There is a long history of landfill as a cheap means to dispose of waste. Governments are forcing the use of other solutions by a mixture of legislation (PUSH) and fiscal incentives (PULL)

Landfill Pressures: PUSH

• The EU Landfill Directive (LFD) requires significant quantities of biodegradable waste to be diverted from landfill by 2010/11, escalating through to 2020. Municipal Authorities will be heavily fined if they do not meet these targets (£150 - £200 per tonne, Defra)
• Dept. of Environment, Food, Rural Affairs (Defra) has estimated that 170-220 new MSW and 145 commercial waste facilities will be required. This represents £5-7 billion of infrastructure by 2020 - a timescale insufficient for PFI to deliver as quoted in the second Kelly Report (2006)
• Landfill Tax, £40 per tonne in 2009-10, is set to escalate annually by £8 per tonne to £80 per tonne by April 2015.

Renewable energy demand and incentives: PULL

• The UK government's target is that by 2020, at least 15% of the UK's energy should come from renewable sources and 30% of electricity from renewables by 2020 (currently 5.5%).
• The sale of Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs) are a growing market driver. Under the April 2009 ROC banding measures, biomass (i.e. > 90% biogenic content) will qualify for 1.5 ROCs when using conventional combustion technologies (or 2 x ROCs if good quality CHP). ROCs proposed to be market mechanism up to 2037.
• Co-Firers (i.e. coal power stations that burn biomass with coal) are the main existing operational facilities and are permitted to use up to 12% biomass so the feasibility of paying for imported biomass (e.g. olive paste, pine kernel expeller, sawdust, etc) puts pressure on sourcing competitive alternatives. The forthcoming EU Renewables Directive (RED) and Fuels Quality Directive are focussing more on sustainability, sourcing quality and consistency. Since April 2009 Co-firers get 0.5 ROC, down from 1.0 ROC. UK proposals are to also lift the 12% cap to encourage more rapid, large scale displacement of coal.
• Climate change Levy Exemption Certificates (LECs) are available to end users of biomass fuel and renewable energy.
• The increasing cost, security and replacement timescale issues for gas, oil, coal and nuclear will influence power prices over the next 2-10 years.
• The market potential for ART biocentre® facilities is significant as more landfill sites shut and capacity diminishes.