The Confederation of European Waste-to-Energy Plants (CEWEP) has submitted its response to the European Commission’s consultation on waste targets.
The organisation has previously welcomed the Commission’s review of the waste targets and said that it believes that the EU decision makers should use this opportunity to divert more waste from landfills.
According to CEWEP a ban on the landfilling of recyclable and combustible waste would put positive pressure on national authorities and will unleash the potential of waste as a resource, as well as providing the legal certainty needed for future investments in the necessary recycling and energy recovery infrastructure.
While material recycling enables the EU to become more self-sufficient in raw materials for its production facilities, CEWEP stressed that energy recovery is a complementary option, in line with the waste hierarchy, in order to realise the full potential of the diverted waste.
Energy recovered from waste contributes to the security of energy supply and helps to mitigate climate change, CEWEP said. Both recycling and energy recovery should therefore be central to the EU’s energy and resource efficiency strategies.
Residual wastes, which cannot be recycled, should be treated in waste-to-energy plants and turned into local energy, argued CEWEP.
The organisation also noted that thermally treating residual waste sterilises it, and prevents dirty/polluted waste from entering the recycling chain and adversely impacting quality.
The full consultation paper can be downloaded from cewep.eu.
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