In order to achieve a sustainable waste management with high environmental standards and primary energy saving, CEWEP would like to clarify the following issues concerning the Annexes of Directive 75/442/EEC (R1 / D 10):

• Waste-to-Energy Plants can recover energy according to R1 (Annex IIB) - the ECJ does not exclude Waste-to-Energy Plants from energy recovery in the "Luxembourg-Case" 458/00.
   
• Energy recovery in Waste-to-Energy Plants depends on
  
  

  energy efficiency criteria, i.e. the technique of the plant
  and the possibility to supply energy to third parties (industry, hospitals, citizens etc.)
  and the quality of the Waste

• The principles of proximity and self-sufficiency shall apply to high-tech Waste-to-Energy Plants and to household waste.

A paper has been worked out in co-operation with engineers and lawyers analyzing the conditions given by the ECJ in the "Luxembourg-Case" for assuming thermal treatment in Waste-to-Energy Plants as energy recovery (R1 operation).

Brussels, June 2003
Dr. Ella Stengler