Waste to Energy Industry Survey Finds Brightened Mood

The mood in the waste to energy market has brightened in 2014, according to the results of latest industry barometer survey by Cologne, Germany based environmental consultants, ecoprog. The survey, supported by the European Confederation of Waste-to-Energy Plants (CEWEP) found that the business climate index increased slightly for both waste to energy (WtE) plant operators as well as other companies operating in the WtE industry. According to ecoprog, the main reason for the brightened mood is improved business expectations. The survey showed that the operators have a more positive outlook, compared to the 2013 survey. Most operators said that they are not concerned that some countries have spare waste to energy capacity, as they consider that these countries will help other EU Member States, which do not yet have sufficient treatment capacity of their own, to meet their landfill diversion targets. Plant operator’s optimism was said to be based largely on the increased waste volume, with 24% of operators reporting that plant utilisation increased over the past 12 months and only 4% reporting a decrease. Overall, 96% of operators said that they reached a sufficient or even high utilisation of their plants. CEWEP Commenting on the findings, CEWEP noted the fact that in Europe more than 80 million tonnes of municipal waste is still landfilled, and that as a whole Europe is far from developing overcapacity in the waste to energy industry. However, the organisation added that should the European decision makers introduce legislation to ban landfilling, operators consider that, at least in Northern and Central Europe, this will not translate into new waste to energy infrastructure, as there is already sufficient treatment capacity very little is sent to landfill without prior treatment. The survey also found that operators also expect the rate of recycling to increase. CEWEP said that it strongly advocates at the European level that landfilling should be phased out in order to unleash the full potential of waste as a source of secondary raw materials and for local affordable energy, when the waste is not suitable for sustainable recycling. The organisation added that as the energy content of the waste treated in 2012 in European waste to energy plants was equivalent to 19% of the natural gas imported from Russia (4 million TJ in 2012) into EU-28, it would be counterproductive to continue burying energy containing waste in landfills. Instead, CEWEP urged the use of waste to energy technology to help reduce Europe’s high dependence on expensive fossil fuel imports. ESWET The European Suppliers of Waste to Energy Technology (ESWET) also said that Europe currently does not recycle enough and still landfills too much of its waste. The trade association added that current and upcoming EU legislation will create conditions for waste to energy plants to be built across the EU. It said that this is because the revision of the targets from the Waste Framework and Landfill Directives will seek to minimise landfilling of untreated waste, which only a proven technology like combustion can deliver. According to ESWET, the development of affordable, partly-renewable and local energy, along with the renewed focus on greenhouse gas emissions reduction will also require waste treatment technologies that do not require constant addition of fossil fuels. To help making these policy considerations a reality, the organisation said that it is collaborating with other EU-level waste- and material-related organisations in working towards: A ban on the landfilling of recyclable and recoverable waste by 2020 Waste remaining ‘waste’ that cannot be combusted outside the strict EU environmental protection standards applied to waste That priority should be given to material recycling and limitations are put on quantities that can undergo energy recovery Improving conditions for the development of the efficient synergy between waste to energy and district heating. The results of the survey can be downloaded HERE Read More Confederation of European Waste-to-Energy Plants Congress: Local Energy from Local Waste The Confederation of European Waste-to-Energy Plants (CEWEP) Congress taking place 24-25 September 2014 will provide an ideal forum for EU and Local decision makers, the waste management industry and other stakeholders discuss: The Burning Question - What to do with Plastic Waste and Where Does Waste to Energy Fit In? Participants at a joint CEWEP & ITAD Workshop at the recent IFAT exhibition in Munich concluded that for waste plastics quality recycling, measurement and traceability are essential in order to achieve an evidence-based circular economy, but waste to energy has a major role to play in closing the loop and treating the remaining waste that is not suitable for recycling. CEWEP: End of Waste Criteria Must not be Applied to SRF With a number of EU states developing their own end-of-waste criteria for waste derived fuels, European associations with a stake in waste management, including the Confederation of European Waste-to-Energy Plants (CEWEP), have urged the European Commission to ensure that Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) and Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF) from waste remain under the control of waste legislation.