Energy from Waste Industry wrongly challenges the waste hierarchy

Last week, one of the leading UK energy recovery company, FCC Environment, exposed its view[1] on plastics recycling by arguing the market viability of plastics recycling.

Ton Emans, PRE President said “The waste hierarchy is not anyone’s view but the base of the European waste legislation. The principles are clear: we should avoid generating waste and reuse our product as much as possible. Finally, when the products become waste they should be recycled. So, EfW and landfilling are the less preferred options.”

‘Since this year, waste must be collected separately. Co-mingling waste together is no longer an option. How can we justify to our citizens which are paying waste taxed and sorting their plastics that these are directly sent to landfills or incineration?’ added Emans.

PRE waits for the new Circular Economy Package to overcome the various market failures in the plastics material value chain. This new legislative proposal will also be a strong tool to reaffirm the basic rules on waste management in Europe to assure a proper implementation in every Member State.

[1] http://www.fccenvironment.co.uk/fcc-environment-challenges-helmut-mauers-view-on-plastics-recycling.html