Page 54 - The European Baking Ingredients Market Report 2022 - Volume 1

54 European Baking Ingredients Market Report 2022
SUSTAINABILITY
WASTE TRADE AND INCINERATION

Is waste incineration

contaminating our food?

n Europe we are burning more stipulates that only 10% of waste measurements of emissions are
and more of our waste. Just generated can be landfilled from not currently mandatory for waste
over the last two decades, 2035 per year. It also states that incinerators, which mostly rely on
IEurope has built around 500 any waste landfilled has to be pre- a few pre-announced short-term
incinerators. The latest data from treated. At this time, there were no measurements (6-8 hours) per year.
Eurostat for the EU 27 shows that policies to limit waste incineration. This short-term sampling approach
we are now burning approximately This means that anything that was is seriously flawed as it represents
61 million tonnes of municipal not separately collected could be only about 0.2 % of the total yearly
waste, representing a 105% burned directly, regardless of its operating time and allows those
increase compared to the amount recyclability. As a result, waste that facilities to appear compliant with
incinerated in 1995. In fact, we are was previously landfilled was simply existing emissions standards.
1
now burning about 137 kg of waste moved to incinerators. Europe is
per person, per year. now burning roughly more than half An increasing amount of scientific
of its residual waste, with less being literature shows high levels of
5,6
Why are we burning our waste? landfilled each year. 3 contamination with pollutants,
Much of the growth in incineration such as dioxins and furans, in the
can be explained by EU policies Is it safe to burn waste? vicinity of waste incinerators.
2
focusing on limiting the amount European waste incinerators Most of the concern has been
of waste that is landfilled. For are often presented as a clean around so called Persistant
example, the Landfill Directive and safe way to make our waste Organics Pollutants (POPs). Also
disappear. The myth that burning known as “forever chemicals”,
waste is successful and safe in POPs are extremely toxic
Europe is often used by advocates chemicals that adversely affect
of incinerators in other regions, human health and are resistant to
especially in the Global South. environmental degradation.

The industry claims that Biomonitoring of incinerators’
incinerators are subjected to and emissions
comply with the most stringent To provide evidence of the actual
regulations. A recent paper by the emissions by waste incinerators, the
Confederation of European Waste- impact of burning waste needs to
to-Energy Producers (CEWEP) be measured over a longer period
stated that incinerators only emit of time. This is why Zero Waste
about 0.2% of the total industrial Europe conducted biomonitoring
dioxin emissions. 4 research around three incineration
facilities in Europe, in collaboration
Janek Vähk
The truth is, however, that the with toxicology researchers from
Climate, Energy and complexity of the chemical ToxicoWatch Foundation. The
Air Pollution Programme content of today’s household data obtained was referenced
Coordinator and industrial waste presents with other research conducted by
Zero Waste Europe a challenge to eliminate the ToxicoWatch in Belgium, France
multitude of pollutants from and Spain.
incinerators’ residues and flue
gases. Moreover, the way the The research analysed the
pollutants are monitored is not presence of toxic pollutants in
sufficiently representative of the biomarker samples such as locally
level of real emissions. Long-term produced chickens’ eggs, pine

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