Waste Not?

A BBC study has established that, over the last 5 years, nearly 50% of the household waste from UK homes, has been incinerated to generate electricity. A large proportion of that waste was plastics. As a fuel, waste produces 'greenhouse gas' emissions comparable to those from burning coal. Advocates of incineration, maintain that a benefit of incineration is that it reduces the need for expensive landfill. Disposing of such waste in landfill, would boost emissions of methane (a potent 'greenhouse gas'), as well as carbon dioxide (https://www.energylivenews.com/2024/10/15/burning-household-waste-now-uks-most-polluting-power-source/). It's claimed that carbon capture and storage, can be easily incorporated into incineration plants. Strangely, however, this facility is not a feature of most of these establishments. Actual recycling of household waste has also markedly declined, as incineration has increased in popularity. Most UK householders, are unlikely to suspect their carefully collected waste, might well be adding to environmental problems. There needs to be a fuller cost/benefit analysis of generating electricity by burning household waste. There's not much point in closing coal-fired power stations, if you replace them with something as damaging.