Incineration of waste in England

Waste incineration generally involves the use of high temperature furnaces to combust waste and reduce its volume.

Waste is a devolved issue and this briefing focuses on England. Further information can also be provided to MPs and their staff on request.

Incineration and the waste hierarchy

There are several different processes and technologies that can be used to incinerate waste. Some of them produce byproducts, such as energy and heat. ‘Energy from waste’ (EfW), sometimes called ‘waste to energy’ (EtW) describes processes that involve burning waste at high temperatures (greater than 850°C) and where energy from this process is recovered in the form of heat or electricity.

Incinerating waste (without energy recovery) is regarded at the bottom of the ‘waste hierarchy’, a statutory ranking of waste management methods by their impact on the environment. Businesses and public bodies must apply the hierarchy in their waste management; that is, they should try to use more environmentally friendly methods like preventing waste and recycling.

The Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011 provide for the use of a “waste hierarchy”, which businesses and public bodies have a duty to apply. This hierarchy sets out the order of priority to apply to products and waste. It gives top priority to preventing waste in the first place. Different types of incineration processes sit at different levels in the hierarchy. For example, waste incineration without energy recovery regarded as disposal, at the bottom of the hierarchy.

Statistics on incineration

The tonnage of all types of waste incinerated in the UK nearly trebled between 2010 and 2020. Environment Agency waste data shows that there was a further increase of 12% up to 2023 in England.

There has been rapid growth over the last decade in the amount of municipal waste incinerated in all parts of the UK. In the latest year just over half of all municipal waste was incinerated in England. Rates were around 30% in the rest of the UK.

Source: Defra, Local authority collected waste generation annual results 2023/24 (England and regions) and local authority data annual results 2023/24 (Table 2a)

In 2020 74% of all UK incinerators and 82% of incineration capacity was in England. The majority of incineration since 2016 has been with energy recovery.”

Permitting and permission

New incineration plants in England require both an environmental permit and planning permission. These are separate processes.

Environmental permits

An environmental permit sets out the limits on polluting activities that a particular type of activity, including waste incineration, can make. The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales Regulations) 2016 set permitting requirements. Regulation and determination of permits for incinerators in England is split between the Environment Agency and local authorities.

Permits may require the use of ‘best available techniques’. This means that operators may need to use the available techniques which are considered the best for preventing or minimising emissions and impacts on the environment.

Planning permission

The government’s National Planning Policy Framework (December 2024) sets out the government’s planning policies for England and how these should be applied. For waste infrastructure, the NPPF states that it should be read alongside the government’s Planning Policy for Waste document, 2014.

From December 2024, the government has directed those taking planning decisions on incineration facilities to take into account the government’s findings and conclusions in the government’s Residual waste infrastructure capacity note. In the press release accompanying the note, the government said that “developers will have to demonstrate that their projects will help lower the amount of non-recyclable waste sent to landfill or enable the replacement of older, less efficient plants”.

Government policy and proposed changes

The government’s Residual waste infrastructure capacity note provides the government’s analysis of municipal residual waste (household waste that isn’t segregated for recycling) and infrastructure capacity in England from 2020 to 2035. It was accompanied by a press release, Government to crack down on waste incinerators with stricter standards for new builds.

The note states that the government does not want the England to have more capacity for incinerating waste (for energy) than it needs. The government will work to strengthen planning considerations to ensure that this does not happen. The aim is to incentivise greater investment in preferable types of waste management (such as recycling). Where additional incineration infrastructure is needed, the government will only support projects that “offer the best efficiency and are future proofed towards supporting our net zero objectives”.

The government has confirmed (following consultation) its intention to introduce decarbonisation readiness requirements (PDF) for environmental permit applications submitted after 28 February 2026 for energy from waste plants. The aim of decarbonisation readiness requirements is to achieve a complete or near complete carbon dioxide emissions reduction from a power plant.

The government has also indicated that it intends to include energy from waste and waste incineration within the scope of the UK emissions trading system (a cap-and-trade system where businesses bid for carbon allowances).

Opposition to incineration

Incineration can be a controversial form of waste management. Proposals for new incineration facilities often face strong public opposition, including from campaign groups such as Friends of the Earth and the UK Without Incineration Network (UKWIN).

Concerns around incineration have focused on increasing carbon emissions, reducing air quality, burning materials that could otherwise be recycled, and preventing a shift to a more circular economy (where materials stay in use for longer).