Waste-to-Energy Plants are complementary to the recycling plants in Europe. Considering the relation between the waste flow and the energy sector, the co-dependence between the recycling sector and the energy recovery has to be stressed.

CEWEP wants to allay any fears that waste incineration could inhibit recycling. This is most proven by Member States with high incineration rates like Austria, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland, where recycling levels are also amongst the highest in Europe. Low incineration rates go hand in hand with low recycling standards.

Through capacity planning any encroachment into recycling markets can be avoided.

In many Member States energy recovery in Waste-to-Energy Plants is connected to recycling installations, which recover the residual waste from recycling procedures, for instance. The one has to be considered as complementary to the other. For reasons of sustainability it is preferable that recycling residues go to incineration plants instead of landfills.

Scepticism against incineration is not justified for the Waste-to-Energy Plants represented by CEWEP. They are all equipped with efficient flue gas cleaning systems which allow them to reach very low emission levels, sometimes several times lower than required by the waste incineration directive 2000/76/EC.

Beside hygienically treatment they deliver energy-from-waste to others (industry, citizens, etc.) and thus substitute fossil fuels.

Assuming that nearly 30 million tonnes of wastes are treated/year in the Waste-to-Energy Plants, represented by CEWEP, the annual substitution of fossil fuels, such as natural gas are 4.67 billion m3 ( —> saving 9.12 million tonnes of CO2 emissions) and 4.58 billion litres of oil ( —> saving 12.9 million tonnes of CO2 emissions).

Thus Waste-to-Energy Plants are environmentally sound energy recovery operations and complementary to the recycling plants in Europe.

For the purpose of diverting wastes from landfills, a sufficient capacity of WtE Plants is absolutely necessary. Waste could be treated in a more sustainable way in WtE Plants, producing energy from the waste, than being landfilled.

December 2003