Joint Position Paper on Waste-to-Energy

Waste-to-Energy is an indispensable pillar of waste management and a valuable contribution to the circular economy. To insist on the importance of Waste-to-Energy for a sustainable circular economy as well as for the provision of services of general interest, FEAD has cosigned a position paper together with other ten associations:

According to the waste hierarchy, avoidance, reuse and recycling have priority over other forms of recovery and disposal, including energy recovery. Yet, not all types of waste can – for the time being – be avoided, reused or recycled to a high standard. Therefore, energy recovery from waste must continue to be considered as an eligible part of the waste treatment – respectively in the context of the EU taxonomy and the “Fit for 55” package. Consequently, respective financing options must be safeguarded. Otherwise, a lack of thermal waste treatment would encourage rather than reduce the environmentally damaging landfilling of high-calorific, fossil or even methane-forming biological waste.

The position paper is cosigned by:

• Confederation of European Waste-to-Energy Plants (CEWEP)
• European Federation of Local and Regional Energy Companies (CEDEC)
• European Waste Management Association (FEAD)
• Federal Association of the German Waste Management, Water and Raw Materials Industries (BDE)
• German Association of German Cities (DST)
• German Association of Local Public Utilities (VKU)
• German Association of Towns and Municipalities (DStGB)
• German County Association (DLT)
• Interest Group of Thermal Waste Treatment Plants in Germany (ITAD)
• Municipal Waste Europe (MWE)
• The Austrian Association of Public Enterprises and the Public Sector (VÖWG).