Green Energy - Energy from Waste

As we move towards a cleaner and more resource efficient form of economic growth, all tiers of Government are stepping up to their roles in solving global environmental challenges.

The climate emergencies being called across the land have led to hundreds of councils committing to carbon neutrality by 2030 and the Government has set a legally binding target for net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 with Government in Scotland being even more ambitious aiming for 2045.

At FCC Environment, we are committed to reducing our reliance on fossil fuels in the UK’s fight against climate change. We have therefore placed the recovery of renewable energy at the heart of our business strategy.

Our aim is to recycle as much as we can, but extracting value – in the form of energy – from the waste we can’t recycle is an equally important part of our approach. The waste that cannot be recycled can be used as a fuel for our fleet of modern EFW’s or it may be compressed and baled to create Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF), that is also used to power EfW facilities.

Our EfWs

We currently operate 6 Energy from Waste (EfW) facilities nationally. These plants process non-recyclable waste and together, produce 117MW of valuable ‘green’ energy.

FCC Environment has had a major shift in emphasis in its business strategy. We are now focusing on materials recycling and recovery of renewable energy as we moves away from landfill disposal.

As one of the few proven alternatives to landfill, general waste can be sent to an EFW facility to generate steam from burning the waste and turning it into electricity that is then used to heat nearby homes and businesses.

The burning of waste and turning it into energy also greatly reduces the reliance of fossil fuels to supply energy needs to nearby homes and businesses.

Combustion gases generated from these processes are treated prior to being released through the stack. Emissions are continuously monitored and regularly checked by the Environment Agency to ensure they are in line with EU regulation.