Critique of government push for waste incineration over recycling and circular economy principles across Europe.
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Undesirable waste incineration plants are being promoted by the New Democracy government in Greece and Europe despite their negative environmental and health impacts, contradicting priorities like waste reduction, recycling, and circular economy principles, favoring large private interests. Current plans for six new waste-to-energy facilities across several Greek regions face strong opposition from various entities who dispute claims of a necessary or sustainable solution. This plan runs counter to the EU’s direction away from incineration and ecological movements demanding bans on new plants, noting that existing ones process about a quarter of daily municipal waste in member states. The Greek government is also ignoring negative lessons, such as importing waste from countries like the UK for burning when recycling rates are increasing.
The plan faces criticism due to severe environmental, social, and economic consequences. Medical associations link increased cancer rates to landfill/waste processing sites, while WWF warns of dangerous pollutants like dioxins and heavy metals released by incineration, which produces nearly double the greenhouse gas emissions of natural gas plants. These facilities are often sited in already polluted areas, creating a “second-class” citizenry. Economically, private contractors stand to gain billions, while the public faces high costs for waste management, especially without expected EU funding.
The proposed national strategy aims to reduce landfilling to 10% by 2030, an earlier target than the EU’s 2035 goal. However, this plan violates the EU directive that ranks incineration low on the waste hierarchy (after prevention, reuse, and recycling). Experts argue that both landfilling and incineration are problematic, stressing that incineration does not reduce final landfill volume or generate truly green energy; instead, it risks health issues from fine particulate matter and hazardous ash.
Experts cite international examples like Sweden and Germany, where high recycling rates limit the feedstock for incinerators, often leading to imports. In contrast, critics argue that current Greek plans prioritize waste-to-energy (WTE) over material recovery, severely undermining recycling efforts. Furthermore, the strategy is criticized for centralizing waste management away from local authorities and ignoring organic waste treatment failures. Economically, costs are projected to rise significantly, potentially reaching 300 euros per ton due to future carbon taxes.
In other European contexts, such as Austria and Romania, incineration has been established, sometimes leading to reliance on external waste sources or facing public opposition. In Bulgaria, a planned municipal incinerator was canceled amid environmental concerns, leaving the city reliant on expensive RDF processing for cement plants. Overall, experts maintain that incineration undermines circular economy principles by prioritizing energy recovery over resource conservation.
