Chamber of Deputies proposes Bill that makes energy recovery from waste unfeasible in Brazil

By ABREN

July 9, 2024

This is a machine translation of the press release originally published in Portuguese

The management of urban solid waste (MSW) has been a major challenge in Brazil and around the world, especially given the increasing amount of waste produced in large cities and the lack of space for its correct disposal. One of the solutions used on a large scale around the world, Energy Recovery Plants (URE), also called Waste-to-Energy, are an environmentally appropriate solution to this challenge. However, a lot of false information and confusion regarding this topic has been spread in Brazil.

A recent example is Bill No. 4,462/2019, scheduled to be considered tomorrow (10) in a session in the Chamber of Deputies, which intends to prohibit plants of this nature less than 20 km from residences or public establishments, based on justifications that they are not supported by reality or peer-reviewed academic studies. According to Yuri Schmitke, president of the Brazilian Association for Energy Recovery of Waste (ABREN), “this issue should be discussed within the scope of an environmental licensing process, as occurred in the licensing of the Energy Recovery Units (URE) in Barueri, Caju (RJ), Mauá (SP) and Consimares (SP), all duly licensed according to strict standards, but this was not done”. Furthermore, reinforces Schmitke, “the PL, if approved as it is, practically makes it impossible to install energy recovery plants in Brazil”.

The Bill also determines that the entrepreneur must prove that, in the last 36 months, he carried out 100% selective collection in three fractions (dry, organic and waste), and recycled 50% of the total mass of waste in the last 5 years. These metrics, however, do not exist anywhere in the world, not even in countries that have hundreds of waste energy recovery plants. For example, the same rule does not apply to landfills, which is a less sustainable activity than energy recovery and is lower in the order of priorities.

Energy recovery through combustion or incineration, called Waste-to-Energy (WtE), is by far the most sustainable and suitable technology for this process. This technology eliminates the need to dispose of organic material in landfills, making it the best option for large urban centers. Currently, there are around 3,000 WtE units in the world, 540 in the European Union, 1,000 in Japan, 1,000 in China and 79 in the United States. These plants have sophisticated gas purification and washing systems, posing no risk to public health.

Practical examples include Paris, host of the Olympic Games that will begin later this month, which has three power plants located 2 km from the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre Museum. Operating for more than 20 years, studies by CEWEP (2023) indicate that the smoke from these plants is cleaner than city air, with dioxins and furans representing just 0.2% of the total in the air. In Singapore, non-recyclable waste is incinerated, and measurements show that the air emitted by chimneys is cleaner than that in the city itself. Copenhagen, Denmark, has a WtE plant that houses a ski slope, hiking trail and climbing wall in its outdoor area, standing out as a spectacle of architecture and sustainability.

The article "The Scientific Truth About Energy Recovery from Waste" by Marcos J. Castaldi, Ph.D., Director of the Department of Chemical Engineering at City College of New York City, University of New York, presents data indicating that health human health is not negatively affected by WtE. Furthermore, studies show that WtE facilities operate within environmental standards, and that pollutants emitted are minimal compared to other sources of pollution. The current performance of WTE facilities in the US and globally shows that their emissions are more than 70% below the most stringent standards, except for NOx, which operates approximately 35% below emission standards.

The implementation and improvement of WtE plants constitute the best approach for sustainable and safe management of urban solid waste. “It is essential to adopt the best practices in waste management, proven by modern engineering, to guarantee public health and environmental protection. Without a doubt, energy recovery from waste is an alternative that needs to be taken into account”, concludes Schmitke.