Waste generation and waste management projections for 2050

Thanks to advanced technologies, waste management is turning into an integrated waste and resource management logic, thus reducing the exploitation of materials through recycling and transforming non-recyclable waste into a valuable resource for the whole society. To implement this change, the phasing out of polluting dumpsites is the first objective that should be pursued. 

Our Vision demonstrates how Waste-to-Energy technologies produced by European suppliers are profoundly committed to resource efficiency and climate change mitigation and are ready to contribute to better waste management in the EU and on a global scale. It shows how, by 2050, Waste-to-Energy plants will contribute to low carbon energy systems and circular societies and the policy and regulatory milestones needed to get there.

Waste-to-Energy technologies treat residual waste: waste which is not fit for re-use or recycling and would otherwise be landfilled. For example, contaminated biomass such as wood treated with wood preservatives.

Waste-to-Energy plants transform this waste into energy which is used for electricity generation, for heating and cooling and for various industrial applications – among others to produce hydrogen. 

Half of the energy recovered is renewable as it comes from waste of biogenic origin. Moreover, contrary to variable renewable energy production (such as wind or solar energy), renewable energy from Waste-to-Energy is plannable and reliable. 

On top of this, Waste-to-Energy recovers secondary raw materials which are used in a variety of sectors such as construction, metal recycling or strategic applications such as battery manufacturing.

By combining the effects of landfill diversion, energy efficient processes and improved materials recovery, Waste-to-Energy is a considerable sink for carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

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