Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the press notice entitled Government to crack down on waste incinerators with stricter standards for new builds, published on 30 December 2024, what are the strict new local and environmental conditions that new waste incinerators will be required to meet.

The Residual Waste Infrastructure Capacity Note and an accompanying statement, set out that the Government will only back new Energy from Waste projects which:

• Demonstrate a clearly defined need to facilitate the diversion of non-recyclable waste away from landfill, or enable the replacement of older, less efficient waste incinerators; AND

• Can be built Carbon Capture ready, in accordance with the Government’s ‘Decarbonisation Readiness’ requirements once they come into force;

• Demonstrate that making use of the heat they produce is viable.

We are considering how to reflect in the new set of national policies for development management to be developed. The Government has consulted on revisions to the National Policy Statements that support decisions on major energy infrastructure to reflect these conditions. The consultation ran from 24 April 2025 to 29 May 2025.