Council raises cost concerns over incineration tax

Oxfordshire's "residual waste" is burnt to produce electricity at Ardley Energy Recovery Facility

"Significant concerns" have been raised by Oxfordshire County Council about plans to tax carbon emitted from burning waste.

Ninety-five per cent of Oxfordshire's non-recyclable waste is incinerated at Ardley Energy Recovery Facility near Bicester - diverting it from from landfill and generating electricity.

The government said it was "committed" to expanding the UK Emissions Trading Scheme from 2028 to include waste incineration, meaning a "market price" would be put on carbon emissions from facilities.

Council networks have warned it would cost authorities across the UK as much as £747m in 2028, rising to £1.1bn in 2036.

The scheme, introduced in 2021, currently covers aviation, energy intensive industries, and the power generation sector.

A government spokesperson said: “We are committed to expanding the UK ETS to include waste incineration and energy from waste facilities from 2028.

“We will continue to engage with the sector on our proposals and will publish further detail in due course.”

But the planned expansion has caused concern among councils, with research from the Local Government Association (LGA), County Council Network (CCN) and District Councils Network (DCN) claiming that in the first eight years of the scheme it could cost councils as much as £6.5bn.

Andy Graham, DCN Environment Spokesperson, said: “Taxing councils for the waste we have little option but to incinerate would be a bombshell for the delicately-balanced funding of local waste services."

Oxfordshire County Council is calling for costs to instead be passed on to producers.

A spokesperson said: "While supporting carbon reduction as a priority we have significant concerns about the potential additional costs of carbon emissions from 2028 at a time when council funding is under considerable pressure."