Clean Energy and Sustainable Waste Management!
Waste-to-Energy explained - in 2 minutes!
Waste-to-Energy treats non-recyclable waste, saving resources and protecting the environment. This video by the International Recovery Foundation shows us how.
Latest ESWET News
20.04.2020
A resilient waste management system to overcome the next crisis
Public authorities are now planning the post-coronavirus recovery, but the worst mistake would be to endure, fix, then forget. To prevent further environmental and health issues, a resilient waste management system is crucial. Hygienisation through Waste-to-Energy plays a key part in it.
Brussels, 20 April 2020 - The COVID-19 outbreak is showing the increasing number of challenges the world has to face to keep a dramatic situation under control. This outbreak has disrupted the functioning of essential services and critical infrastructures that are all the more needed in time of crisis.
As a complement to recycling, Waste-to-Energy already has a fundamental role to play in the treatment of residual waste. The technology allows the safe treatment of non-recyclable waste, as it reduces its volume by about 90% and removes safely pollutants and pathogens from the eco-cycle.
“In these days, the responsibility of the WtE sector has expanded because of the outbreaks’ disruptive effects on waste collection, its sorting, and waste streams as a whole. At the same time, waste management operators and their supply chain have to ensure the safety of their employees and comply with emergency measures, making their mission all the more challenging”, says Patrick Clerens, Secretary-General of ESWET.
Thus, the disrupting impact of the pandemic has clearly highlighted the need for a strong and resilient waste management chain. Public authorities are now planning the post-coronavirus recovery, but the worst mistake would be to endure, fix, then forget: the world is dealing today with a pandemic, but it will face tomorrow's new crisis, including more frequent climate change-related crisis as the scientific community keeps warning us. Also, it is particularly important to prevent as of today a potential lack of trust from consumers which could trigger a surge of a throwaway culture.
Our society requires decision-makers to address these issues properly and this is why ESWET calls for the European Union and national authorities to:
- consider waste management operators, but also the technology suppliers they heavily rely on for maintenance and products, as essential services in all Member States;
- anticipate the needs of all essential services in this outbreak as well as for any future health and environmental crisis.
Waste management workers are contributing today to the functioning of our society. They are taking the streets daily to ensure that our waste is collected, sorted, recycled and recovered. As other key services, they are coping with the threats of the outbreak to keep the environment as clean and safe as possible. They need support for their essential work in these difficult times and the next to come.
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26.03.2020
The ESWET Activity Report 2019 is out
Find out more about the main activities and results achieved by the association of European Suppliers of Waste-to-Energy Technology throughout 2019. Check out our new Annual Report!
The Activity Report is a document resuming the main actions taken by the association during last year, in terms of policy, communications, organisation of events, and much more.
In our 2019 Annual Report you will find:
- the description of Waste-to-Energy and the scope of ESWET
- a fact sheet on the main reasons to support Waste-to-Energy
- several analyses on the main EU policy topics for waste and energy
- the guidelines on the new WI BREF
- an infographic on the Waste-to-Energy plant of the future
- an overview of the main features of the ESWET Vision 2050
- the new organisational structure of ESWET (a new Presidency started in 2020)
- a foreword by our former President, Dr. Edmund Fleck
- the list of events and activities organised throughout 2019
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23.03.2020
ANDRITZ is a new member of ESWET!
The European Suppliers of Waste-to-Energy Technology are glad to welcome their 20th member: ANDRITZ is a new Full Member of the association.
The publicly listed technology ANDRITZ Group is headquartered in Graz, Austria, and has a staff of approximately 29,700 employees. ANDRITZ operates more than 280 sites in over 40 countries.
ANDRITZ Air Pollution Control offers a wide range of complex flue gas cleaning systems for Energy-from-Waste plants. ANDRITZ product portfolio covers dry, semi dry, wet and catalytic technologies to treat pollutants ranging from dust, acid gaseous (SOs, SO3, HCl, HF), heavy metals, mercury, dioxins and furans as well as NOx in single and multistage plants.
ANDRITZ is also specialized in the sector of thermal treatment of residual waste and using waste as fuel. ANDRITZ EcoFluid and PowerFluid fluidized bed boilers are suitable for the thermal treatment of nearly all kind of fuels such as RDF (refuse derived fuels), pre-treated municipal and industrial solid waste rejects, sludge (e.g. paper sludge, municipal sewage sludge), waste wood/demolition wood, typical biomass fuels such as wood (e.g. chips, bark, forest residues, and sawdust), short-rotation energy crops, agricultural wastes.
Finally, ANDRITZ also supplies specific recycling technologies, processes and equipment for the conversion of waste to energy. This includes equipment for primary and secondary shredding, screening, classification, and drying.
Find out more: https://www.andritz.com/environmental-solutions
Follow ANDRITZ on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/andritz/ and YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCePl8rheXAvq_0J0Ayzbc8A
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19.03.2020
Common statement on the "New Circular Economy Action Plan"
(Signed by CEWEP, ESWET, EUROHEAT & POWER, FEAD, MUNICIPAL WASTE EUROPE)
Representatives of European Organisations dealing with sustainable resource management welcome the European Commission’s ambition on A New Circular Economy Action Plan, published on 11th March 2020. It includes many proposals which will contribute towards Europe becoming a cleaner and more sustainable circular economy as well as climate neutral.
However, the cornerstone of a circular economy is missing: the measures required to prevent the leaking of waste streams suitable for recycling or recovery to large scale landfills.
The signatories are disappointed that the action plan does not include further efforts on the diversion of waste from landfills. Even with progress on recycling rates, approximately 175 million tonnes of waste are still being landfilled in Europe annually (and this does not include the enormous amount of mineral wastes also going to landfill). This leads to more than 140 million tonnes of CO2eq emissions. While the targets for municipal waste landfilling were set back in 2018, municipal waste is just a small part of the total waste volume. Diverting also other waste streams (industrial and commercial waste) from landfills would not only bring environmental benefits, including soil and water protection, but is also the easy win for greenhouse gas mitigation in the waste sector.
The signatories ask the European Commission and policymakers to use the most effective measures to minimise large scale landfilling as soon as possible by ensuring the implementation of the existing targets on municipal waste. They also call for an integrated approach on industrial and commercial waste, with measures aiming at stimulating recycling, other recovery[1], and reducing landfilling of such waste flows, by setting a cap in the EU Landfill Directive also for (recyclable or recoverable) commercial & industrial waste, as done for municipal waste in 2018. This would create a level playing field in EU Member States. The cap would have to take into consideration the need for disposal in a more circular waste management chain, after recycling and recovery.
[1] See the statement of the recycling industry on the lack of capacity for ultimate residual waste, in particular of residual waste with high calorific value: https://www.euric-aisbl.eu/position-papers/item/300-statement-onissues-stemming-from-the-lack-of-capacity-for-ultimate-residual-waste
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13.03.2020
Joint Statement: A Taxonomy Delivering Sustainable Growth in Europe
A joint statement signed by 19 European trade associations
We, the signatories, represent sectors of major importance for European economic development and wealth. We provide highly skilled jobs to Europeans and invest in innovative solutions, renewable and efficient technologies that make the transition to a competitive, low carbon and circular economy in Europe possible. Doing so, we help fight climate change and lead the way towards a more sustainable world.
We welcome efforts to mobilise the financial sector in accelerating the move towards a prosperous and sustainable Europe in 2050. To achieve this, a stable, fair and favourable investment framework in Europe will be key. In that regard, the European Commission’s Sustainable Investment Regulation proposal (so-called ‘Taxonomy Regulation’) is an important and necessary step and the report recently tabled by the Technical Expert Group (TEG) (mandated by the Commission) sets out a first basis to define what sustainable investments are.
Read the full statement here.
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10.03.2020
EU Taxonomy – Waste-to-Energy can be sustainable
ESWET and CEWEP welcome the report on the “EU Taxonomy” published by the Technical Expert Group (TEG) on sustainable finance, with the positive remarks of the experts emphasising that “WtE has a role to play even in an increasingly circular economy, as not all waste can be reused or recycled”. Other experts expressed concerns whether WtE could hamper recycling.
In light of the political agreement text, the TEG has recommended bringing Waste-to-Energy for further consideration to the Platform on Sustainable Finance.
According to EUROSTAT data, almost half of the EU Member States still landfill more than 40% of their waste (above 80% in some countries). That’s not good news for EU waste management. Methane emitted by landfills is a greenhouse gas 86 times more potent than CO2 over a 20-year period. It is thus in the interest of a greener Europe not to overlook the treatment of residual waste.
We firmly believe that energy recovery from residual waste that cannot be reused or recycled (e.g. for hygienic reasons) is a key enabler to the success of any truly sustainable waste management strategy.
Download the Press Release in pdf.
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09.03.2020
A new presidency for ESWET. Ambitious goals for the future and the strong belief that Waste-to-Energy has an essential role to play in sustainable waste management.
(from left, Dr. Siegfried Scholz, president of ESWET, and Dr. Edmund Fleck, former president of ESWET)
As of January 1, 2020, Dr. Siegfried Scholz, Managing Director of Standardkessel Baumgarte GmbH, takes over the function of president of ESWET, the European association representing European suppliers of waste-to-energy technologies and promoting their development and dissemination at European level.
He is joined by two vice-presidents: Stanislas Ancel, Chief Executive of the Environment & Energy Sector Chairman of CNIM, and Bruno-Frédéric Baudouin, Chief Executive Officer of Hitachi Zosen Inova.
ESWET would like to thank our former president Edmund Fleck for almost 15 years of dedication and commitment to the association. Equal greetings to our former vice-president Gert Riemenschneider.
We look forward to achieving a positive development of waste-to-energy technologies and thus contribute to better and cleaner waste management in Europe and around the world.
Click here for more details on ESWET presidency and secretariat.
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20.02.2020
New Eurostat data shows how recycling and waste-to-energy grow hand-in-hand when it comes to Municipal Waste Treatment in the EU.
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A comparison between Eurostat data between 2010 and 2018 clearly shows that recycling and WasteToEnergy are growing hand-in-hand in the EU. Moreover, the analysis of the figures reveals that countries performing well with recycling prefer to send their non-recyclable waste to waste-to-energy.
Unfortunately, almost half of the EU member states still send to landfills more than 40% of their municipal waste. It's important to stress that methane emissions by landfills are 86 times more potent than CO2 over a 20-year period!
Find out more in this new fact sheet by ESWET: http://bit.ly/2Pcu7Vg
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27.01.2020
General Kinematics is a new member of ESWET!
The European Suppliers of Waste-to-Energy Technology are glad to welcome General Kinematics as a new Associate Member.
General Kinematics provides vibratory equipment, rotary equipment, and process systems to leading manufacturing and material processing organizations throughout the world. As new processes and environmental challenges emerge, General Kinematics is uniquely positioned to help you create new solutions to solve the most difficult process problems and increase your overall recovery rate.
GK equipment is built to handle the application of Waste-to-Energy with service life often exceeding 20 years. GK offers solutions from main ash collecting to size separation and additional downstream process for ferrous and non-ferrous metal recovery.
To know more about General Kinematics, check their website (https://www.generalkinematics.com/) and their LinkedIn and YouTube accounts.
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16.12.2019
#WTEFUTURE - The Integrated Waste-to-Water Process
The Integrated Waste-to-Water Process uses municipal solid waste to fuel seawater desalination plants. The concept is specially developed for applications in desert areas to secure a sustainable, less fossil fuel depended, potable water supply for local citizens.
Text and picture on the top right of page 2 provided by Doosan Lentjes
Find out the full campaign #WTEFUTURE here.
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13.12.2019
Joint statement for A Taxonomy Delivering Sustainable Growth in Europe
15 European associations join forces for the improvement of the Sustainable Investment Regulation and derived Taxonomy in order to accelerate investments in sustainable solutions and also boost innovation and competitiveness in Europe.
Find the full statement here.
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04.12.2019
BAT Conclusions for Waste Incineration - ESWET reaction: setting new standards of excellence for the Waste-to-Energy sector
ESWET welcomes the publication by the European Commission of the Best Available Techniques (BAT) Conclusions for Waste Incineration (WI), setting new requirements for the Waste-to-Energy (WtE) sector. These new standards of excellence confirm Waste-to-Energy as the most sustainable waste management option for non-recyclable waste, as opposed to landfilling.
Click here for the full Press Release.
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26.11.2019
Explanatory and Guidance document on Waste Incineration BREF and BAT conclusions
The Waste Incineration BAT conclusions, the basis to reassess and update the environmental permits of waste incineration plants in Europe, have been adopted by the European Commission and have now been published on the Official Journal of the European Union. The new requirements will have to be implemented in permits of all European plants within 4 years from the date of the publication.
Despite being part of a more comprehensive document, the Waste Incineration BREF (final draft here), BAT conclusions (published here) are meant to be a stand-alone document that serves as a reference for permits. However, a lot of practical information which will be necessary for their implementation is missing from the document and is not otherwise available to the main users of BAT conclusions – plant operators and competent authorities.
For this reason, CEWEP, ESWET, FEAD and Euroheat & Power, the organisations that participated in the Technical Working Group for the review of the Waste Incineration BREF, decided to publish this Guidance document. It consists of the main document, an executive summary, and 7 annexes, and aims to explain the most difficult issues which are left unaddressed, the needed contextual information and some proposals and forms to fill in that can be useful for the implementation and harmonisation of Waste Incineration BAT conclusions.
Click here for the full CONTENT of the Explanatory & Guidance document (E&G‐d).
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25.11.2019
#WTEFUTURE - New concepts for Waste-To-Energy plants of the future: a German focus
The energy transformation in Germany is currently bringing about an upheaval in energy policy. In this regard, a purely heat-generating Waste-to-Energy plant can provide a reliable heat source and be able to solve two environmental problems at once.
Text and pictures provided by Steinmüller Babcock Environment GmbH
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15.11.2019
Why Waste-to-Energy is so important.
Not everything is recyclable. That's why Waste-to-Energy is so important for sustainable waste management. This video by the International Recovery Foundation shows us why.
Click here to see the video on Youtube.
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07.11.2019
#WTEFUTURE - Hong Kong’s first Integrated Waste Management Facility
The Waste-to-Energy island in Hong Kong will prevent landfilling of 1,2 million tonnes of non-recyclable waste, which results in carbon emissions savings of 440.000 tonnes per year. The article is the first of a series provided by ESWET members to support ESWET Vision 2050 for the future of Waste-to-Energy.
A self-sustaining Waste-to-Energy island for Hong Kong’s residual waste
The joint venture Keppel Seghers - Zen Hua is in the process of designing, building and operating a self-sustaining Waste-to-Energy (WtE) island in Hong Kong which will be built on freshly reclaimed land.
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25.09.2019
ESWET Vision for Waste-to-Energy in 2050
ESWET, the European Suppliers of Waste-to-Energy Technology, has launched its Vision titled "Waste-to-Energy 2050: clean technologies for sustainable waste management”, to present the Waste-to-Energy plant of the future and to explore the role of Waste-to-Energy in future waste management systems in Europe and beyond.
Following the World Bank’s predictions that waste generation will increase by 60 % worldwide by 2050 and Eurostat’s figures which show that 24% of municipal waste is still landfilled today in Europe, there is a need to roll out globally sound waste management technologies including Waste-to-Energy to improve recycling and recovery and reduce dumpsites.
ESWET’s Vision "Waste-to-Energy 2050: clean technologies for sustainable waste management” demonstrates how Waste-to-Energy technologies from European suppliers are ready to contribute to low-carbon energy systems and circular societies in the EU and on a global scale. In fact, Waste-to-Energy plants will take care of the fraction of waste that cannot be directly recycled, preventing it from being landfilled and thus saving huge amount of greenhouse gas emissions.
Moreover, the delivery of alternative fuels, such as hydrogen, from Waste-to-Energy plants will enable industry and transport sectors to further decarbonise.
Read the full press release.
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09.09.2019
EVENT - What future for Waste-to-Energy? Exploring the role of WtE in sustainable modern waste management
On 24th September 2019 the European associations CEWEP and ESWET, representing operators and suppliers of the Waste-to-Energy sector, will present two documents which tackle the future of waste management in Europe and beyond. The event will take place at the Residence Palace in Brussels.
Join the European policymakers, industry and other stakeholders and be the first to learn what the future holds for the Waste-to-Energy sector.
ESWET will launch its vision of Waste-to-Energy in 2050: clean technologies for sustainable waste management while CEWEP will present its Waste-to-Energy’s Sustainability Roadmap towards 2035.
The two documents will kick-off a panel discussion on the role of Waste-to-Energy in the future of European environment, energy and climate policies.
Register now: http://bit.ly/2kCuLPP The event will be followed by a networking dinner.
Find out more about agenda, speakers and timing: http://bit.ly/WhatFutureForWtE
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05.09.2019
Workshop on Implementation of BAT Conclusions for Waste Incineration: Videos and Presentations available!
On 4th June 2019, the European associations CEWEP, ESWET and FEAD organised a workshop in Brussels to explain in details the upcoming Waste Incineration BREF as well as its many "unsaid". Presentations and videos of the day are now available to everyone.
Under the framework of the Industrial Emissions Directive, the Waste Incineration (WI) BAT Conclusions will be adopted by the end of summer 2019 – together with the more comprehensive Waste Incineration BREF (final draft). WI BAT Conclusions will become the basis to reassess all the environmental permits of waste incineration plants in Europe. In fact, the new requirements will have to be implemented in permits of all European plants by summer 2023.
In order to kick-off the exchange on implementation of WI BAT Conclusions ESWET (together with CEWEP and FEAD) organised a workshop in Brussels on 4th June 2019.
Videos of the workshop and presentations are available below:
• Welcome and programme of the day (Ella Stengler, CEWEP) – presentation, video
• Legal framework and background (Alexis Thuau, ESWET) – presentation, video
• WI BREF and BAT conclusions: review, content and what is unsaid (Lorenzo Ceccherini, CEWEP) – presentation, video
• the NOC/OTNOC issue (Hubert de Chefdebien, CEWEP, ESWET, FEAD) – presentation, video
• Bottom ash and water emissions (Ralf Koralewska, ESWET) – presentation, video
• Calculation of energy efficiency (Lorenzo Ceccherini, CEWEP) – presentation, video
• Measurement uncertainty (Lighea Speziale, CEWEP) – presentation, video
• Presentation of the draft guidance document on WI BREF (Hubert de Chefdebien, CEWEP-ESWET-FEAD) – presentation, video
• Expectations (Lighea Speziale, CEWEP) – presentation, video
The CEWEP-ESWET-FEAD explanatory and guidance document on WI BREF will be available soon on our website.
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23.08.2019
How Waste-to-Energy contributes to sustainable waste management!
Future generations deserve to live and strive in a clean and safe environment. To ensure this, the implementation of a sustainable waste management framework is essential. Thanks to new technologies and with the firm commitment of all stakeholders involved, we will be able to develop the circular economy.
Written by Edmund Fleck, ESWET President
In the last months of 2018, hundreds of thousands of young students took to the streets in all capitals of Europe with a clear message for politicians and policy makers: We have to take care of our planet, and there is not a single second to lose. They are right, and their demands need to be listened to carefully.
Waste management stands at the crossroads of worldwide challenges: climate change, pollution, health, scarcity of resources, economic development and more. The continuous implementation and upgrading of sound and sustainable waste management systems are key to uphold the right to a healthy environment, which should be considered a “basic human right”.
This is particular important if we look at the larger picture. Recent reports show that the global warming of 1.5°C or higher above pre-industrial levels would create long-lasting or even irreversible changes with serious impacts for the Earth and its population.
Europe’s waste management policies need to involve all stakeholders in the value chain for a circular economy process. Starting from the design phase of products to a sustainable waste and resource management. In order to reach the best results, it is important to equally focus on prevention, recycling, reuse and recovery.
Over the years, Waste-to-Energy plants have managed to adapt to changing waste streams, e.g. as a result of improved separate collection. They are a key contributor in fostering circular economy and achieving a significant reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and are therefore a major component of Europe’s most successful waste management systems. In this regard, European companies confirm their role of global leaders by exporting innovation and technological know-how worldwide.
Read the full article.
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01.08.2019
ESWET Interview: Docks Bruxsel – A shopping mall powered by Waste-to-Energy in Brussels
Docks Bruxsel is one of the biggest shopping malls of the capital of Belgium, with one peculiarity: it uses energy recovered by the neighboring Waste-to-Energy plant, with several advantages in terms of price and environmental impact. For instance, no production of Co2 emissions.
Interview with: Christian Germis, Retail Property Technical Director of JLL at DOCKS BRUXSEL
Let’s start from the basics. What is Docks Bruxsel?
Docks Bruxsel is a new generation shopping mall which includes more than 100 shops as well as 15 restaurants, an event hall, an indoor adventure park and a cinema. The aim is to provide to our clients an experience that goes beyond a simple shopping session and which is able to involve all the members of the family. The mall is located along the canal of Brussels, at the Van Praet Bridge where over 60.000 cars cross each day. It is very close to the Waste-to-Energy plant that treat all the residual waste of Brussels.
Is this the reason why you established a furniture contact with the Waste-to-Energy plant?
Exactly, Bruxelles Energie (the operator of the plant) contacted the promoter with the promise to deliver clean and cheap energy, therefore avoiding a whole number of investments (no on-site boilers or cooling units, no gas distribution, simpler overall maintenance). The 10-year contract signed with Bruxelles Energie has a guaranteed consumption of 6.000MWh/year, which is largely sufficient to guarantee our demand during the whole year.
Read the full interview here: http://bit.ly/2ytM6On
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18.07.2019
The ‘Unsaid’ of the Waste Incineration BREF BAT Conclusions
Hubert de Chefdebien, Chairman of the ESWET Technical Committee and Deputy-President of CEWEP, published on Waste Management World his views on the "Unsaid" of the upcoming WI BREF.
Read the article on Waste Management World.
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11.06.2019
STC Power has become a new member of ESWET!
The European Suppliers of Waste-to-Energy Technology are glad to welcome the Italian company STC Power as a new member of the association.
STC Power is an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) company delivering traditional, renewables and Waste-to-Energy power plants. Founded in 1981, STC POWER has grown as EPC Contractor gaining a considerable position in the power production sector. Today it has circa 100 employees and a reference list of more than 150 clients.
In its 38 years of history, STC Power has designed, built and commissioned more than 170 plants with an overall installed capacity of approx. 1,800 MW. STC Power relies on a stable family-based shareholding and with Sterling & Wilson, as majority partner, are both committed to the company development all around the world.
To know more about STC Power, check their website (http://www.stcpower.com/eng/) and their LinkedIn account.
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05.06.2019
How to ensure a clean circular economy – An interesting discussion on waste management, recycling and energy recovery.
On 20 May 2019 a partner event of the EU Green Week - co-organised by the EU associations of Waste-to-Energy CEWEP and ESWET - took place in Brussels with the title “How to ensure a clean circular economy”. The key topic was to discuss the role of Waste-to-Energy as a pollutant sink for waste that cannot be recycled, a role often underestimated but which is paramount to guarantee that the stream of recycling is safe and effective.
Ella Stengler, Managing Director of the Confederation of Waste-to-Energy Plants (CEWEP) opened the conference by presenting the latest waste management statistics showing that only 12% of material resources used in the EU in 2016 came from recycled products and recovered materials (Eurostat, 2019). Waste undertaking recycling operations was not always finding their way to recycled products, because of the concern that POPs and heavy metals could be in the recycled material. She stressed that pollutant sinks were needed for difficult waste streams in order to support quality recycling. Furthermore, a study from the Öko Institut shows that diversion from landfill is the main contributor to Greenhous gas mitigation in the waste management sector.
Axel Singhofen, Advisor on Health and Environment Policy for the Greens/EFA in the European Parliament introduced his presentation with a reference to the EEA Environment State & Outlook 2015 which calls for a fundamental rethinking of production and consumption. He stressed the need to achieve non-toxic material cycles and not just material cycles – resulting in a clear focus on prevention over recycling in the circular economy. Regarding existing waste, Mr Singhofen acknowledged that Waste-to-Energy takes priority over landfilling for the management of non-recyclable, residual waste (as stressed in the waste hierarchy). Such waste should however be minimized as much as possible.
Silvia Freni Sterrantino, EU Regulatory Affairs Manager at European Plastics Converters (EuPC) presented the activities of EuPC. When, referring to the Circular Plastics Alliance and the set objective to ensure that 10 million tonnes of recycled plastics find their way into new products by 2025, she highlighted that there was currently a gap between foreseen supply and demand which could hamper that objective. The reasons for this gap include market failures and limits to the recyclability of products.
Giovanni Lonati, Associate Professor of Environmental Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering Department of Politecnico di Milano presented a study analysing the impact of PM10 and NOx emissions from a Waste-to-Energy plant and from road traffic in the surroundings of the plant on air quality in Northern Italy. The study found that the real emissions from the Waste-to-Energy plant are well below the authorised limits and that the contribution of the Waste-to-Energy plant emissions to the ambient air concentration of PM10 and NOx is very well below the contribution of the road traffic.
Jorge Diaz del Castillo, Policy Officer at the European Commission stressed that the Commission was working on two levels: soft law - to ensure that the provisions of the waste legislation are implemented by Member States - and hard law - by initiating infringement proceedings against Member States which can lead in some cases to hefty penalties. He also explained the new ambitious recycling targets and calculation method and the landfill reduction target, setting the bar high for some Member States lagging behind. The need to address the implementation gap in the EU becomes most urgent in the light of the application of the new EU waste legislation as of 5 July 2020, he concluded.
Acknowledging the lack of political will of Member States, Emmanuel Katrakis, Secretary General of EuRIC believed that sound waste management should not only be achieved through quantitative recycling targets. He insisted on the need to create the right market conditions to have a genuine internal market for recycling that remove obstacles to circular flows and stimulate the demand of recycled materials, moving away from the chicken and the egg dilemma between the demand and the supply side. He also added that it is instrumental to improve the interface between waste and chemicals legislation and adapt it to circular flows.
Patrick Clerens, Secretary-General of the European Suppliers of Waste-to-Energy Technology (ESWET) explained that the Waste-to-Energy sector has dramatically improved in resource recovery in the last decades and that the society and the institutions should acknowledge that modern Waste-to-Energy plants are contributing to the circularity of resources, in particular through very high energy and material recovery levels. Furthermore, he stressed that today it was possible to recover all bottom ash, including the very fine fractions of metals that are in them, which delivers high value metals such as e.g. gold and copper to smelters for recycling.
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03.06.2019
19th June 2019, ESWET co-organises a session at EUSEW - EU Sustainable Energy Week
Green Hydrogen Decoupling the European Energy Network
The session aims to focus the attention on the strategic importance innovative green hydrogen production has in the Energy Transition. Organised by IMIEU - Institute for Infrastructure, Environment, & Innovation with the co-organisation of ESWET, Hydrogen Mobility Europe, Politecnico di Torino and GENCOMM.
Agenda:
09.00-09.15: Current state and future of Hydrogen in Europe
09.15-09.20: How Hydrogen fits the European decarbonisation agenda
09:20-09:50: First Panel: Technologies and producers
09:50-10:20: Second Panel: Applications and methods
10:20-10:30: Conclusion and final discussion
Session description and agenda (with speakers) on the EUSEW website: https://eusew.eu/green-hydrogen-decoupling-european-energy-network
Registration is mandatory. You can register here: http://bit.ly/2Mr4D7S (EU login account required)
19.04.2019
20th May 2019, CEWEP – ESWET Green Week Partner Event:
How To Ensure A Clean Circular Economy?
Every natural cycle needs a way to eliminate the residues. Our bodies have liver and kidneys to keep them clean but how can you ensure that waste that is polluted, infectious or too degraded is treated safely in a circular economy?
20th May 2019, 15h30-18h00
Representation of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia to the EU,
Rue Montoyer 47, B-1000 Brussels
Programme
15h30-16h00 Registration and Coffee
Axel Singhofen, the Greens/European Free Alliance
Silvia Freni Sterrantino, European Plastic Converters
Prof. Giovanni Lonati, Politecnico di Milano
Panel discussion
Additional panellists: Jose Jorge Diaz De Castillo, European Commission (TBC), Emmanuel Katrakis, EuRIC, Patrick Clerens, ESWET (TBC).
Moderator: Ella Stengler, CEWEP
Conclusions by Jose Jorge Diaz De Castillo, European Commission (TBC)
17h30-18h00 Cocktail
End 18h00
The next few years will be crucial for the implementation of the Circular Economy Package adopted in 2018. And in this process, it should not be forgotten that some waste, due to its composition, should not be reused, recycled and made into new products. In integrated waste management systems, Waste-to-Energy is key to decontamination of recycling streams, thus protecting human health and the environment.
2019 will also be the year of even more ambitious environmental standards for Waste-to-Energy. The newly reviewed Best Available Technology for Waste Incineration will be published in summer 2019 and by implementing the new requirements, Waste-to-Energy will improve even further its performance.
26.03.2019
Recycled, recovered with Waste-to-Energy or landfilled? How is municipal waste treated in Europe?
Eurostat has recently updated their latest statistics regarding municipal waste treatment in the European Union. Increasing shares of recycling and Waste-to-Energy and lower shares of landfilling across the board are encouraging. However, there is still room for improvement.
Eurostat has recently updated its statistics on the treatment of municipal waste, taking into account data from 2017. This graphic shows how European Union (EU) Member States and the EU as a whole send their municipal waste to the three main treatment options available: recycling, Waste-to-Energy and landfilling.
The trends are clear: municipal waste is increasingly diverted from landfilling to recycling and Waste-to-Energy. With further efforts, EU Member States will get closer to reaching their recycling target of 65 % by 2030 and to limit the share of landfilling to a maximum of 10 % of treated municipal waste.
Positive trends through these efforts are especially noticeable in countries such as Estonia, Lithuania and Finland, where increasing recycling capacity and landfill diversion called for the creation of new Waste-to-Energy capacity to absorb the residual waste from recycling operations and landfill closures. Data also confirms the tendency that countries with high recycling and Waste-to-Energy rate are also the ones with a greater awareness of environment protection.
Conversely, huge improvement is still possible and needed in Europe. Countries such as Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Spain are still sending more than 40% of their municipal waste to landfill. In order to provide a cleaner and healthier environment for future generations, it is time to further improve the way municipal waste is treated and definitely relegate landfills to history books.
ESWET at the Energy from waste conference: presenting future solutions for bottom ashes.
(Picture by ‘Photoperspective’).
On the 28 February 2019, ESWET took part in the Energy from Waste conference in London, one of the main conferences in Europe for the sector of Waste-to-Energy. ESWET’s Secretary General delivered a presentation on the latest regulatory changes related to the recovery of bottom ashes (IBA).
Before an international audience of more than 250 decision makers and lead companies in the Waste-to-Energy sector, ESWET’s Secretary General Patrick Clerens addressed the topic of future directions and applications for bottom ashes.
In particular, he described in detail the latest regulatory changes affecting the recovery of bottom ashes and the resulting possibilities for innovation, change and value creation for this valuable stream of materials.
The slides of ESWET’s presentation are available here: http://bit.ly/2NUW2aD
More details on the conference on the official website: https://www.efwconference.com/
Taxonomy: Should facts guide the EU Commission and the European Parliament? What to do after recycling with residual waste?
All waste handling must follow the waste hierarchy: Avoid-Reuse-Recycle-Recover-Dispose. But since some waste cannot or should not be recycled, Waste-to-Energy (WtE) is responsible for closing the "toxic loophole" of pollutant recycling.
Who wants to recycle persistent organic pollutants (POPs) from some plastic waste into plastic toys? Who wants to turn arsenic that was used in wood-preservative (chromated copper arsenate) in a compost for food crops?
This is exactly what the Parliament will achieve if the role of WtE is not recognised as a necessary step to avoid spreading pollutants.
Read the full article: http://bit.ly/ESWETopinion
Author: Patrick Clerens, ESWET Secretary General
Waste-to-Energy’s contribution to the “Long-term EU greenhouse gas emissions reductions strategy”
This position paper, jointly issued by the European associations ESWET and CEWEP, outlines the GHG emissions savings potential of Waste-to-Energy and lays down policy recommendations in the areas of waste, energy, climate, infrastructure and research and innovation to achieve this potential.
For instance, it is explained how, with proper waste management in place, far more than 200 million tonnes of CO2 eq can be avoided annually.
Full document available: http://bit.ly/2DY81lq
EU Public consultation addressing the interface between chemical, product and waste legislation.
ESWET – European Suppliers of Waste to Energy Technology – calls upon the EU to amend its legislation to facilitate the uptake of secondary raw materials in safe applications.
Click here to read the full response of ESWET to the public consultation.
ESWET response to the EC Public Consultation on the Strategy for Long-Term EU Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reductions
ESWET welcomes this opportunity to participate in the elaboration process of the strategy and believes that the European Union will be a leading global force for a clean and innovative energy transition.
In particular, ESWET believes that the waste management sector should be fully involved in the transition as it could contribute to important GHG emissions savings by fully switching from a “business-as-usual” approach to waste to a stronger focus on prevention, reuse, recycling, and recovery.
You can find the full response of ESWET to the public consultation here.
Industry4Europe Joint Paper: “A Governance Structure for an ambitious EU Industrial Strategy”
ESWET co-signed together with other 121 association member of the Industry4Europe coalition the Joint Paper “A Governance Structure for an ambitious EU Industrial Strategy”. The paper proposes a governance structure which enables the implementation of an ambitious EU Industrial Strategy, based on an informed dialogue between the industry, decision-makers at EU, national, regional and local levels and the Civil Society.
Read it here!
Press Release: Single use plastics must be banned!
Single use plastics such as the ones found in cups for beverages, cutlery or straws should be banned if a robust life cycle assessment does not show that they are the best option for the environment. Such plastics are normally not compatible with the circular economy.
This is why ESWET welcomes the publication of the Commission proposal to reduce the impact of certain plastic products on the environment. In particular, once in force, the legislation will contribute to the reduction of plastics which are not suitable for reuse, recycling or recovery.
Read the full press release here.
ESWET Activity Report 2017
ESWET Activity Report for 2017 is out! Read it to discover more about our activities and positions over the past year and to understand how we value your waste.
