Page 13 - Waste-to-Energy in the Danube Strategy Region. Challenges and Prospects

1.3 Waste streams & WtE technologies

In the context of WtE, not all wastes are created equal. Some forms of waste are more suitable for

generating energy than others; some not at all. Moreover, those waste streams that may be used
to generate energy may be more appropriate for a certain WtE technology. Thus to discuss WtE

it is first necessary to present what types of waste are relevant and for what technologies.

A report by the EC’s Joint Research Centre (Saveyn et al. 2016) identifies 13 waste streams
and 5 waste-derived fuels which are of the most significance for WtE with regard to their energy

content. Of those 18, the report then specifies 15 for which reliable data was available (see Table

1 below). The 6 highlighted in blue account for 83% of the total energy embedded in wastes sent

to incineration (with and without energy recovery) and 93% of the total energy embedded in
wastes sent to landfill. As the report notes, this is significant especially for WtE because “any

changes in waste management practices for the six waste types…, and in particular for household

and similar wastes (HSW) and sorting residues, would be likely to have the largest impacts on the

waste-to-energy landscape in the EU-28” (p. 5).

Project co-funded by the European Union
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