This study was carried out by CEWEP in order to support the debate and to communicate to the European Parliament, the Council and EU Commission the message about the significant contribution that Waste to Energy (WtE) is making to the generation of Renewable Energy in Europe. WtE already makes a considerable contribution in a number of European countries (especially Denmark, Sweden, Germany, France, and the Netherlands) and has a substantial potential EU wide.

Against the background of binding targets for renewable energy production for all EU 27 countries, which have been set by the EU COM it is appropriate to demonstrate how much WtE can contribute to these targets per country and altogether across Europe.

In this study we have calculated the amount of renewable energy from WtE on the basis of final consumption figures and we have applied an "addition method" likely to be used by the EU Commission to calculate the contribution of both electricity and heat into one Renewable Energy figure, expressed in PJ. We have used assumptions supported by CEWEP members in the various countries about the future development of WtE capacity and energy efficiency of the WtE route.

The renewable energy contribution of “Waste to Energy” across Europe, 1.02 MBytes.