Recovering energy for a circular economy

Energy use is responsible for two thirds of global greenhouse gases. Curbing climate change demands a rapid transition away from fossil fuels to a sustainable energy system. SUEZ is advancing various technologies to power the new circular low-carbon economy.
The mission

To maximise the energy that can be recovered from waste resources, displace fossil fuels and make efficient use of sustainably sourced electricity

Waste materials that cannot be reused or recycled have value. We can recover this in the form of energy, providing a reliable source to complement renewable power from wind and solar.

 

Our parent SUEZ group is a Lead signatory to the UN Global Compact. It’s Sustainable Development Road Map 2017-2021 set a target for increasing production of renewable energy by 10%.

Our solution

Investing in advanced technologies

We are expanding our capacity to generate electricity and heat for homes and businesses – and displace fossil fuels – by developing and deploying a range of technologies. We are also investing in our infrastructure to continue improving energy efficiency.
Having generated electricity from landfill gas for more than three decades, SUEZ recycling and recovery UK has also developed a national network of energy-from-waste facilities for residual waste. Our energy-from-waste facility electricity generation has overtaken our landfills’ declining output. Our ten energy-from-waste facilities are equipped with advanced emissions control systems and operate at high levels of efficiency, exporting electricity to the grid and/or heat to local homes and businesses.
We are also advancing sustainable waste solutions that exploit new and emerging technologies, and alternative fuels. Using anaerobic digestion, we produce bio-gas from pasteurised food waste. Anaerobic digestors also generate electricity, as does our pioneering gasification facility, which uses processed waste pellets as feedstock.

We manufacture two alternative fuels – refuse derived fuel and solid recovered fuel – at two solid recovered fuel and 12 refuse derived fuel facilities. The solid recovered fuel facilities provide a sustainable substitute for coal and oil in cement kilns and other industrial plants.

 

As this energy network expands, we are also investing to boost the energy efficiency of our facilities – through energy management measures and LED lighting, as well as using our own renewable electricity.

The results

We have re-engineered SUEZ recycling and recovery UK as an alternative energy producer and fuel manufacturer, while rolling out new sustainable resource management solutions.

 

In 2019, we generated more than 1.5 million megawatt hours of electricity in total, plus some 311,120 megawatt hours of heat.

 

Self-supplied 100% renewable electricity sustains each of our alternative power stations – as verified by our Renewable Energy Guarantee of Origin (REGO) certificates.All energy we procure is renewable as a result.

 

The progressive installation of LED lighting in our facilities is saving energy and carbon emissions. At our Kirklees energy-from-waste facility, for example, by replacing more than 200 traditional lamps with LEDs, we avoid almost 37,8000kg of CO2 emissions over 12 months, almost paying back the £15,000 investment. Similarly, at our Malpass Farm fuel manufacturing site, LEDs cut power consumption by 12,200W annually and electricity costs by 66%.

Supporting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals

Our contributions here support SDG7 (Clean and Affordable Energy), SDG12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) and SDG13 (Climate Action).
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