% compliant on emissions.

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you may ask for an internal review, which should be submitted within two months of when you received our response to either informationrequests@nlwa.gov.uk or enquiry form quoting the above reference. 

If you are not content with the outcome of the review, you may complain to the Information Commissioner, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF, or via their online portal. The Information Commissioner will not usually accept complaints before a review has been completed.  

Website: https://ico.org.uk