§ Baroness Byfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many incinerators capable of burning waste at 1,000°C are now in existence in the United Kingdom; how many of them are used to dispose of 126WA rendered cattle carcasses; what is their combined disposal rate; what is the current level of carcasses in store; and how this compares with two years ago.[HL3251]
§ Lord WhittyRecords of incinerator gas temperatures are not gathered centrally. However, there are some 180 authorised incinerators in the UK. Combustion gas temperatures will reach 850 degrees centigrade in nearly all of these, and the majority will be capable of achieving 1,000 degrees centigrade.
Five plants are currently incinerating meat and bone meal (MBM), from rendered cattle carcasses from the Over Thirty Months Slaughter Scheme (OTMS). Four of these five plants recover energy from the incineration process and all maintain temperatures of over 850 degrees centigrade in line with SEAC recommendations. They have a combined contracted disposal capacity to incinerate 225,000 tonnes of MBM per year.
There are no carcasses in long-term storage awaiting disposal. However, some 276,000 tonnes of MBM generated from the OTMS are currently held in secure storage pending destruction, compared with over 460,000 tonnes two years ago.