This comes after the body, which counts Indaver, the North London Waste Authority and Viridor as members, reported last year that the market is “struggling with the consequences of the current global crises”.
In its ‘Industry Barometer Waste-to-Energy 2023‘, the current business climate in the energy from waste market was assessed. Additionally, participants were questioned about industry developments, such as the impact of CO2 emissions trading and the adoption of new technologies like chemical recycling or waste-to-fuel in thermal waste treatment.
The survey states that one of the factors showing that the market is stable is capacity utilisation, 42% of the participants reported a high utilisation of their plant, compared to 27% in the previous year.
But despite this, the survey shows that operators remain cautious about the next 12 months, with 35% anticipating an unfavourable business performance and 16% reporting they expect business to improve.
Gate fees
According to the survey, 45% of surveyed operators anticipate an increase in gate fees in the next year, with 20% expecting a decrease. A further 35% of respondents believed that the gate fees for the next year will remain the same.
The survey suggests that the introduction of a CO2 tax on waste fuels in Germany in January 2024 has influenced operators expectations, as nearly half of the participants are from Germany.
In the industry, the “price shock” of last year has weakened, the report said. Due to an improved situation in supply chains and energy prices as well as the decreasing inflation, only just under half of the respondents expect prices to increase further.
Manufacturing
In contrast, the survey highlights that the waste to energy industry as a whole is more optimistic about the future as 34% of participants foresee positive developments in the next 12 months. However, 9% of respondents do anticipate a negative business trend.
Regarding the potential inclusion of municipal waste treatment plants in the EU emissions trading scheme for carbon dioxide (EU ETS) in 2028, respondents foresaw various consequences.
These include an 11% expectation that recycling will increase due to rising costs in the waste to energy market. Meanwhile, 10% believe that the costs of waste disposal in general will rise, 7% anticipate that competition between waste to energy plants in Europe will become fairer.
Conversely, 25% think that landfilling will become more attractive because of rising costs in the waste to energy market and 3% expect a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from waste to energy plants.
Demand
Overall, 94% of the operators still rated their current business situation as “good” or “satisfactory”. The demand is one factor reflecting that the situation on the operator market has stabilised.
57% of survey respondents reported an unchanged demand in the past 12 months (2022: 47%), and only 22% reported a deteriorated demand (2022: 40%).
The CEWP report said: “In the difficult economic conditions of the past months, the WtE industry has shown resilience. Not only does it guarantees waste treatment with high ecological and hygienic standards, but it also provides stability for growth and employment in Europe.
“This year’s industry barometer also shows how difficult it is to develop alternative technologies for treating non-recyclable waste. Innovation is necessary in the waste management sector. However, we should not rely on these alternative technologies to take over a significant part of waste treatment until their technical and economic feasibility, as well as their ecological performance, has been proven. WtE has a proven record of many decades. In the years to come, it will remain an indispensable pillar for waste management in Europe.”
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