Energy from Waste (EfW)

You won’t hear the companies who are planning to build these facilities referring to them as incinerators. They prefer to call them Energy from Waste (EfW) plants.

Make no mistake. EfW is just another term for incineration.

The main selling point of EfW schemes is that they will produce much needed energy from unwanted household waste. The problem here is that the waste they burn should be recycled.

EfW should have no place in any ‘waste strategy’ because with correct management and intelligent design we have no need to let any materials be burned in an incinerator. The process of incineration is both wasteful and dangerous. It wastes valuable natural resources and produces a toxic mix of chemicals and a residue of highly toxic ash that needs to be treated and disposed of as hazardous waste.