New analysis by the BBC has found that using incineration to generate electricity from household waste is the most polluting method currently used in the UK. According to the study, which examined five years’ worth of data, burning waste produces the same amount of greenhouse gases per unit of energy as coal-fired power, which is no longer used in the country. Nearly 50% of the waste generated in UK homes is now incinerated, including a growing quantity of plastic, creating an issue that one scientist dubbed an “insane situation”. However, the Environmental Services Association, which represents waste firms, dismissed the findings, stating that it is “challenging to avoid” waste-related emissions.
The analysis shows that plastic is the dirtiest type of waste to burn since it is derived from fossil fuels. Burning it produces high levels of greenhouse gases. In the past few years, less food waste has gone to incinerators and more plastic waste, but in calculating the potential risks, the government has continued to assume the same mix of rubbish produced in 2017.
The UK’s use of coal has been reduced during the past thirty years because of how polluting it is and the country’s last coal plant was closed last month, leading to the government
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