Responding to the European Commission's "Fit for 55" package, presented on July 14, 2021, the European Suppliers of Waste-to-Energy Technology (ESWET) note that the proposals preserve the positive contribution of waste-to-energy (WtE) to the safe treatment of non-recyclable waste.“The European Commission set down an ambitious set of measures to drastically reduce the emissions of the European industries," said Patrick Clerens, ESWET Secretary-General.
Waste-to-energy (WtE) – aka energy recovery or energy from waste (EfW) – already contributes to the decarbonization of the sector, as it diverts non-recyclable waste from landfills and recovers energy and secondary raw materials.
Reducing landfills means, in the first place, reducing methane (CH4) emissions, a potent greenhouse gas (GHG). Moreover, recovering energy in the form of electricity, heat, and steam, along with secondary raw materials saves virgin resources and improves Europe’s energy and materials consumption.
According to ESWET, two files included in the “Fit for 55” climate package presented by the European Commission on July 14, 2021, are directly related to waste-to-energy operations: the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) and the Emissions Trading System (ETS).
In both cases, the revisions proposed by the European Commission preserve the positive contribution of waste-to-energy to the safe treatment of non-recyclable waste.
Firstly, the proposal for revising the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) accurately addresses the urgency of uptaking every renewable energy source available, including the electricity, steam, heating, and cooling generated from non-recyclable waste.
ESWET points out that around 50 percent of the energy output of waste-to-energy plants is renewable as it comes from the biodegradable fraction of waste.
Concerning the ETS revision, the decision to keep the entire waste management sector under the Effort Sharing Regulation (ESR) is ESWET says a “thoughtful” assessment.
Including municipal waste incineration alone in the EU ETS without any prior inception impact assessment would cause side-effects such as a higher cost of recycling, additional fees for municipalities, and a rise in non-recyclable waste sent to legal and illegal landfills.
The European Commission set down an ambitious set of measures to drastically reduce the emissions of the European industries. Waste-to-Energy suppliers are committed to taking the necessary steps to reach carbon neutrality with the support of the European Union, said Patrick Clerens, ESWET Secretary-General.
According to ESWET, the next step to further reduce GHG emissions from non-recyclable waste is to support carbon capture and storage (CCS) implementation in waste-to-energy plants. The sector can become carbon neutral or even carbon negative, as demonstrated by several pilot projects in Europe.
Because of the complexity of the topic, ESWET believes that reforms covering the waste management sector should always carefully evaluate environmental and economic consequences, taking into account the broad impact on the entire waste management chain and local energy supply.
