Request for information on waste incinerated and greenhouse gases emitted at the Edmonton EcoPark

Nature of Request
EcoPark current operations
Case id
2022-197

Request

Date received

For each of the five most recent years for which you hold full data (whether calendar of financial years), please state:

  1. How many tonnes of residual waste was sent for incineration? Please provide a breakdown for household and non-household residual waste.
  2. What were the total greenhouse gas emissions associated with incinerating residual waste, including all GHG emissions from the incinerator itself? Please provide a breakdown for emissions generated by household and non-household residual waste. Please further specificy, how much of this was (household and non-household) residual waste was of a) fossil and b) non-fossil origin. 
  3. Please state whether the incinerator which you send waste to is fitted with Air Pollution Control Residue (APCr) filters. And if so, please state how many tonnes of APCrs were removed. 
  4. For each of the questions above, please also state whether the figures you provide in response to each specific question were obtained by direct measurements taken at the incinerator/EfF plant or through other means (please indicate what method was used) 
  5. Please provide me with an electronic copy of the council's most recent waste composition analysis of residual waste.
  6. Please provide me with an electronic copy of the Council's most recent waste composition analysis of material rejected from Materials Recovery Facilities (MRFs), including both loads rejected prior to entering the MRF and material rejected at the MRF (e.g. material collected for recycling which is subsequently sent to an incinerator or Energy from Waste plant).

Response

Response date

9 January 2023

We write further to our email acknowledging your EIR request (reference 2022-197).

You requested:

1. information on the tonnages of waste sent for incineration, broken down by household and non-household waste, in the five most recent years for which we hold full data
2. information on the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from incineration of the waste, broken down by household and non-household waste and waste of fossil and non-fossil origin, in the five most recent years for which we hold full data
3. information on whether the incinerators used are fitted with Air Pollution Control Residue (APCR) filters and, if so, how many tonnes of APCR were removed in the five most recent years for which we hold full data
4. a copy of our most recent waste composition analysis of residual waste
5. a copy of our most recent waste composition analysis of material rejected from Materials Recovery Facilities, including both loads rejected prior to entering the MRF and material rejected at the MRF.

You requested that we specify whether the figures provided were obtained by direct measurements or through other means, indicating the other means used if applicable.

Regarding point 1 above, please see the attached spreadsheet ‘LA_and_Regional_Spreadsheet_2021’, which contains data from WasteDataFlow, a system for municipal waste data reporting by UK local authorities to government. Table 1 contains data showing the tonnages of household and non-household waste collected and delivered to the Authority. Table 2 shows how the waste was disposed of, including incineration with and without Energy from Waste (EfW). This data is collected using weighbridges that weigh the vehicles that transport the waste and is provided to DEFRA by the Authority.

Regarding point 2, we have tried to contact you for further information on which gases you are interested in receiving data on. Please clarify this and we will liaise with the operator of the Edmonton EcoPark, LondonEnergy Ltd, for the data.

Regarding point 3, the EfW facility at the EcoPark is fitted with APCR filters. The volumes of APCR that were exported from the site are shown in the table below.

Period Tonnes
April 2021 to March 2022 14,428
April 2020 to March 2021 16,894
April 2019 to March 2020 15,661
April 2018 to March 2019 16,119
April 2017 to March 2018 17,714
April 2016 to March 2017 18,473


e do not hold data on APCR removed at the third party sites that we send waste to for incineration during maintenance of the facility at the EcoPark.

Regarding point 4, please find attached the report on the waste composition analysis conducted in 2016 (‘2016 NLWA Residual waste composition analysis Final i2_Redacted’). We have redacted names where we do not have a lawful basis to process the individuals’ personal data under the UK GDPR for the purposes of this request. A new composition analysis is underway with results expected in the summer of 2023 following the second phase of waste sampling.

Regarding point 5, we are not an MRF operator and do not hold data showing a breakdown of the composition of the waste rejected from any MRFs.

We look forward to hearing back from you regarding point 2 above.

26 January 2023

We write further to our email of 9 January. We have not heard back from you in relation to which gases you are interested in receiving data on with regards to point 2 of your EIR request (reference 2022-197). We have therefore collated data on CO2 and NOx emissions from the EfW facility. Please see the table below.

Year CO2 NOx Unit
2018 151660.7 228.6 Tonnes
2019 147328.72 211.96 Tonnes
2020 163692.33 235.11 Tonnes
2021 151528.17 221.97 Tonnes
2022 144951.02 213.95 Tonnes


If you would like any further information, please do not hesitate to raise a further information request. If you would like to complain about our handling of information requests, you can do so by emailing this email address (informationrequests@nlwa.gov.uk) or using the enquiry form on our website.

Waste Composition Analysis Report 2016
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