A new study published today by Zero Waste Europe (ZWE) shows that the efficiency of electricity generation from existing EU waste incineration facilities is appallingly low.

Equanimator’s study ‘Debunking Efficient Recovery: the Performance of EU Incineration Facilities‘ found that typical efficiencies for energy generation, especially for electricity generation only, are in the mid-20% range in the best cases. This compares poorly with figures of around 35% for coal-fired electricity generation and 55% for combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plants.

The situation is slightly better for heat generation, but even here the performance is no better than that of domestic gas boilers. The situation worsens – emissions effectively double for both electricity and gas – when non-fossil CO2 emissions from waste incineration are taken into account.

The study also questions the rather arbitrary basis for distinguishing between disposal (D10) and recovery (R1) incineration. The energy efficiency threshold set by the R1 formula to distinguish between disposal and recovery incinerators is far too easy to meet. The R1 threshold could be met with efficiencies as low as 16.5% net. The report therefore recommends that the meaningless distinction between D10 and R1 incinerators be abandoned.