Waste-to-Energy in Austria 2010: Figures, Data, Facts

Waste incineration plays an important role in achieving greenhouse gas reductions and resource efficiency including energy recovery. Thus the pioneering experience in Switzerland as well as in Austria with a legal ban on disposal of organic wastes in landfills has become now a matter of global importance. However, the shipment of wastes suitable for energy recovery across borders poses currently a particular challenge, as environmental standards differ significantly across various EU Member States. Joint efforts will have to go into raising waste management in the EU and globally to a more uniform standard and into ensuring that Austria's efficient thermal waste treatment plants can operate at full capacity. This is absolutely necessary in order to curtail global greenhouse gas emissions, comply with the legal obligations to conserve resources and increase energy efficiency, and thus reduce emissions across all countries.