UK needs more waste infrastructure, says GIB

Green Investment Bank (GIB) identifies £5 billion waste-to-energy opportunity in the UK waste sector

THE UK Green Investment Bank (GIB) has published a market report, produced in partnership with Tolvik Consulting, setting out the investment opportunity in the UK waste market.

GIB forecasts a gap of up to 7.7 million tonnes between the amount of waste produced post-recycling and the infrastructure available to process it; an investment opportunity of around £5 billion until 2020. The energy recovery infrastructure, says GIB, could generate enough renewable electricity to power one million UK homes.

‘There is clearly a capacity gap in the UK waste market,’ said Chris Holmes, the GIB’s managing director, waste and bioenergy. ‘Energy from waste infrastructure remains an attractive asset class, offering good financial and environmental returns and a strong project pipeline over the coming years.

‘The project pipeline is increasingly focused on processing commercial and industrial waste, often using advanced conversion technologies. We are confident that this changing landscape can continue to provide attractive investment opportunities.’

With report findings showing a 70% drop in waste sent to landfill and a 26% increase in recycling since 2000, the UK has proven to manage its waste sustainably. More recently, results found that the UK produced 85 million tonnes of waste in 2012, of which almost 21 million tonnes were sent to landfill.

Using non-recyclable waste as a fuel to generate energy rather than sending it to landfill, says GIB, can deliver much needed UK energy generation capacity, as well as significant economic and environmental benefits over the longer term.