The document Impacts of the Proposed Dutch Waste Import Tax calls on the Dutch government to scrap its proposed waste import tax because it will lead to greater greenhouse gas emissions, as RDF from the UK and Republic of Ireland (ROI) is sent to landfill instead.
The briefing note sets out that for each tonne of RDF diverted from combined heat and power generation in the Netherlands and sent to landfill in the UK and ROI, an additional 261 kg of CO2e per tonne will be emitted.
The UK and ROI currently send about 1.4 million tonnes of RDF for treatment in the Netherlands each year – waste that would otherwise be landfilled as there is not enough waste treatment capacity in either the UK or ROI to treat this waste domestically. The document explains that the export of RDF from the UK and ROI to the Netherlands in 2018 saved almost 370,000 tonnes of CO2e, the equivalent of taking over 370,000 cars off the road.
The briefing note on the Impacts of the Proposed Dutch Waste Import Tax can be downloaded here.