156 civil society organisations have issued a joint letter to the EU, calling for an immediate moratorium on approving and building new waste incineration facilities.
The letter was addressed to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, as well as EU Commissioners and national ministers.
Led by the Zero Waste Europe network, the coalition called for phase-down strategies for existing incineration capacity, as well as an immediate moratorium on new buildings.
Expanding incineration capacity will lock Europe into a burning materials system that directly undermines waste prevention, reuse, and recycling…
The letter also called for increased investment in circular economy infrastructure, such as reuse systems, composting, and recycling technologies.
“A moratorium on new waste incineration infrastructure would prevent very high construction costs, unnecessarily high emissions, and harmful pollution,” the letter reads.
“Expanding incineration capacity will lock Europe into a burning materials system that directly undermines waste prevention, reuse, and recycling – the top priorities of the EU waste hierarchy and a circular economy.”