Including waste incineration in the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) is ‘unlikely’ to lead to an increase in landfilling, according to a new report from Zero Waste Europe.
The environmental network Zero Waste Europe (ZWE) found that concerns about waste being sent to landfill instead of incineration due to higher costs are ‘largely unfounded’.
The report, “Including incineration in the EU ETS: Assessing potential impacts on landfilling”, says that existing EU policies, national regulations, and market structures would limit landfill use and support better waste management outcomes.
Specifically, the report cited regulatory restrictions, landfill bans, and long-term contracts as reasons why waste systems cannot easily switch from incineration to landfill.
Landfill taxes and mandatory pre-treatment requirements often make landfilling more expensive than incineration, even with added carbon costs.
The report also says that because landfill use is already tightly regulated – in EU Member States, Belgium, Germany and Sweden, less than 5% of municipal waste is landfilled – this leaves very little room for diversion.
However, it found there were a ‘small number of countries’ with low landfill costs and weaker enforcement that may face risks of an increase in landfilling.
The report, written by Equanimator Ltd, found that waste management decisions are often shaped more by infrastructure, legal frameworks, and contractual obligations, rather than short-term price changes.
Commenting on the report, Janek Vahk, Zero Pollution Policy Manager at Zero Waste Europe, said: “Price signals alone do not determine waste flows in Europe.”
“The combination of landfill restrictions, taxes, and policy obligations means that a shift to landfill is not only expensive, but heavily restricted by Europe’s policy framework.”
