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recovery facilities; and roll out carbon capture technology across our energy from waste facilities by 2040 where feasible

Buy only zero emissions collection vehicles from 2030, phasing out petrol and diesel entirely by 2040. Move vehicle and all on-site fuel use to zero emissions sources by 2040, so that bin and recycling lorries and trucks across the country are powered by sustainable sources such as electric or biofuel rather than diesel

Gavin Graveson, Chairman of the Environmental Services Association, said: “Our sector has made tremendous and rapid progress on decarbonisation, but the climate crisis continues to accelerate and our sector is determined to embrace the challenge by doing more to ensure we hit net zero. Our report also shows that done right, decarbonisation can deliver green jobs and investment right across the UK.”

Jacob Hayler, Executive Director of the ESA, said: “Our members have committed to an ambitious target and we have developed a clear and detailed plan to get there. This is an urgent and important task for the UK which we are excited, willing and able to invest behind. Critical to our success is a continuing constrictive partnership with Government to ensure the policy framework around decarbonisation continues to drive the right decisions which will ensure we can accelerate the UK’s net zero ambition.”

George Eustice, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said: “The ESA’s commitment today is absolutely vital in helping us achieve our world-leading target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, building a net zero economy and leaving the environment in a better state for future generations.

“The recycling and waste management sectors are key to the success of our reforms, from creating deposit return schemes for drinks containers to encouraging more recyclable packaging. This commitment will help the nation transform the way we deal with waste and reduce our emissions.”

The ESA’s Board will be responsible for monitoring performance against the targets set and will review and report on progress against this strategy annually, and the strategy itself every five years, to ensure that it remains aligned with policy and market shifts.

A full GHG review for the sector will be conducted every two years and will be published in the ESA’s Annual Report, baselined against the first sectorwide emissions review conducted this year by Ricardo.

In addition to delivery from the ESA and its members, success will also require government support on energy decarbonisation and carbon capture to ensure maximum benefit for the UK. The ESA will continue to work in close partnership with government on two critical policy areas.

The first is the regulatory and policy context around carbon capture technology, which helps reduce emissions from non-recyclable waste and removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The second is around decarbonisation of industrial vehicles such as collection wagons through the progressive electrification and deployment of renewable and alternative fuels.

The Environmental Services Association is the member organisation for essential waste treatment and recycling service companies in the UK covering collection, sorting, landfill and energy from waste. The sector employs 123,000 people across 92 companies.

While it is an essential public service, waste management is a significant part of the UK’s overall GHG emissions; the UK produces 221m tonnes of rubbish a year and the waste management process generates 8% of the UK’s total emissions.

The ESA’s activity is governed by the waste hierarchy, designed to promote reuse and repair, then recycling and energy recovery, to minimise the amount of waste which goes to landfill and promote a more circular economy.

In 2018, this resulted in 50m tonnes of avoided CO2e emissions across the UK by preventing waste from reaching landfill, and in 2019, UK waste management facilities generated around 9% of the UK’s renewable energy.

The ESA’s commitment today is absolutely vital in helping us achieve our world-leading target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, building a net zero economy and leaving the environment in a better state for future generations.

GOVERNMENT URGED TO RECOGNISE VALUE OF WASTE WOOD BIOMASS

The Wood Recyclers’ Association has urged the Government to reflect the value waste wood biomass adds to the UK’s efforts to decarbonise in its Biomass Strategy 2022.

In its response to a Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy consultation, the WRA stressed that there is a limit to the amount of times wood can be effectively recycled, and following that process it makes sense that the wood is then recovered as biomass fuel rather than being put into landfill.

Richard Coulson, chair of the WRA, said: “The UK is now a success story in respect of waste wood. We can respect the demands of the waste hierarchy of reuse, recycle then recover, and also satisfy all end user demand because we have the capacity to divert all waste wood from landfill, saving the methane emissions which are circa 25 times more harmful than carbon dioxide.”

The UK currently produces around 4.5m tonnes of waste wood a year, for which there is an equal end use demand. The UK waste wood market is structured for environmental compliance in that the higher quality waste wood is recycled into animal bedding or panel board (1.5m tonnes) and the balance of lower quality mixed waste wood (3m tonnes) is used as a fuel by biomass power plants which are compliant with the latest regulatory standards (Industrial Emissions Directive – Chapter IV).

“The biomass facilities using waste wood in the UK operate under ROC or RHI subsidies,” said Richard. “These will end in an average of 15 years. and we are therefore asking the Government to be mindful of this and consider future support mechanisms for the industry. Without that there is a risk that 3m tonnes of UK waste wood could end up with no market.”

Chapter IV Biomass plants in the UK are highly regulated and use advanced abatement technologies to control emissions within tight parameters, making them compliant with the Industrial Emissions Directive. Furthermore, waste wood biomass produces no negative impacts in respect of land-use, food security or biodiversity.

The WRA is also asking the government to ensure that its environmental and energy policies are aligned. This follows the publication of the Waste Management Plan For England by DEFRA in January this year, which suggested that recovery (power and/or heat generation) is less favourable than recycling.

Richard added: “This is not the case for waste wood, because lower-quality mixed waste wood is not always suitable for recycling. Biomass therefore provides a valuable end market for that 3m tonnes of material, which may otherwise be destined for landfill.”

The WRA also believes that as chemicals and transport fuels made from waste become increasingly important, waste wood may become a feedstock option for these sectors.

GLOBAL CONSUMER BRANDS UNVEIL WORLD’S FIRST ENZYMATICALLY RECYCLED BOTTLES

Food grade sample bottles produced by Consortium – including Carbios, L’Oréal, Nestlé Waters, PepsiCo and Suntory Beverage & Food Europe – using breakthrough enzymatic recycling process.

The promise of endlessly recycled PET plastic is one step closer today, as the Consortium – Carbios, L’Oréal, Nestlé Waters, PepsiCo and Suntory Beverage & Food Europe – announces the successful production of the world’s first foodgrade PET plastic bottles produced entirely from enzymatically recycled plastic.

Each Consortium company has successfully manufactured sample bottles – based on Carbios’ enzymatic PET recycling technology – for some of their leading products including: Biotherm®, Perrier®, Pepsi Max® and Orangina®.

Today’s announcement is the culmination of nearly 10 years’ research and development by Carbios to create a new process and supercharge an enzyme naturally occurring in compost heaps that normally breaks down leaf membranes of dead plants. By adapting this enzyme, Carbios has fine-tuned the technology and optimized this enzyme to break down any kind of PET plastic (regardless of color or complexity) into its building blocks, which can then be turned back into like-new, virgin-quality plastic. Carbios’ patented enzymatic PET recycling process enables a wide variety of PET plastics to be recycled into virgin quality, food grade rPET. PET plastics that would otherwise go to waste or be incinerated, can now be brought back into a continuous circular system of recycling. And this can be achieved at high speed – breaking down 97% of plastic in just 16 hours – 10,000 times more efficient than any biological plastic recycling trial to date (peer-reviewed article in Nature).

Together, these brands will work to scale this innovation to help meet the global demand for sustainable packaging solutions. In September 2021, Carbios will break ground on a demonstration plant, before launching a 40,000 tons capacity industrial facility, by 2025.

Commenting on the announcement, Carbios’ CEO Jean Claude Lumaret commented: “In a world first, we have created food-grade clear bottles from enzymatically recycled colored and complex plastic with identical properties to virgin PET, and in partnership with the Consortium, we have proved

It is very exciting to see that the quality of the prototype bottles made from colored recycled PET materials is virtually identical to clear virgin PET.

the viability of the technology with the world’s leading brands. This is a truly transformational innovation that could finally fully close the loop on PET plastic supply globally, so that it never becomes waste.”

Jacques Playe, L’Oréal’s Global Head of Packaging and Product Development added: “We have been working with Carbios since 2017 to develop this first bottle made from PET derived from enzymatic recycling technology, an alternative to mechanical recycling. We are pleased to announce today the feasibility of these bottles in a pilot phase and are delighted to be in a position to create the packaging of the future with our partners. This is a promising innovation for the years to come that demonstrates our commitment to bring to market more environmentally friendly packaging and which is part of a circularity initiative begun more than 15 years ago”.

Jean-Francois Briois, Head of Packaging Material Science and Environmental Sustainability Nestlé Waters global R&D added: “It is very exciting to see that the quality of the prototype bottles made from colored recycled PET materials is virtually identical to clear virgin PET. When we reach industrial scale, this enzymatic recycling technology will enable us to produce high-quality rPET bottles and help Nestlé Waters in our journey to boost the circular economy and reduce the use of virgin plastics.”

Ron Khan, Global VP of Packaging, Beverages, PepsiCo added: “PepsiCo is committed to building a circular economy to achieve our vision that