Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of using black bin waste in (a) the production of sustainable aviation fuels and (b) the waste-to-energy process.

Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is one of the key ways to decarbonise air travel. We have a comprehensive plan in place for SAF. We have set ambitious targets in the SAF Mandate, are providing grant funding to support investment in a UK SAF industry and are working to deliver a Revenue Certainty Mechanism.

The Revenue Certainty Mechanism will encourage investment in the construction of SAF plants across the UK. Supporting domestic SAF production will ensure the UK is less reliant on imported SAF.

Government analysis suggests that the use of SAF could deliver up to 54 million tonnes of net additional CO2 savings in the UK by 2040. We will continue to monitor the potential impacts of SAF as the technologies and our policies develop.

There is nothing preventing the production of fuel from non-recyclable (‘black bin’) waste if this is determined, by local authorities or other waste producers, to be the best overall value for money and environmental outcome for such waste. The UK has a thriving competitive market for waste management services and new players are welcome to join the field. There are a range of recovery options - both established and emerging - available to waste handling operators, which will be selected according to market conditions and local needs, taking account of the waste hierarchy and the need to ensure the best available environmental outcome for the waste. We are working closely with Defra on this issue, including through the Circular Economy Taskforce.