Confederation of European WTE plants urges ambitious recycling and recovery targets

The Confederation of European Waste-to-Energy Plants based in Brussels, have released an open letter to the European Commission urging the commissioners to set ambitious and binding targets to divert recyclable and recoverable waste from landfills when its Circular Economy package is introduced.

The EU Commission has reported it will introduce its new Circular Economy package, currently in development, by the end of the year.

In the letter, CEWEP points out that recycling materials and recovering waste benefits the environment, reduces greenhouse gas emissions thus contributing to policy targets, and boosts the economy.

“Diverting recyclable and recoverable waste from landfills is the first step towards a recycling and recovering society for a sustainable use of our resources. Setting ambitious recycling and recovering targets is the second step that can only be done after the first step,” CEWEP states in its letter, signed by Ferdinand Kleppmann, CEWEP president; and Ella Stengler, CEWEP managing director.

CEWEP is the umbrella association of the owners and operators of waste-to-energy plants (waste incineration with energy recovery) across Europe.