
Way to her waste incineration at existing power plants opens Ministry of the Environment. The corresponding amendment to the national waste management planning does not seem to be accidental, since According to reports there is a lot of interest from checkpoint for its division in Laurel and in other areas. The ministry, however, believes that it will not need to bid for waste “recycling” facilities, as the market will be very interested.
The government now seems to be convinced that the only way to meet the goal of reducing the amount of waste sent to landfills below 10% of the total is to burn the waste for energy. In this context, he added “energy recovery units” to national and regional plans for urban waste (with the Ministry of the Environment taking over the “hot potato” of housing, licensing and commissioning of construction and operation). At the same time, all waste management facilities also provide for the conversion of residue to spent fuel (SRF or RDF). In reality, of course, given that no single mixed waste recycling facility can “recover” more than 15% of recyclables from waste, the remainder is effectively equivalent today…to most of the waste sent to these facilities.
However, a few days ago this direction was unexpectedly expanded. In the National Waste Plan (NWSP) consultative revision, a window was added to burn not only waste-based fuels, but also mixed waste, i.e. garbage collected from green bins. As is usually stated, “temporarily, until the completion of the entire IEA/MAA network envisaged in the region (including waste management facilities), thermal treatment of residual mixed municipal waste is also allowed.”
The Ministry of the Environment has decided that the energy use of mixed waste is “temporarily” allowed.
This direction was confirmed on Wednesday by Secretary General of Waste Management Coordination Manolis Grafakos, speaking at an investment forum (organized by the A-Energy Investment Initiative and the PPP Forum Initiative, in cooperation with the Ministries of Environment, Development and Agriculture). Development). “The state has seriously brought the use of energy into the public debate by taking political responsibility for it,” he said. “In a strong, green voice, we say that energy recovery is much better than burial. That is why we revised the EHSDA and commissioned the preparation of a study (which will determine the number of units and areas), which will become institutionalized at the end of the year, after a dialogue with the market, agencies and local government. We do not aim to build units on our own. Only if the market fails to “pick it up” will we continue projects in partnership with the private sector.”
Events are not random. According with information from “K”, PPC has expressed interest in using mixed waste from Attica and some of the islands for energy production at its plant in Lavrion. The proposal is said to be favored by the government in order to reduce the huge sums that are currently buried in the Tribe (more than 80% of the total). Mr. Grafakos, however, was asked directly on Wednesday and stated that he did not know anything about it (the same is claimed by Attica Regional Governor Giorgos Patoulis), but he called on the CPT to take part in a public debate on “energy use”. “.
Mr. Grafakos mentioned a waste management facility in Western Macedonia as an example. “From the Kozani plant, 45% of the waste it receives is currently sent to landfill. Our goal is to convert it to SRF and use it in the nearby Amyntaios DETEPA block for power generation and district heating.” The Secretary General also said that there is a disagreement with the cement industry, which is currently the only “recipient” of NRW in our country and receives money for using it as fuel. “The cement industry needs to move towards a price (in terms of SRF) close to zero. This is realistic based on new data. We all need to understand that the citizen is asked to pay all the costs of waste management.”
Mr. Grafakos made another interesting observation. Regarding the auctions of waste management units, he noted that with the auction of units of Volos, Larissa, the eastern sector of Thessaloniki, Kavala and Naxos at the beginning of 2023, the cycle closes. “We are ending auctions of public works (including waste). Then the agencies (including waste management) will have to either build projects in partnership with private individuals, or build them entirely on their own. The state will no longer be obliged to comply with them.”
Source: Kathimerini

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