Energy Recovery
Our facilities around the country are working hard combusting non-recyclable waste, turning it into energy.
Energy Recovery Facilities are vital in supporting the UK’s ambition to reduce waste in an efficient and effective manner, helping to reduce the impact of waste on climate change.
After reducing, reusing and recycling as much as possible, our Energy Recovery Facilities (ERFs) provide the infrastructure to efficiently recover vital energy from residual waste, meaning landfill becomes the last resort.
Energy recovery is a technology that sees non-recyclable waste burned at high temperatures under carefully controlled conditions. The process is extremely efficient, robust and safe, with emissions treated to meet the stringent European Industrial Emissions Directive, which is strictly enforced and monitored by the relevant regulatory authority. This is the Environment Agency (EA) in England, Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) in Scotland and the Natural Resources Wales (NRW) in Wales.
Energy Facility Locations
Our Facilities
We have invested over £1.2 billion in the development of a network of advanced energy recovery facilities across the UK, which reduce the country's reliance on either placing waste in landfill or exporting it to the continent for treatment. This year our facilities will produce 2,315GWh electricity – that’s enough to power the equivalent of 634,248 homes.
Viridor is determined to play a leading role in transforming the waste sector
So it can be a driver of creating a net zero, circular economy by 2050.
In May 2021, we announced our five-step decarbonisation plan committing to net zero emissions by 2040, and the ambition to be the first net negative emissions waste and recycling company in the UK by 2045.
