Market forces will lead to a natural balance of capacity, according to the respondents of an online opinion poll.
A recent report by waste management company Biffa suggested that market forces will lead to a “natural balance of capacity”.
The study, titled The Reality Gap: UK residual waste treatment capacity – making sense of the arguments, concludes that there is presently a substantial capacity gap for residual waste treatment in the UK, in the order of 15Mtpa.
Biffa forecasts that this will reduce to 4.4-5.9Mtpa by 2025, but will never completely disappear.
CIWM Journal Online asked whether visitors to the site agreed with the findings of the report.
Almost half of respondents (49%) were of the opinion that market forces would lead to a natural balance of capacity, while 31% believed that it would not. The remaining 20% were “undecided”.
The study was completed by a team of Biffa experts, combining operational experience in every aspect of the business: collection, recycling and residual waste management, in both commercial and public sectors.
By carrying out the study in-house, Biffa says it was able to ensure all assumptions were based on real commercial experience. The report has also been peer reviewed by an independent consultancy.
The Reality Gap: UK residual waste treatment capacity – making sense of the arguments, can be downloaded here
CIWM Journal Online’s latest opinion poll is asking visitors whether England’s plastic bag tax will succeed in reducing usage.
