Waste to Energy

Formidable waste and biomass offering

Over the past century, Waste to Energy (WtE) projects have become part of long-term strategies to reduce landfill through the processing of waste. Ashurst has built a formidable offering across municipal waste, food and garden organic waste and biomass/anaerobic digestion in line with this transition.

Forefront of developed and emerging markets

The UK has been one of the most active markets for waste and biomass over the last 15 years, and our team has become experts in the industry, advising on numerous  waste and biomass projects.

We are also active on projects in various emerging jurisdictions across Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific, including Indonesia and having closed Australia's first and second WtE developments. In some countries, particularly those with limited regulation around waste processing, which can result in unsanitary landfills or illegal dumping, WtE plays a crucial role in addressing environmental challenges, alongside being an energy solution.

Active on innovative and first of their kind projects

Because of our proven ability to deliver first-of-a-kind WtE projects across the world and our deep expertise across the sector, we are regularly called upon to support innovative and landmark projects, such as the development of waste to jet fuel plants to produce cleaner burning sustainable aviation fuel, waste to biogas, waste to biomethane and waste to biofuels projects, as well as providing strategic advice on WtE in the context of Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS).

Industry knowledge

We have experience in the WtE market, advising the full range of relevant stakeholders including developers, local councils and financiers on all aspect of such projects globally. We have deep understanding of the different processing techniques, outputs and technical terms typically used in these projects. For example, municipal solid waste (MSW), commercial and industrial waste (C&I waste) and construction and demolition waste (C&D waste), as well as energy carriers from waste (including gaseous, liquid and solid form), and capture and use of CO₂ for methanation. We are increasingly seeing clients refer to the concept of circular economy, that is waste arising is collected, recovered, processed and treated, to maximise resource recovery so that the collected and recovered resources can be recycled and reused for as long as possible.