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Written question asked by Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative) on Thursday, 11 November 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 18 November 2004. It was answered by Elliot Morley (Labour) on Thursday, 18 November 2004 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Dept for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what definitions her Department uses of (a) incinerators, (b) thermal treatment plant, (c) combined heat and power and (d) energy from waste.
Answer

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what definitions her Department uses of (a) incinerators, (b) thermal treatment plant, (c) combined heat and power and (d) energy from waste. [198737] Mr. Morley: The Waste Framework Directive (WFD) (75/442/EEC as amended by 91/156/EEC and Council Decision 96/350/EC) requires anyone carrying out the waste disposal and recovery operations listed in annexes MA and MB of the directive to do so under the terms of a permit issued by the competent authority. The WFD classifies "Incineration on land" (D10) as a waste disposal operation; and "Use [of waste] principally as a fuel or other means to generate energy" (R1) as a waste recovery operation. The distinction between waste disposal and recovery operations is the subject of case law by the European Court of Justice. The WFD is supplemented by other legislation, including the Waste Incineration Directive (WID) (2000/ 76/EC). Article 3(4) of the WID defines "incineration plant" and in doing so refers to "the thermal treatment of wastes" and "other thermal treatment processes". Draft guidance concerning this definition is to be found in my Department's publication "Guidance on Directive 2000/ 76/EC on the incineration of waste", edition 2, August 2004 which is available on my Department's website. Combined heat and power (CHP) is defined as the simultaneous generation of heat and power in a single process. The power output is usually electricity, but may include mechanical power. Heat outputs can include steam, hot water or hot air for process heating, space heating or absorption chilling. Energy from waste (EfW) is the general term for all processes that generate energy from the fraction of waste that has calorific value.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
198737; 426 c2005W;426 c2011W
Session
2003-04
EC documents
Dir75/442/EEC;Dir2000/76/EC
Subjects
Combined heat and power EU law Energy Incinerators Waste disposal Terminology Waste Waste heat recovery
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk