Zero Waste Europe has renewed its call to halt new incineration capacity after research estimated a gap of almost 65 million tonnes between EU capacity and the amount of waste treated.
The study, prepared by Equanimator for Zero Waste Europe and published on 13 October, compares reported capacity of 198.4 million tonnes with 133.6 million tonnes of waste treated in 2022.
The resulting 64.8 million-tonne difference underpins the organisation’s argument that policymakers should prioritise waste prevention, reuse and recycling over further incineration investment.
However, the calculation covers a broad range of facilities, including incineration classified as energy recovery or disposal and co-incineration installations. The treatment figures include both hazardous and non-hazardous waste.
The authors acknowledge that available waste may not match the types of facilities with unused capacity. They also caution that permitted capacity at some co-incineration installations may exceed what they can realistically process, while waste characteristics can affect throughput.
“There is really no justification for continuing to build new incinerators.”
Zero Waste Europe says plans for new or expanded plants would add at least another eight million tonnes of capacity.
Janek Vähk, the organisation’s Zero Pollution Policy Manager, said: “There is really no justification for continuing to build new incinerators.”
The organisation argues that further investment risks creating long-term pressure to supply plants with waste that could otherwise be prevented, reused or recycled. It is also calling for coordinated retirement of excess capacity and inclusion of municipal waste incineration in the EU Emissions Trading System without free allowances.
The study models scenarios in which waste moves away from landfill while recycling increases and more mixed waste undergoes sorting before treatment. Under those assumptions, it concludes that additional capacity would not be needed across the EU in aggregate.
National needs would still differ. The authors acknowledge that some member states would require additional treatment capacity other than landfill, and recommend moratoria where excess capacity already exists.
CEWEP, which represents European waste-to-energy operators, has previously argued that energy recovery provides a necessary service for non-recyclable waste, including rejects from recycling processes.
In a separate statement published on 17 July, the association called for emissions policy to respect the waste hierarchy and avoid unintended environmental consequences.
