Confederation of European Waste-to-Energy Plants
SYNERGIA, Athens June 2010
Dr. Ella Stengler
CEWEP - Managing Director
Perceptions …
CEWEP
CEWEP represents about 380 Waste-to-Energy plants
across Europe. They offer:
Thermal treatment of waste that is not otherwise recyclable
in an environmentally sound way.
At the same time making a significant contribution to
• Reducing GHG emissions
- by diverting waste from landfills and
- replacing fossil fuels in energy generation
• Ensuring security of energy supply
• Achieving renewable energy targets and
• Producing cheap sustainable energy
Perception of NGOs
Perceptions
God
Recycles
&
The Devil
Burns
What we did …
Making alliances: Coalition of
European Associations tackling main
concerns raised by NGOs
Waste Management in user-friendly
language
A little humour goes a long way
All available on www.cewep.eu
Dinner/Lunch debates
and Technical visits
Communication approach
Transparency and open dialogue
With the press
• all emission results
• consistent, persistent
• press briefings, press releases
With the neighbours
• ombudsman
• all emission results first to neighbours
• involved in new initiatives
With the general public
• through media
• brochure
With the authorities
• face-to-face contacts
Recommendations from Tom De Bruyckere’s
• road shows
presentation on ISVAG WtE Plant, Belgium, at
the CEWEP Congress 2008
Communication approach
Information
In countries where people are familiar with WtE
(e.g. long tradition in Scandinavian countries)
perception is much better than in countries
without WtE
-> Information is essential
…. Some facts and figures ….
Treatment of MSW in Europe
About 40% of Municipal
Solid Waste across the EU
27 is still landfilled,
Recycled
40%
Landf illed
40%
Incinerat ed
20%
although landfill gases
(methane) contribute
significantly to global
warming (methane equals
25 times CO2 in mass).
Treatment of Municipal Solid Waste in the EU
27 in 2008
Source: EUROSTAT
WtE hand in hand with Recycling
The Member States who have most
successfully reduced dependence on
landfill have done this by combining:
•
•
material recycling
biological treatment
composting and anaerobic digestion
•
and Waste-to-Energy
Proving that WtE goes hand in
hand with Recycling
Treatment of MSW in the EU 27 in 2008
based on EUROSTAT data
Contribution to Climate
Protection
• CO2 savings via diverting waste from landfills and
substitution of fossil fuels which would have been used
to produce energy in conventional power plants
• Generation of renewable energy
 contribution to the 20 – 20 by 2020 targets of
the European Renewable Energy Sources
Directive.
CO2 eq emission reduction
EU 27
EU 27 CO2 eq emission level in 2005: ca. 3900 m tonnes.
CO2 eq reduction target for 2020 relative to 2005: 780 m t
Waste is a small contributor to current emissions (mainly
landfill), but professional waste management can make a
substantial contribution to the reduction of CO2 in EU 27:
• Between 146 and 224 m tonnes (Prognos 2008)
• Through a combination of landfill diversion, more
recycling and more efficient Waste-to-Energy
• Avoided CO2 eq emisssions due to WtE (based on
European energy mix): 25 m tonnes/yr in 2010, growing
to 45 and potentially to 68 m tonnes/yr in 2020.
The avoided CO2 Emissions due to
Energy Production from WtE plants
Avoided CO2 due to energy production from WtE plants
against avg European energy mix (million tonnes CO2 per year)
110
90
70
50
30
10
-10
2006
2010
2020 R
2020 Opt
2020 Pot
Please note that this data excludes fossil emissions and therefore does not
represent a full carbon footprint analysis!
14
WtE’s contribution to renewable
energy generation
Directive on Energy from Renewable Sources (RES):
Definition of biomass (Art. 2) comprises the
biodegradable fraction of industrial and municipal
waste
 renewable energy source
Share of renewable Energy from WtE as
a % of total renewable energy for
selected countries
Assumption is that countries do achieve their binding target for
renewable energy by 2020.
Country
2006
2020
NL
14,3
4,4
BE
13,3
2,5
DK
12,5
6,3
DE
7,5
3,0
CZ
3,9
3,3
SE
3,7
4,7
UK
3,6
1,8
Decline of % contributed by WtE is because total renewable energy
per country must grow much faster in order to meet the target.
Renewable Energy from WtE
= ca. 50% of the total energy generation
by WtE Plants due to biodegradable part in MSW
17
Renewable energy production by
WtE:
 In 2006 WtE supplied a considerable amount of Renewable
Energy: 38 TWh for the whole of Europe
 This will grow by 2020 to a level of at least 66 TWh, and
potentially to 98 TWh, through an increase of the amount
of waste, diverted from landfilling and processed via WtE
and by steady efficiency improvements (heat & electrical
efficiency)
 Countries which continue to make a significant contribution
through WtE to their total Renewable Energy production
are: NL, BE, DK, DE, SE
Note that the total Energy output of WtE and SRF is twice the
amount regarded as renewable !
18
The Total Energy Output
projection for WtE
19
Includes both renewable and fossil components.
Lighting up the world
From the electricity exported from European WtE plants
in 2007 we could*:
power 148 million
energy efficient
15 Watt light bulbs
for a whole year
*In 2007 19 billion kWh of electricity was exported
enough for a line of
energy efficient 15
Watt light bulbs to
run from Brussels
to Honolulu (11 800
km) and light them
for a whole year
WtE – cost effective RE source
... and reliable
*
**
Source: EREF report 2009
* For LFG avg feed in rariff in EU: 71 € (incl minor subsidy)
21
* * Market Price level for WtE 45-65 €/ MWh. Only few % of WtE Electricity gets some Renew Subsidy
WtE: low hanging fruit at relatively low cost
If we want to achieve the 20 20 targets by 2020,
we cannot afford “to waste” this readily
available source !
22
WtE: cleanly and safely
treating your waste
Sophisticated filtering devices minimise the emissions
into the atmosphere by blocking the pollutants,
originating from the waste, such as heavy metals.
The Waste Incineration Directive 2000/76/EC
introduced the most stringent emission limit values
applied to any single industry in Europe.
WtE plant (MVR) Hamburg,
operating Best Available Techniques (BAT)
Health studies
UK Health Protection Agency
September 2009
"The Impact on Health of Emissions to Air from Municipal Waste Incinerators”
confirmed the statement of the Committee on Carcinogenicity of
Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment and
pointed out:
“Since any possible health effects are likely to be very small, if detectable,
studies of public health around modern, well managed municipal waste
incinerators are not recommended”.
Regarding the concentrations of particulate matter released into the air
by Waste-to-Energy plants they state:
“The contribution made by waste incineration to national emissions of particles
is low. Data provided by Defra show that 2006 national emissions of PM10 from
waste incineration are 0.03% of the total compared with 27% and 25% for
traffic and industry respectively.”
http://www.hpa.org.uk/web/HPAwebFile/HPAweb_C/1251473372218
Health studies
The Scientific Advisory Council of the Federal Medical Association
(Germany) investigated potential health risks caused by emissions of
Waste-to-Energy Plants, concluding:
“The
evaluation conducted shows that currently
operating Waste-to-Energy Plants, which are
conform to the technical standards, cause very
marginal health risks which can therefore be
classified as negligible health risks for the population
living in the vicinity of Waste-to-Energy Plants”
Source: German Medical Journal 90, edition 1 / 2, 11th of January 1993,
p. 45-53, Publications