WtE plants with energy recovery as part of Europe’s energy sustainability

3.1.1. Development of municipal waste treatment in Europe

The analysis of municipal waste treatment in the EU and in selected European countries in 2023 is presented in Table 1.

Table 1 shows that approximately 25% of municipal waste in the EU is incinerated with energy recovery. In several European countries (Sweden, Finland, Norway, and the United Kingdom), the share of incineration with energy recovery exceeds that of recycling and composting. In Denmark, waste treatment is distributed almost evenly across the main treatment options. Estonia, Lithuania, and Switzerland show very similar figures.

Several countries have already met the requirements of EU Directive 2018/850, which limits landfilling to 10%. In Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Estonia, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and Austria, only about 1% of municipal waste is landfilled; in Luxembourg – about 3% and in Lithuania – about 8%. In Switzerland, landfilling of municipal waste has been eliminated to 0%, while in Norway, it accounts for about 5%, and in the United Kingdom, about 9%, even though these countries are not EU members.

3.2.1. EU approaches for the utilization of residual waste

The European Union has adopted a new strategy, the Clean Industrial Deal, aimed at strengthening the competitiveness of its industrial sector while accelerating decarbonization [19]. The main objective of this plan is to reduce Member States’ dependence on imported fossil fuels for both industry and households.

According to the International Energy Agency, renewable sources are increasingly used for electricity generation (in February 2025, 34.9% of electricity in OECD countries was generated from renewables). However, up to 90% of fuel used in the heating sector still comes from fossil sources [20,21]. Therefore, district heating systems offer significant technical potential for reducing fossil fuel use and associated emissions.

Because minimizing the amount of municipal waste is the primary objective of waste incineration, heat generated during the MSW combustion at WtE plants is considered residual heat and can be used to decarbonize district heating systems where heat recovery infrastructure is available [22].

WtE plants with energy recovery produce surplus heat that can be directly supplied to district heating networks, which provide an efficient means of its utilization. Consequently, fossil fuels currently used to produce heat for district heating can be partially replaced with energy recovered from residual municipal waste. WtE plants with energy recovery therefore represent a reliable source of locally available residual heat, derived from domestic rather than imported fuels.

The European Commission has confirmed that one of the most effective methods to enhance the energy efficiency of WtE processes is the distribution of heat recovered from waste through low-temperature district heating networks [23].

Data on gross electricity production and gross derived heat generation in the EU, including the contribution from municipal waste in 2019–2024, are presented in Table 2.

Table 2 shows that although gross electricity production in 2024 fell by 3.7% compared to 2019, the share of residual municipal waste remained almost unchanged (1.4% in 2024 vs 1.3% in 2019). However, despite a 14% reduction in gross heat production over the same period, the use of residual municipal waste increased to 12.7%. This included both renewable (6.5%) and non-renewable (6.2%) municipal waste, representing a 2.6% increase from 2019.

Currently, about 10% of the energy supplied to Europe’s district heating networks comes from WtE plants. In cities with well-developed district heating infrastructure – such as Brescia (Italy), Malmö (Sweden), or Klaipėda (Lithuania) – WtE plants cover 50% or more of heating demand [25]. In Sweden, the district heating sector is well developed, and waste incineration makes a significant contribution to the energy balance. Waste incineration accounts for approximately 25% of total district heating and about 1.8% of electricity in Sweden. In 2023, Swedish waste incineration plants recovered 19.5 TWh of energy: 17.3 TWh as heat and 2.2 TWh as electricity [26]. The consumption of waste used for gross production of district heating in Norway amounts to 45–50% [27].

3.2.2. Development of WtE plants with energy recovery in Europe

As of 2022, approximately 500 WtE plants were operating in Europe [28]. France (116 units), Germany (91 units), and the United Kingdom (57 units) had the highest number of WtE plants with energy recovery. These countries also had the largest amounts of thermally incinerated residual waste. A significant number of WtE plants are also located in Sweden and Italy (more than 30 units each) and Switzerland (29 units) (Table 3).

Table 3 shows that between 2019 and 2022, the number of plants in some countries declined – by nine units in Germany, eight units in France, and one unit each in Italy and Switzerland. However, the amount of thermally incinerated residual waste in France remained almost unchanged, while in Italy and Switzerland, it decreased only slightly.

Nevertheless, the overall trend of increasing the incineration of residual waste at WtE plants continues.

In nine EU countries, as well as in Norway, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, the share of residual municipal waste incinerated with energy recovery in 2023 was approximately 40–60%. In France, Austria, and Germany, incineration with energy recovery accounted for about 30% of residual municipal waste (Table 4).

In Sweden, Austria, and Spain, one additional plant was added, increasing the amount of residual waste incinerated by 11, 4, and 2%, respectively. WtE plants work stably in Finland, Denmark, Norway, Estonia, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands.

In the United Kingdom, Lithuania, and Poland, new WtE plants are being actively developed. During this period, nine plants were built in the United Kingdom, increasing the amount of incinerated residual waste by 22%, and two plants were built in Lithuania, increasing the incineration of residual waste by 2.5 times.

In Poland, until 2013, municipal waste was incinerated at the only WtE plant in Warsaw. By 2025, Poland had 11 WtE plants in operation. A new WtE plant in Warsaw is at the final stage of modernization and expansion.

The active development of WtE plants with energy recovery in Poland is driven by the need to phase out coal-fired power plants and by the extensive district heating network. Municipal waste accounts for a 2.0% share in heat generation in district heating in Poland [31].

3.2.3. Development of WtE plants with energy recovery in Ukraine

Despite the ongoing war with Russia, now in its fifth year, Ukraine is actively working on improving its municipal waste management system. According to the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine, more than 200 new facilities for processing mixed MSW are required to meet national treatment needs [38].

Ukraine also has a well-developed district heating network, which increases the relevance of integrating WtE solutions into urban energy systems. For example, the district heating network in Kyiv extends over 2,700 km [39]. In 2024, the annual generation of MSW in Kyiv was estimated at approximately 1.3 million Mg. Up to 25% of this volume is incinerated at the “Energia” WtE plant operated by the municipal enterprise “Kyivteploenergo,” which supplies hot water to residents of one of the city districts [40].

According to the “Kyiv District Heating Scheme for the Period up to 2030,” new WtE facilities with energy recovery are planned. The project includes a plant processing 450,000 t/year of mixed MSW as part of a natural-gas-fired combined heat and power (CHP) unit with 300 MW electric and ∼2,200 GJ/h thermal capacity, as well as an RDF-fired WtE plant with 24 MW electric and ∼170 GJ/h thermal capacity.

Additionally, a new technological complex is planned for processing up to 400,000 tons of mixed waste. It will include a mechanical-biological treatment plant producing RDF and RDF-fired WtE plant with a total installed electric capacity of 20 MW and thermal capacity of about 335 GJ/h, of which 142 GJ/h comes from cogeneration. These facilities will enable utilization of nearly the entire calorific potential of Kyiv’s residual MSW, producing approximately 500 GJ/h of thermal energy. Further details on WtE plants with energy recovery in Ukraine are provided in the article [41].

Based on the experience of Poland in using WtE plants with energy recovery, the municipality of Odesa invited Posco E&C (Korea) to construct WtE plant with an electric capacity of 12 MW and a thermal output of 40 MW [42]. In Zhytomyr, the company Valmet (Finland) will build a solid recovered fuel (SRF)- and mixture of wood chips-fired WtE plant with energy recovery and an electric capacity ranging from 9.9 to 13.1 MW and heat production up to 22 MW [43].

The authors conducted an analysis of the potential for utilizing residual municipal waste as a local energy resource to substitute natural gas in district heating systems in Ukrainian cities with populations exceeding 300,000 inhabitants. Population data, MSW generation volumes, and waste morphology were obtained from Ukrstat, the Ministry for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine, and the Design and Technology Institute of Municipal Economy.

To determine the energy potential of residual MSW, the authors conducted experimental combustion studies using samples of mixed waste from multiple Ukrainian cities and an experimental boiler. The amount of heat released during combustion was determined using an experimental-analytical methodology developed by the authors.

Initial statistical data were evaluated with an accuracy of ±10%. Based on variability in morphological composition, average accuracy was estimated at ±15%. It was determined that approximately 30% of MSW constitutes residual waste, and the amount suitable for incineration with energy recovery was estimated at ±15% of this value, resulting in a total range of 25.5–34.5%.

Variations in the heat released from combustion were attributed to mechanical unburned residue associated with different combustion technologies, with an uncertainty of ±15%.

The integrated uncertainty of the calculations was determined as

Based on these results, the authors estimate the need for RDF/SRF-fired WtE plants with energy recovery in Kyiv (two facilities), Kharkiv, Odesa, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Lviv, Zhytomyr, Ternopil, and Chernivtsi. Utilizing the energy potential of residual urban MSW could substitute up to 10% of natural gas currently used to provide heating and domestic hot water in these cities [44].