Are UK residual waste exports coming to an end? RDF Industry Group debates the future at national waste sector event

The RDF Industry Group was joined today by the Environment Agency at the biggest waste sector event of the year – RWM & Letsrecycle Live – discussing proposals to ban waste exports.

The RDF Industry Group, which represents over 30 organisations across the European waste-derived fuel (WDF) supply chain, opened the Energy from Waste theatre on 14^th September, chairing a panel session focussing on the future of residual waste exports from the UK.

RWM & Letsrecycle Live is the biggest UK waste sector event of the year, taking place at the NEC in Birmingham on the 14^th-15^th September 2022.

The session discussed the importance of exports to the UK, future approaches to export regulation, and reflected on the wider residual waste market in Europe. This follows comments earlier in the year made by Sir James Bevan, Chief Executive of the Environment Agency (EA), that waste exports should be banned to address waste crime.

Georgina Collins, Director of Regulated Industry at the EA, was joined by Anna Willetts, President of the Chartered Institute of Waste Management, and Robert Corijn, Marketing Manager at Attero B.V. (leading Netherlands waste management company).

Mike Brown, Secretariat to the RDF Industry Group and Managing Director of Eunomia Research & Consulting, who chaired the session, said ahead of the event; “The prospect of banning waste exports to reduce waste crime has come as a bit of a surprise to the sector and we’re really looking forward to the Environment Agency telling us how a ban would reduce criminal activity without impacting our efforts to move waste up the waste hierarchy.”

Looking ahead, in October the RDF Industry Group will be hosting its AGM in central London, where a variety of industry topics will be discussed alongside networking opportunities.

Later in the autumn sees the RDF Conference returning to central London on 24^th November with a full agenda of waste-derived fuel topics, as the only event dedicated to the residual waste export market.

Topics will include: changes to key policies in the UK and EU such as waste shipment regulations and emissions trading schemes; the decarbonisation of waste derived fuels; operational trends and challenges and the future of waste derived fuel movements across Europe. The RDF Conference is run by Letsrecycle in collaboration with the RDF Industry Group.