LAWR

ENERGY RECOVERY Waste – it's only a word, isn't it? he English language is a wonderful thing. So many of us encounter new words on a daily basis, allowing our vocabulary to be ever-expanded. There are other occasions however, when we feel more comfortable using words that we're familiar with. Perhaps this goes some way to explaining why refused derived fuels (RDF) and solid recovered fuels (SRF) are still referred to as waste. Those in industry might question why this even matters. Waste is only a word after all. But I believe it does matter – a lot. Defining waste If we look to the online Collins dictionary, one of the definitions given for 'waste' is: 'garbage, rubbish, or trash'. And herein lies the problem. The word 'waste' conjures up images of filthy refuse rotting in a bin. It is quite an emotive word with negative connotations. And perhaps it explains why members of the public still consider energy-from-waste (EfW) plants nothing but dirty incinerators. In terms of perceptions, I therefore think use of the word 'waste' is significantly important. If we look at the online Cambridge dictionary, the noun waste is defined as: 'unwanted matter or material of any type, especially what is left after useful substances or parts have been removed'. Unwanted material Of course the wastefulness of households and businesses, and poor utilisation of resources in the first instance, is 'unwanted' – we'd rather they'd have prevented matter from ever becoming waste. But that doesn't mean RDF and SRF should be described in this way, especially when considering the latter part of the Cambridge definition. Yes, in producing RDF or SRF, steps should have been taken to remove as many useful parts (valuable recyclates) as is technically, environmentally and economically practicable. But that doesn't render RDF or SRF useless, as the definition implies. On the contrary, with clever and considered processing, we're talking about highly important alternative fuels. As fossil fuels become increasingly depleted, and the risk of future power cuts becomes a real problem, RDF and SRF provide the population with ever-more precious energy resource. When considering that approximately 50% of SRF material is renewable too, I'd say this makes the fuels very useful indeed. A different name So what could RDF and SRF be called instead? To classify them as products is perhaps a step too far, especially for RDF which isn't manufactured to the same defined specification as SRF. This is a shame because if we look to other markets such as biomass fuel, its simple A-D grading system and greater recognition as a product, has undoubtedly aided its acceptance as an environmentally-sound energy production process. We need to see the 16 Local Authority Waste & Recycling March 2015 T RDF can provide the population with a pre- cious energy resource Is there a need to loosen the waste classification on alternative fuels? And if the word 'waste' was dropped, what impact would this have on industry progress? UNTHA UK's Chris Oldfield considers these questions. Is there a need to loosen the waste classification on alternative fuels? And if the word 'waste' was dropped, what impact would this have on industry progress? UNTHA UK's Chris Oldfield considers these questions.

• Cover