BATTLE FOR WASTE THREATENS RECYCLING AND ENVIRONMENTAL GOALS

The current battle in the waste incineration market is a threat to Dutch companies that provide separate collection and recycling of waste. Due to overcapacity, the price of waste incineration has collapsed. As a result, the recycling of waste is in serious danger, despite Dutch and European environmental policies.

Collaborating organisations of recycling companies and the environmental movement are pulling the emergency brake via an urgent letter to the ministers of economic affairs and environment. The suction effect of the waste incinerators poses a serious danger to achieving climate and environmental objectives and to employment in a socially and economically important sector.

Imbalance

The market for waste incineration has become completely imbalanced over the past year. More and more incineration capacity is being added, while the volume of waste is falling due to the economic recession. This leads to falling rates, partly because incinerators have contractually committed to supplying energy. In recent months, the rate in public tenders has almost halved to a level below 60 euros per tonne. The competitive prices offered are also explained by higher energy yields due to more efficient electricity generation and subsidies for this.

A new incinerator will be put into operation at the end of this year, and more new construction and expansion are planned for the following years. This increase in capacity will further increase market pressure. Highly recyclable materials are already being incinerated and it is expected that this will increase with this development.

European and national legislation places recycling above waste incineration. However, at the rates currently applying in the market, recycling is no longer possible for many waste streams. Another negative effect is that waste incineration will now require significant transport distances to be covered from the Randstad to the east of the country and across the border to Germany.

Within the waste sector and the environmental movement, there are very serious doubts as to whether the price currently shaping the market is a realistic price, and there are major concerns about the environmental consequences. Compared to incineration, recycling makes a three times higher contribution to the reduction of greenhouse gases. In addition, increasingly scarce raw materials are preserved, which would otherwise go up in smoke. In terms of employment, too, the recycling sector provides many times more jobs compared to waste incineration. All of this is in serious danger if more recyclable waste disappears into incinerators.