The UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS) Authority has confirmed that plans to extend the scheme to waste incineration will not go ahead in 2028 as originally proposed.
A 2024 consultation had set out plans to price carbon emissions from fossil-derived waste, including plastics and textiles, burned at energy-from-waste facilities from January 2028, with costs potentially passed on to local authorities.
A revised implementation timeline and final policy design will be announced in due course, with the waste sector given time to prepare.
The Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (LARAC) has welcomed the decision. Chair Gareth Rollings said it would bring ‘massive relief’ to councils facing ‘significant but still uncertain additional costs,’ and called for the final design to ensure local authorities aren't left liable for materials they didn't produce and cannot remove from the waste stream.
Wendy Barratt, chair of ADEPT's Waste Working Group, said: ‘ADEPT welcomes the Government's announcement to delay the inclusion of energy from waste (EfW) plants in the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).
‘This will allow the industry, including local authorities, to work together with government to put in place policies and infrastructure to help decarbonise residual waste in a timely manner. The original timeline meant the potential ETS cost burden would have fallen largely on local authorities at a time when financial resources are already stretched.’
