Landfill vs Energy from Waste: Resolving the General Waste Debate
Waste management discussions often focus on how many resources are ‘saved from’ or ‘end up in’ landfill. However, the term landfill is often used wrongly as a catch-all for general waste management processes.
At the University of St Andrews, none of our general waste goes to landfill. Instead, it is processed as Energy from Waste (EfW). So, what does this mean?
What happens to University general waste?
When you put an item in the general waste bins on campus, it does not end up in a hole in the ground. Our partner, Cireco, uplifts our general waste bins and transports them to the Westfield Energy Recovery Facility, which opened in August 2025.
General waste materials are shredded down, separated by similar materials, and incinerated. The steam from the incineration spins a generator to produce energy for heating and electrical power. Afterwards, the steam is converted back into water to restart the cycle. You can read about the EfW process in more detail.
Westfield can process up to 250,000 tonnes of general waste annually. This will generate enough to heat and power around 70,000 homes and businesses.
Benefits of EfW compared to landfill
The EfW process avoids materials that cannot be recycled from entering landfill, where they often either do not break down or can leach harmful substances into surrounding soils and water sources. Instead, EfW meaningfully utilises these materials to produce heat and electricity.
The opening of the Westfield EfW site, located to the west of Glenrothes, means the University’s carbon emissions from transporting waste will decrease, as our general waste will now remain within Fife.
This contributes to Scottish Government zero waste targets and the University’s goal to become net zero by 2035. It also helps to create a more circular economy by ensuring the lifecycle of resources are maximised.
Despite this, our priority at St Andrews is on minimising waste across the University from the outset. We must reduce the amount of general waste that we generate so we can rely less on processes such as EfW over time.
Curious about recycling?
To find out what happens to our dry mixed recycling (DMR), watch this video from the Environment team. We followed our recycling to Cireco’s site to see the sorting and processing of these materials for ourselves!
Next time…
Now you know what happens to your general waste, and the differences between landfill and EfW.
If you are in doubt about putting an item in the recycling bin, don’t worry – it will be automatically separated from DMR if it can’t be recycled, and go to EfW (not landfill!)
As always, think twice before you purchase something if you know it will produce waste unnecessarily.
Got a question or concern about waste at the University? Email [email protected] and we can help you out!