A group of NGOs and companies from the recycling, forestry and chemical industries are demanding that the burning of non-recyclable waste for energy generation no longer be considered renewable energy.
EU: Waste incineration is renewable energy – Image: @shutterstock | DeawS – atabik yusuf djufni
There is currently a lack of understanding regarding the Federal Cabinet's decision on the draft Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) (planned solar brake). This is because 97 percent of solar companies are warning of a decline in demand for rooftop solar installations.
Critical times are once again looming for the solar industry. Just when the protracted saga surrounding the cap on solar subsidies finally ended, Peter Altmaier, the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, needlessly pulls out another bombshell.
Among other things, subsidies will only be granted to newly commissioned photovoltaic systems if the generated electricity is fed directly into the grid without being used on-site. The logic behind this is that every bit of energy must be captured to even come close to the ambitious goal of reducing CO2 emissions by 55 percent through renewable energies.
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However, there is another aspect that has been completely overlooked: waste incineration.
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Non-renewable energy can only be used once. It is a limited resource and not available indefinitely. This includes nuclear power. Nuclear power plants require enriched uranium, which must first be produced industrially. Depleted uranium is produced as a waste product. What happens to this waste, as well as to the fission products generated during nuclear fission—that is, highly toxic radioactive waste—is another matter. In contrast, fossil fuels cause environmental pollution and global warming through the release of greenhouse gases.
Up to this point, everything is logically comprehensible: Renewable energy is available in unlimited quantities and does not harm the environment.
For whatever reason, the situation is different when it comes to waste incineration.
EURACTIV writes : “A group of NGOs and companies from the recycling, forestry and chemical industries have called on European legislators in a letter to stop considering the burning of non-recyclable waste for energy production as ‘renewable’ energy.”
Furthermore, Germany exports plastic waste abroad to "verifiably" certified recycling facilities. This waste can therefore be included in the calculation of recycling rates.
The verification and control systems are not comparable to the standards we use in Germany. This also applies to the recycling infrastructure in the destination countries. It is often inadequate by our standards and expectations, but this is conveniently ignored. In reality, only a portion of the waste is recycled.
Much of it is smoke and mirrors, and the myth of the EU's Green Deal has a dark side.
What isn't incinerated here goes abroad. Since 2000, the amount of waste incinerated in Germany has quadrupled.
Waste incineration in Germany
In Germany, the facilities are partially distributed according to population density. However, some industrial and municipal waste must be transported over longer distances. An overview map with basic data for most facilities can be found at the German Association of Thermal Waste Treatment Plants (Interessengemeinschaft der Wärmen Abfallbehandlungsanlagen in Deutschland e. V.).
Since it is impossible to know which components of waste are burned at any given time and in what quantities (critical examples include PVC, batteries and electronic components, paints, etc.), the composition of the flue gas and ash varies. In addition to carbon dioxide and water, combustion produces carbon monoxide, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, as well as hydrochloric acid and hydrofluoric acid, mercury, and dust containing heavy metals. Highly toxic substances such as polychlorinated dibenzodioxins and dibenzofurans are also produced in very low concentrations.
In the past, waste incineration was considered the primary cause of the spread of the latter substances in the environment, however, the Federal Ministry for the Environment stated in a press release in 2005 that this statement was no longer valid (“While in 1990 one third of all dioxin emissions came from waste incineration plants, in 2000 it was less than 1%”).
- However, this view has been criticized because the emissions measurements at waste incineration plants allegedly contain a systematic error: dioxin is hydrophobic, and since the exhaust gases contain a lot of water vapor, the dioxin molecules attract the dust particles emitted along with them. However, only the dioxin concentration in the air is measured. It has been countered that the pollutants are measured by regularly extracting flue gas samples along with all particles and then determining the substances they contain.
The exact number and variety of pollutants produced and released during waste incineration are, in any case, unknown. Limit values exist only for 40 known airborne pollutants. The danger lies in the fact that a large number of different substances are present during waste incineration. Due to the sheer number of substances, the hazard posed by individual compounds, even those present only in trace amounts, is virtually impossible to determine
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Waste export to China
One is tempted to say: The quota has to be right. On the one hand, we point the finger at China, accusing it of polluting the environment without regard for the environment, while on the other hand, we shipped our waste there exorbitantly and shamelessly, even if it was mostly industrial waste. Was it?
For a long time, China was the largest importer of plastic waste, until it imposed an import ban at the end of December 2017.
Malaysia becomes new hub for plastic waste after China's market exit
After China halted imports, new routes for the waste trade were quickly established. Following China's decision to ban plastic waste imports in early 2018, Malaysia became a major new hub for plastic waste imports. The four largest exporters of plastic waste—Germany, the UK, the US, and Japan—shipped a total of approximately 650,000 tons to the Southeast Asian nation, which covers only 330,000 square kilometers.
According to the United Nations' Comtrade database, the four largest exporters accounted for around 50 percent of global plastic waste exports in 2018. Only about 240,000 tons ended up in China and Hong Kong, as imports were gradually phased out. Other Asian countries, including India, Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia, were also popular export destinations, but their figures were nowhere near those of Malaysia. Many Chinese recycling companies relocated their operations to the country, which, according to the South China Morning Post, has a significant Chinese-speaking population. The global trade in plastic waste is highly diverse, with major exporters utilizing a wide range of partners in both industrialized and developing countries.
Buyers of plastic waste typically process the material into pellets, which are then sold to manufacturers and processed into new plastic products. Unfortunately, processing plants often burn low-grade plastics that they cannot use, releasing toxins into the air. In other cases, reckless companies illegally dump plastic waste, as the Süddeutsche Zeitung observed in the Malaysian district of Jenjarom. Residents in Malaysia report growing piles of garbage and toxic fumes.
You can find more infographics at Statista.
South Korea's waste dilemma
Other Asian countries, such as South Korea, are also making great efforts to reduce waste incineration, which is a common method of energy production in the country.
In 2017, the South Korean government tightened air pollution regulations to reduce smog, which also affected waste incineration plants. Their number fell from 611 in 2011 to 395 in 2018. South Korea aims to reduce problematic waste incineration to 30 percent renewable energy by 2035, so that the renewable energy sector truly lives up to its name.
Wind energy, photovoltaics and thermal energy are expected to play a greater role.
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Originally, excess waste was exported to China, but since China tightened its regulations on importing foreign waste, as mentioned above, South Korean waste can no longer go there. This has led to the proliferation of illegal and semi-illegal landfills, which spontaneously combust at any given time.
You can find more infographics at Statista.
What is Ursula von der Leyen's Green Deal still worth?
It's revealing what kind of double standards our EU leaders are displaying. Not everything that glitters is green. It doesn't even come close to being worth it. Is the Green Deal a farce?
Of course, it would be too easy to point the finger at our politicians. We're all in the same boat, and we're all responsible for this situation. We have to stop lying to ourselves, putting a positive spin on things, and arrogantly believing we have a better environmental awareness than others.
But at least there's been a change in thinking. We just need to be more honest and humble with ourselves.
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Which countries export and import plastic waste?
The global battle over who should deal with the world's waste rages on. After China banned the import of plastic waste, other Asian countries have expanded into the sector, which carries the inherent risk of air, land, and marine pollution.
While recycling foreign plastic waste can be lucrative, a lack of regulation and oversight in recipient countries has caused a host of problems. After China withdrew, Vietnam and Malaysia became some of the largest importers of plastic waste in Asia, while Turkey also emerged as a net importer of European plastic waste . Most of the plastics arriving in Asia are routed through Hong Kong.
Experts anticipate that the flow of plastic waste exported from industrialized nations will continue to shift to countries where regulations are (currently) lacking. The majority of plastic waste originates from countries such as Japan, the United States, and Germany, which were the largest net exporters of plastic waste and refuse in 2019. According to data retrieved from the UN Comtrade platform , Japan exported more than 550,000 tons last year while importing almost no foreign plastic waste, resulting in net exports of approximately 530,000 tons. Germany accounted for net exports of 413,000 tons, while the US imported more than 317,000 tons.
You can find more infographics at Statista.
Plastic recycling still has a long way to go
In 2019, the Center for International Environmental Law examined the environmental impacts of plastic production and incineration. It concluded that the life cycle of plastics will add 850 million tons of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere this year, equivalent to the emissions of 189,500 megawatts of coal-fired power plants. These plastic emissions threaten the global community's ability to meet its carbon emission targets. The study also tracked the path of plastic waste and found that only 9 percent of all plastics discarded in the U.S. since 1950 have been recycled, while 12 percent have been incinerated.
The plastic that floats in our oceans, clogs our canals, and litters our sidewalks rightfully receives most of the attention from activists, but its fate in the waste management system is often overlooked. The following graph shows the total amount of plastic produced annually since the 1960s and what happens to it once it ends up in the trash. Given how little has been recycled over the years, it's hardly surprising that most of it ends up in landfills. In 2015, 34.5 million tons of plastic waste were generated in the U.S., and 26 million tons were landfilled. 5.4 million tons were incinerated for energy recovery, while only 3.1 million tons were recycled.
Given the scale of global efforts to combat plastic, why is so little of it recycled? Plastic packaging is notoriously difficult to recycle, and it accounts for 40 percent of total plastic product production. Even when plastic can be recycled, the process typically involves many steps requiring separate collection, long-distance transportation, processing, and remanufacturing. This results in high costs and a low value for the recycled product, meaning the process is rarely profitable and requires substantial government subsidies. A vast amount of plastic is mishandled, primarily through pollution and open-air burning. Although the rate of mismanagement in the US is relatively low compared to other developed countries, it is still considered one of the main contributors to marine pollution.
You can find more infographics at Statista.
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