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RDF Britain's waste policy: Learning from the Dutch The UK is in the same position as the Dutch were ten years ago in terms of recy- cling rates. The deep recession and a successful programme to increase recycling from all waste has resulted in a situation that has led to the Dutch having more energy-from-waste (EfW) capacity than it needs to treat its domestic residual waste supply. What can the UK learn from the Dutch experience? Liz Gyekye finds out. s the cost of landfill has risen, councils and waste manage- ment firms have been obliged to explore alternatives to landfill, one of which has been the production and export of refuse derived fuel (RDF). The key end destinations for UK-exported RDF, in terms of volume, include countries such as the Netherlands and Germany. In 2013, England and Wales exported a total volume of 1,157,895 tonnes of RDF, primarily to the Netherlands (69.6%) and Germany (12%), according to a report published by EFRA. Recent official figures show that the Netherlands has an EfW capacity of 7.5 million tonnes and residual waste of around 5.9mt (2013 figures), leaving a 1.7mt capacity for foreign markets. It is estimated that the Netherlands has around 20% overcapacity (more capac- ity than it needs) in its EfW market. Exports from this end market totalled more than 500,000t in 2011/12. One could argue that there has been a miscalculation in the develop- ment of the EfW infrastructure in the Netherlands. Taking this into consid- eration, what can the UK learn from the Dutch? Lesson 1 – Do not build too many EfW plants City of Westminster waste services manager Jarno Stet, who has experi- ence of working in both the UK and Dutch recycling industry, gives the above advice. He also says that the UK could "build to a much better standard with higher performance and efficien- cies than now". He says a lot of recent UK plants will be lacking performance which is painfully evident in their R1 (see box out) ratings which are lower than older Dutch plants which were built in the 1970s/1980s. Lesson 2 – Invest more in recycling Dutch Waste Management Association director Dick Hoogendoorn says that the Netherlands current overall recy- cling rate stands at 78%. He argues that the success of the Dutch waste management policy is based on a bal- anced system of rules and regulations. He says: "Important instruments to reduce landfilling and stimulate recy- cling and waste to energy develop- ments have been the combination of a landfill ban and a landfill tax." He also says that the extended pro- ducer responsibility for 'end-of-life vehicles', packaging, car tyre, used batteries and accumulators translated either in legal obligations or in cov- enants have appeared to be successful. Hoogendoorn explains that the man- datory system of separate collection of biodegradable waste has also helped boost recycling figures. In addition to this, municipalities have been stimu- lated to set up separate collections systems for paper and cardboard and empty glass bottles. Separate collec- tion systems for plastic packaging waste have also been added. In fact, the Netherlands' Secretary of State Wilma Mansveld has recently set a target of diminishing waste going to incineration or landfill by 50% in the next ten years. Attero is the Netherlands' leading waste management company. Attero commerce and marketing manager Robert Corijn says if the Netherlands was to "do it all over again we would have invested more in recycling". He adds: "The UK can still leapfrog the waste hierarchy and go directly from landfill to recycling. "Why make the detour to incineration and later on to recycling knowing that recycling technologies and markets are maturing and that by more recycling the need for more waste-to-energy capacity will diminish? "If you would take the budget planned to realise EfW plants in the UK (billions of pounds) and spend it on recycling, you would move forward enormously 20 Local Authority Waste & Recycling January 2015 A • R1 is defined in Annex II to the Waste Framework Directive as a recovery operation, consisting of the thermal processing of waste being used 'principally as a fuel or other means to generate energy'. Fast facts

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