North London Waste Authority have said the UK Emissions Trading Scheme could add £35 million annually to waste disposal costs for north London residents.
North London Waste Authority (NLWA) has warned that the UK ETS could act as an ‘end-of-pipe’ tax on councils.
The UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS) is a ‘cap-and-trade’ carbon pricing system in which a total limit (or cap) is set on greenhouse gas emissions from participating sectors.
Energy-from-Waste (EfW) is set to join the UK Emissions Trading Scheme from 2028, which means EfW plants will have to measure and report their CO₂ emissions and buy carbon allowances to cover what they produce over the cap.
NLWA argues that the cost burden of the ETS must be passed on to producers rather than local authorities to incentivise the decarbonisation of waste through the scheme.
As part of five ‘urgent actions’ for the UK Government on waste, NLWA says the government must introduce new funding and a comprehensive waste decarbonisation strategy to protect local authorities from ETS liabilities.
If it does not adopt either of these policies, NLWA says the UK Government must delay the inclusion of EfW in the ETS or exclude local authority waste from the scheme.
NLWA chair, Cllr Clyde Loakes MBE, commented: “It’s the makers of products using unsustainable materials who should pay the carbon taxes, not councils, and certainly not residents.
“Government must tax the polluter and provide funding to councils so that essential services are not cut.”
Government must tax the polluter and provide funding to councils so that essential services are not cut.
NLWA has also called for the UK Government to take urgent action to encourage consumers to dispose of lithium-ion batteries safely to prevent fire and preserve their resources.
The local authority said it will call for the ultimate phase-out of all single-use, disposable household batteries.
Cllr Loakes urged the government to ‘strengthen producer responsibility so battery manufacturers cover the cost of kerbside collection, fire damage and recycling’.
NLWA said the EPR scheme should replace generic battery recycling targets with chemistry-specific targets for each battery type, and introduce a producer levy based on the recycled content of batteries placed on the market.
“The government must incentivise producers to make these products more sustainable and ensure that recycling becomes feasible via investment in recycling infrastructure that can handle this type of waste,” Cllr Loakes said.
NLWA’s five urgent actions for the UK Government include:
- Create an ambitious long-term roadmap to make a step change in waste reduction.
- Invest in domestic recycling and reprocessing capacity.
- Make the ETS fair and effective.
- Enhance battery regulations to ensure safe disposal.
- Legislate to reduce the environmental impact of absorbent hygiene products.