Complementary: Waste Incineration with energy recovery and Recycling (June 2004)
This is one of the main results from the "study of studies" which has been undertaken by the Swedish Consultants Profu on behalf of CEWEP after having examined 31 case studies and detailed 12 case studies, based on life cycle analysis.
The study, conducted during the spring 2004, evaluated waste incineration as treatment and energy recovery method from an environmental point of view.
Some other main conclusions are:
- Landfilling is the main treatment option in Europe. It is also clearly the worst environmental option according to the system studies.
- Material recycling, waste incineration with energy recovery and biological treatment are complementary options that all need to be expanded in order to replace landfilling.
- To reach the best environmental results for material recycling and biological treatment of organic combustible material, waste incineration is necessary for treating residues arising during pre-treatment and processing at the material recycling facilities and biological treatment plants.
- Due to different local conditions and opportunities for development, the distribution of waste being treated by material recycling, waste incineration and biological treatment must be allowed to vary.
- Regional differences will lead to different distributions being optimal for different regions in Europe.
CEWEP's conclusions are that
- All efforts should be made to replace landfilling which is considered as the worst environmental option of waste treatment.
- If a waste cannot be recycled in an environmentally sound way, the most sustainable way to treat the waste is to incinerate it and to deliver the energy produced from the waste to citizens, industry etc.
- Environmentally sound recycling requests that the waste is "clean", i.e. completely separated and used to replace production from raw materials.
- Biodegradable digestion with biogas generation and incineration with energy recovery are basically better options than composting, although this result might vary in particular cases.
CEWEP intends to contribute to the discussions on the Thematic Strategy on waste prevention and recycling with this study, based on life cycle analysis.
Brussels, June 2004
|
Print