The document discusses waste-to-energy (WtE) projects in central and eastern Europe. It summarizes findings from a report by Wolf Theiss analyzing WtE regulatory and incentive regimes in 14 countries. Austria has robust WtE laws and a 37% municipal waste incineration rate, while only 4% of waste is landfilled. In contrast, countries like Poland and Romania have less developed WtE legislation and fewer operating projects. The variation in approaches to WtE across the region suggests more progress is still needed to realize its environmental and energy security benefits.

1. 10 ENERGY FROM WASTE
RESEARCH
T
he European Commission is
currently preparing a technical
communication focusing
on WtE aiming to explore the
opportunities it offers, particularly
with regard to synergies between
resource and energy efficiency.
The communication is scheduled
to be published at the end of
2016 together with the reviewed
Renewable Energy Directive.
According to the Commission, the
WtE Communication will aim to
tackle the following issues:
Recent geopolitical events
suggest that Europe will face
increasing challenges to energy
security in the years ahead.
In particular, a critical element
in weaning Europe away from
vulnerable Russian gas supplies
includes the development of
domestic energy sources. While
few countries in Europe enjoy large
oil and natural gas reserves, many
alternative and renewable energy
sources exist such as wind, solar,
geothermal and biomass.
Against this backdrop, an
increasingly viable source of
energy available to the countries
of Europe is waste to energy. With
the increased emphasis on waste
management in the EU, especially
following the adoption of Directive
2008/98/EC on Waste (the so-called
Waste Framework Directive), the
member states of the EU and those
aspiring to accede thereto must
tackle the issue of proper waste
management and disposal.
In light of recent technological
advances, the ability to safely and
cleanly incinerate solid waste or
to capture gases produced through
the decomposition of landfill waste
in order to produce energy offers
a compelling approach for those
countries in our region to convert
landfill and other waste products
to energy – thereby essentially
addressing two potential problems
with one solution.
The regional law firm Wolf Theiss
has recently issued a report which
analyses the current regulatory and
incentive regimes for promotion
of WtE projects in 14 countries in
central and eastern Europe.
The countries surveyed in the
Wolf Theiss WtE Report 1st Edition
(2016) are Albania, Austria, Bosnia
& Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia,
Czech Republic, Hungary, Kosovo,
Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovak
Republic, Slovenia and Ukraine.
Certain of the findings contained
in this report are borne out in
the statistical analysis contained
therein, i.e. that the legislative and
incentive schemes currently in
place to support WtE projects vary
widely across the region despite
the existence of the Waste
Framework Directive.
For example, Austria has
developed a fairly robust body
of law around WtE, stemming
initially from the Austrian Waste
Management Act of 2002 (which
pre-dated the Waste Framework
Directive) and being further
addressed in the Green Electricity
Act of 2012. Therefore, it should
be seen as no surprise that in 2013,
the incineration rate of municipal
waste was 37% in Austria.
Only 4% of municipal waste was
landfilled due to the introduction
of landfill bans (compared to over
70% of waste in Poland, which is
currently disposed of at landfill
sites without any treatment).
In 2010, Austrian WtE plants
produced 0.2 million MWh
electricity and 3.6 million MWh
of heat. According to data from
2012, 0.07 million MWh electricity
and 1.45 million MWh heat were
produced from 7.49 million tonnes
of thermally treated waste by a
total of 59 plants (WtE plants
and dedicated refuse derived
fuel plants). According to the last
available data from 2010, 10 waste
incineration plants and 49 thermal
treatment plants are in operation
in Austria.
In contrast, in other countries in
the same region, the legislation for
promoting WtE is less developed
and accordingly fewer WtE projects
are operating or even planned.
For example in Albania there
are a few plants using biomass as
fuel for the production of energy,
but only one WtE project that uses
waste as a form of fuel – this is the
Landfill of Elbasan project which is
currently in the construction phase.
At present, the total percentage of
the amount of energy generated by
these plants is unknown.
In Romania, there is no specific
legislation covering WtE, but rather
an amalgamation of legislation
intended to generally govern
renewable energy (RES) projects.
However, the green certificate
incentives previously available
under Law 220/2008 to promote
RES projects have been significantly
reduced in recent years - resulting
in decreased investor appetite
for all types of RES projects in
Romania, including WtE.
For example, at the moment,
there is no official statistical data as
to the number of WtE projects in
Romania. According to the ANRE
(Regulatory Authority for Energy)
annual report from 2013, only one
per cent of the renewable electricity
produced in Romania in 2013
resulted from biomass/WtE.
During the period 2008-2012,
this percentage was even lower
than one percent (1%). Bosnia,
on the other hand, compares
favourably in this respect,
with over 6.5% of total energy
consumption coming from biomass
energy and with plans to increase
this number in the future.
Hence, although progress
towards WtE varies across different
countries, it is clear that this is a
trend which needs to continue
- driven by a combination of
environmental responsibility and
future geopolitical reality.
Further to analysis carried out by law firm Wolf Theiss, which
examines the current regulatory and incentive regimes for the
promotion of WtE projects in 14 countries in central and eastern
Europe, Bryan W Jardine takes a look at the wide variation between
the different countries
WASTE TO ENERGY HELPS TO
SECURE EUROPE’S ENERGY FUTURE
In 2013, the
incineration
rate of
municipal
waste in
Austria was
37%
Over
70%
of waste in
Poland is
currently
disposed of at
landfill sites
without any
treatment
Bryan W Jardine, partner with
Wolf Theiss