Labelled both “the UK’s dirtiest form of power” and a greener alternative to landfill, the way more and more of the area’s waste is disposed of has proved a complex issue.

Community Connection Projects CIC managing director Sandy Belloni, who has spearheaded multiple environmental initiatives in and around Watford, wants people to be more aware of where non-separated waste is going.

He referred to recent BBC analysis that showed how energy waste recovery, used on a large scale by Hertfordshire County Council (HCC), produces roughly the same amount of greenhouse gases for each unit of energy as coal power.

Much of the waste gathered in Watford goes here, to Ardley ERF.Much of the waste gathered in Watford goes here, to Ardley ERF. (Image: Google Street View) The report described the practice, which involves burning waste for power, as five-times more polluting that the average UK unit of electricity and included comments from experts calling it “disastrous” for the environment.

Mr Belloni says he understands why the council is using energy recovery facilities (ERFs) where it does, but urged everyone in the county to look at better separating waste in the future so they are necessary less often.

“The burning of plastics is causing massive problems in terms of global warming,” he said, adding that recyclable material littered or placed in a waste bin currently has to be burned or sent to landfill.

Sandy Belloni.Sandy Belloni. (Image: Sandy Belloni) “In the future we are hoping that people become much better educated in terms of the separation of their waste.”

Meanwhile, HCC has been choosing to enter new contracts utilising ERFs to dispose of more rubbish. It sent more than 150,000 tonnes of waste to London, Bedfordshire, and Oxfordshire ERFs in the 2023/2024 financial year as part of a push to eventually ship "zero waste to landfill".

  • An official report on how the county disposes of its waste provided by the council is available to read here

A spokesperson acknowledged that “every effort should be made to prevent waste occurring” but highlighted the large amount of mixed or contaminated material that is not separated and needs to be disposed of.

“The BBC article chooses to compare a fossil fuel technology designed to create power with a waste technology that is first and foremost a solution designed to protect public health but which also generates energy from the process,” they added.

“The wider context is that in making arrangements for all of Hertfordshire’s residual waste to be treated in energy recovery facilities, almost no material will be sent to landfill sites, avoiding the greater negative impacts to our climate of methane and leachate generation.”

The BBC also highlighted that some councils have contracts that requiring a minimum amount of waste to go to ERFs, which HCC does.

The county council added that national government and local authorities need to act to tackle issues such as product design, manufacturing, and societal behaviours that limit people’s ability to cut down on waste.

Hertsmere councillor Paul Richards, who is responsible for environmental stability in the borough, explained how – despite HCC managing its waste disposal – Hertsmere is changing collections as one way to make it easier for people to separate rubbish including introducing weekly food waste collections from April next year.