When the waste we create leaves our homes, where does it go? In the European Union, 4.8 metric tons of waste were generated by each resident in 2020, according to the European Environment Agency — 39.2 percent of which was processed and recycled — notes the European Commission’s recent Eurostat waste statistics report.

The majority of waste (55.6 percent) arrived at landfill or was backfilled, either within its country of origin (32.2 percent) or abroad (67.8 percent), according to the European Commission, while less than 6.5 percent was converted to energy.

This is a profoundly wasted opportunity. In urban municipalities where there is a large concentration of residual household waste, energy-from-waste (EfW) has material advantages over its alternatives, in particular landfill. Efficient EfW conversion reduces the amount of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) emitted into the atmosphere compared with landfill, which is a materially positive environmental benefit.