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European Environmental Bureau
Energy recovery
7/17/2015
R. Ferrigno EU Policy Director
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European Environmental
Bureau
The European Environmental Bureau
(EEB) is a federation of 134
European Environmental Citizens
Organizations in 25 Countries
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Waste Facts
• Each year in the European Union 1.3
billion tons of waste are generated–
some 40 million tons of it hazardous.
• This amounts to about 3.5 tons of solid
waste for every man, woman and child,
according to European Environment
Agency statistics.
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Waste Facts
Between 1990 and 1995, the amount of
waste generated in Europe increased
by 10%, according to the OECD. Most
of what we throw away (67%) is either
burnt in incinerators, or dumped into
landfill sites
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Waste Facts
• Most waste streams (paper, cardboard,
glass, plastic, PVC) will probably
increase over the next decade.
• Implemented EU legislation failed to
achieve reduction of waste generation
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Waste Facts
In 1998 for every ton of useful products
made in UK, about 10 tons of other
resources were consumed or wasted.
Waste represents an enormous loss of
resources both in the form of material
and energy.
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Lessons on Waste
• In total, between 60% and 70% of MSW
(200 million tons generated) can be
considered as biodegradable waste
(EEA).
• Legislation on mandatory separate
collection of biodegradable waste for
high quality composting still missing.
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Lessons on Waste
• Waste remain extremely sensitive
political issue (transport, disposal)
• Poor public information & participation
• Waste hierarchy not implemented yet
• Poor implementation record
• Poor Data & Reporting
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Need to focus on
prevention
• To unveil real costs of waste management
and fully implement producer responsibility
• To phase-out hazardous substances
• To eliminate implicit and explicit subsidies to
waste as “renewable”
• Targets and incentives for expanding the use
of recyclable and recycled materials in
products
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From process-oriented
approach to material-oriented
approach
• Develop IPP framework
• Increase resource efficiency
• Promote shift from products to services
• Targets and incentives for the use of
renewable resources
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Energy recovery
Due to the environmentally different hierarchies
of waste management, the EU waste strategy
distinguishes between:
• reuse meant as a material reuse without any
structural changes in materials
• recycling meant as a material recycling, only,
and with a reference to structural changes in
products
• recovery meant as an energy recovery only
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Energy recovery:
seeking for definition
The main inconsistencies in the overall
concept of reuse/recycling/recovery
apply to energy recovery.
It is not clearly defined in waste statistics
as a net calorific gain of energy of each
combusted waste, but may refer to:
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Energy recovery:
seeking for definition
• Incineration of waste materials of high
calorific values
or
• Total waste quantity incinerated in
facilities with energy recovery.
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Energy recovery:
seeking for definition
Due to the crucial role of targets for
reuse/recycling/recovery ratios,
clarification in definition of energy
recovery is necessary
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EU legal definition of
energy recovery
‘energy recovery’ shall mean the use of
combustible packaging waste as a
means to generate energy through
direct incineration with or without other
waste but with recovery of the heat
Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste,
art.3(8)
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ECJ ruling on energy
recovery
The recent ruling of the European Court
of Justice delivered on 13th of February
2003 - Case C-458/00 Commission of
the European Communities v Grand
Duchy of Luxembourg - points at
incineration with energy recovery in
MSWI’s as a disposal operation
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ECJ ruling on energy
recovery
According to the ECJ ruling on Case
C-228/00, Commission of the European
Communities v Federal Republic of
Germany, co-incineration with energy
recovery in cement kilns is a recovery
operation.
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ECJ rulings on energy
recovery
In order to be considered use principally
as a fuel or other means to generate
energy, within the meaning of point R1
of Annex IIB to the WFD, it is both
necessary and sufficient that the
combustion of waste meet the following
three conditions:
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ECJ rulings on energy
recovery
• The main purpose of the operation concerned
must be to enable the waste to be used as a
means of generating energy.
• The conditions in which that operation is to
take place must give reason to believe that it
is indeed a 'means to generate energy'.
• The waste must be used principally as a fuel
or other means of generating energy.
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ECJ rulings on energy
recovery
Commission should clarify the
consequences of the ECJ ruling on:
• The use of MSWIs to meet recovery
targets set by the Packaging Directive;
• Incineration as recovery or disposal
operations;
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Energy recovery and
climate change
Climate change impacts are only one of a
number of environmental impacts that
derive from solid waste management
options.
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Energy recovery and
climate change
Other impacts include health effects from
air pollutants such as NOx, SO2,
dioxins and fine particles, emissions of
ozone-depleting substances,
contamination of water bodies,
depletion of non-renewable resources,
disamenity effects, noise, accidents etc.
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Energy recovery and
climate change
These environmental impacts are in
addition to the socio-economic aspects
of alternative ways of managing waste.
All of these factors need to be properly
considered in the determination of a
balanced policy for sustainable waste
management, of which the climate
change elements are but one aspect.
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Energy recovery and
climate change
“source segregation of MSW followed by
recycling (for paper, metals, textiles and
plastics) and composting/anaerobic digestion
(for putrescible wastes) gives the lowest net
flux of greenhouse gases, compared to other
options for the treatment of bulk Municipal
Waste. The largest contribution to this effect
is the avoidance of emissions from landfills as
a result of recycling these materials”
Waste management options and climate change, AEA Technology 2001
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Energy recovery and
climate change
When it comes to municipal or regional waste
planning, local factors exert the dominant
influence.
• availability of existing waste management
facilities and duration of waste management
contracts, necessity to build new facilities
• markets for recyclables,
• geographic and socio-economic factors
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Lessons on Waste
Local factors exert the dominant
influence:
• Waste remain extremely sensitive
political issue
• Poor public information & participation
• Lack of consensus is the rule
• Information + Participation = Prevention
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Waste: the way forward
• You cannot solve the problem
by renaming it!!!
• Italy has changed the waste definition
by restricting the scope of the WFD
• Is the Commission following down this
road?
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