Building waste to energy plants in urban areas

Waste to energy facilities have been successfully integrated in urban areas in many major European cities and the UK.

Amagerforbrænding. Photo by Waste Denmark

Even with state of the art waste to energy plants, concerns remain about emissions of low-level pollutants, including toxic dioxins. However, research carried out for DEFRA shows no credible evidence of damage to the health of people living nearby. According to the Health Protection Agency, the incineration of municipal solid waste accounts for less than 1% of UK emissions of dioxins. Most dioxin pollution comes from domestic combustion, but more dioxins are released into the atmosphere through bonfire celebrations on November the 5th, than from all the incinerators in the UK in a whole year.

Sensitive and innovative design also makes it possible to reduce the perception that energy to waste facilities are always bad neighbour developments.

It is easier to make space for new facilities in new developments rather than to try and retrofit the infrastructure necessary to recover and utilise heat and power. This is now happening through mixed use developments in which new residential schemes are more closely linked with industrial and commercial estates, recognising the synergies between waste production, resource recovery and re-processing businesses and helping to reduce carbon emissions.

In Copenhagen, three large waste incineration plants provide a significant proportion of the City’s heat and electricity supply. Amagerforbrænding is one such facility and one of Denmark’s largest waste to energy plants, showcasing energy solutions. It deals with waste from 535,000 inhabitants and 36,000 companies, and in turn produces heat and power for 140,000 households. The facility operates on a ‘not for profit’ basis with a turnover of around £37million.

Priority: turn waste into energy
Tags: energy, waste, neighbourhoods, buildings and spaces