A number of European countries have embraced waste-to-energy, with approximately 340 plants processing annual volumes of around 50 million tonnes of municipal waste in 2002.
In addition to voicing concern over emissions and ash disposal, critics claim that thermal treatment of waste reduces the incentive to recycle materials because waste-to-energy plants need to maintain the throughput of commercial and industrial waste to ensure viability. The Nimby syndrome is particularly evident in environmentally conscious countries and nations with poorly developed internal treatment and disposal capacity. The high degree of continued resistance is hampering the construction of new waste-to-energy facilities. “Each household discards around a tonne of waste on a yearly basis and our projections indicate that we will require twice the current number of waste management facilities by 2020,” says Matthew Barker, of Frost & Sullivan.
“The introduction of landfill bans to further improve rates of recycling – most prominently the adoption of the EU Landfill Directive – is poised to stimulate growth in the European waste-to-energy plant market. We believe that 166 plants will be commissioned across Europe between 2003 and 2009, when the overall market will be worth $313.6 million,” Mr Barker notes. The market is currently dominated by grate (mass burn) plants, but it is anticipated that diversification of plant types and variations in sizes will be stimulated by the robust growth rates expected to derive from the emerging pyrolysis and gasification plants market and further development of the fluidised bed plant market.
Other factors include an emphasis on the waste hierarchy principle (favouring waste minimisation over disposal), the growing ubiquity of increasingly demanding European and national waste planning policies.
But Frost & Sullivan points to a lack of political will as another serious stumbling block to waste-to-energy plant construction. While at EU level directives have been passed to improve packaging recycling, limit the environmental impact from incinerators and reduce the impact of waste on landfill, the commitment to these issues at a national level is debatable. Moreover the differences among countries waste disposal cultures, particularly apparent in France, Germany and the Alpine region, pose great difficulties for any company wishing to develop as a European player. The competitive landscape of the European market for waste-to-energy plants currently comprises around 40 companies, ranging from huge multinational turnkey power plant suppliers to smaller, more dedicated waste-to-energy equipment suppliers. CNIM/Martin is the market leader in terms of treatment capacity added over the period 2000 to 2002, with Foster Wheeler and VonRoll Inova second and third.
