Recycle or incinerate?

The recycling of waste, one of the main goals of environmental policy in our country, is under pressure. More and more waste that is highly suitable for recycling is disappearing into incinerators. Due to the unlimited building of additional incinerators and declining quantities of waste, a massive overcapacity is emerging. The prices for incinerating waste have plummeted.

As a result, environmental targets are being jeopardised. After all, our waste policy follows 'Lansink's Ladder' as much as possible: prevent waste as much as possible, then promote reuse and recycling, only incinerate if that is not possible, and landfill as a last resort. With this hierarchy as policy, the waste collection and recycling industry grew into a substantial sector with a turnover of around 5 billion euros per year and employing 80,000 people.

Years ago, the waste sector already warned of impending overcapacity. But we kept on building. The Netherlands currently has eleven waste-to-energy plants (incinerators). Another one is being added this year, and more new builds and expansions of our incineration capacity are planned for the coming years. While the National Waste Management Plan (LAP) 2009-2012 prescribes that less bulky household residual waste may go into the ovens (around 0.5 Mton of waste per year), the capacity to incinerate it is growing by around 1 Mton. Because the incinerators must keep running due to commitments to the energy sector, the demand for waste is high. As a result, prices are bottoming out. Whereas it used to cost well over 100 euros per tonne of waste to have it incinerated, it is now around 57 euros. Consequently, it is becoming financially more attractive to incinerate waste than to recycle it.

The Recycling Netwerk, together with the recycling sector, is therefore calling on the government to take action. To regain control of this market. And that requires enforcement of the minimum standards laid down in the LAP. However, that enforcement is currently falling short. In the free waste market, the recycling sector often gets the short end of the stick. Furthermore, the LAP does not offer a short-term solution to the overcapacity problem. In fact, the plan encourages waste plants to recover more energy, such as for household electricity and district heating. While this is commendable in itself, it encourages the incineration of waste. It thus becomes direct competition for separate collection and recycling. And even though we recover part of the energy through incineration, a lot is still lost. Moreover, incineration yields three times less CO2 reduction than recycling, and usable raw materials are destroyed.