Energy from Waste : Helping waste managers prepare for fundamental changes to waste streams

The UK Government’s tightening of planning and environmental standards for new waste incinerators marks a pivotal moment in the sector. Stricter rules for developing incineration plants in England came into force earlier this year, to be followed by packaging policy reforms aimed at improving waste management and supporting a more circular, efficient system. These include: Simpler Recycling; the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS); and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).

While compliance challenges are debated, the rationale behind the changes is clear. Too many resources are lost due to poor waste separation, collection, or treatment. For the waste industry, this is an inflection point. It’s an opportunity to future-proof operations, cut carbon emissions and replace ageing, inefficient infrastructure. 

Having helped design and deliver a new generation of Energy from Waste (EfW) facilities over the past decade at Stantec, we’ve seen plants improve the treatment of residual waste, offering an important alternative to landfill and generating electricity. But with new legislation affecting future builds and recycling targets diverting materials upstream, the composition of waste is changing - and industry must adapt. 

Here are five key considerations:

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As recycling targets tighten and circular economy policies take hold, residual waste streams are becoming more complex. More organics and recyclables are being captured earlier in the process. This impacts feedstock quality, calorific value, and combustion efficiency.

DEFRA estimates that while packaging reforms will reduce total municipal waste by 13 percent, population growth means England’s residual waste is expected to rise from 12.8 Mt/year in 2020 to 18.8 Mt/year by 2035. DEFRA forecasts managing this increase through a 47 percent rise in EfW capacity, while reducing reliance on landfill, Mechanical Biological Treatment and Refuse Derived Fuel exports.

Facilities must evolve — through better sorting, flexible combustion systems, and closer collaboration with local authorities and commercial waste producers. The days of relying on a steady stream of mixed municipal waste are over. Future-ready EfW operators will be those who can handle variability without compromising performance or compliance.

The new rules raise the bar for planning approval. Future EfW projects must be built with the potential to add carbon capture technology, and ways to use the heat generated by the incinerator. They also still need to prove high thermal efficiency, and should demonstrate alignment with local waste strategies, community value and environmental net gain. From 2028, waste emissions will also be included in the emissions trading scheme (ETS), requiring operators to purchase allowances for their fossil carbon emissions.

Designing turbine bleeds to divert steam for heating can enhance energy efficiency. And offtake and carbon capture can be accommodated at relatively little cost through design and construction. But the challenge will be trying to retrofit these into facilities where the original footprints don’t have enough available space. We’re seeing carbon capture in particular requiring adjacent land with a similar size footprint as the main power plant. This should be factored into any decisions about upgrading facilities.

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Given that carbon capture isn't an immediately available, market ready bolt-on to EfW facilities, we urgently need to consider improving sorting techniques and clean up waste streams upfront of incineration. New collections for organic waste will be a key part to this, boosting the volume of material going through alternative proven processes such as anaerobic digestion. While the recovery and re-use of plastics has proven more difficult in practice - with fluctuating market conditions and global price competition making it challenging to commercialise – the UK does have valuable experience in this area.  

As well as technology upgrades, data-driven performance assessments and strategic integration with local energy systems can also boost efficiency. Stantec’s experience across client portfolios demonstrates that combining engineering, environmental permitting, and digital optimisation is key, identifying efficiency gains and helping facilities not only meet regulatory standards, but deliver long-term value. Our recent experience with integration on EfW facilities for instance shows that installing district heating connections can increase efficiency by over 60%. At one EfW site that was generating 27MW of power, the district heating addition resulted in 24MW power and an additional 20MW of heat. 

With recycling rates stagnating and nearly half of local authority waste still incinerated, the pressure is on to recover more value and reduce emissions. The new regulatory landscape reinforces the core principle: waste is a resource, not a liability. 

Whether through energy, heat, recovered materials, or incinerator bottom ash aggregate, the industry must extract maximum value from every tonne of waste. Materials recovery is moving from the margins to the mainstream, and facilities that integrate it effectively will be better positioned to thrive. 

Advanced sorting technologies are key, but cost dynamics remain complex. Smaller facilities often face higher per-tonne costs, making scalability a factor in investment decisions. Transporting, storing, and upgrading intermediate materials also adds operational and capital challenges

In the transition to a circular, low-carbon economy, a more efficient EfW sector can shift from last resort to critical enabler of decarbonisation and resource efficiency. 

Data is the backbone of this. From emissions monitoring and heat recovery metrics to feedstock traceability and carbon accounting, the ability to collect, analyse, and act on data is essential. Regulators demand transparency; investors expect ESG reporting; and communities want evidence of impact. 

For waste managers, this means investing in digital infrastructure, integrating real-time monitoring, and using predictive analytics to optimise performance. As the regulatory shifts also become technological and cultural ones, the industry can become more resilient and understood for the good it offers. 

As both waste volume and power demand keep rising, maximising this potential is progressively more important to society, the economy, and the environment. 

In cooperation with Stantec.