NNE5-1999-00533 Waste to Recovered Fuel - TBR

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EESD (Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development) : Solid Biofuels : Thermochemical Conversion

Proposal No:	NNE5-1999-00533
Date Prepared:	February 2004
Source:	European Bio-Energy Projects (EUR 20808)

Introduction

The Landfill Directive (LD) will significantly reduce the disposal of biodegradable, i.e. organic/ combustible, waste in landfill. At the same time, the RES-E Directive sets out procedures for the promotion of renewable energy sources, e.g. biomass, including the "biodegradable fraction" of waste.

Dedicated waste incineration with energy recovery is a robust economic and environmentally sound recovery option that is regulated under the Waste Incineration Directive (WID). However, in Europe there is not enough incineration capacity to meet the demands of the LD and building permission for new installations takes a long time.

The use of SRF for the generation of power and/or heat or for the production of material products, e.g. clinker for cement, is regulated as co-incineration in the WID. The fuel market needs to be developed rapidly with the help of pan- European procedures which are also accepted by the building permission authorities.

Results

The project has successfully initiated the European standardisation of solid recovered fuels, as follows:

1. The cost-benefit analysis report Waste to Recovered Fuel was presented at a workshop organised jointly by the ERFO and the European Commission on 29 May 2001 in Brussels. The report is available at www.guagroup. com/cba-wtrf.

2. CEN BT/TF 118 Solid Recovered Fuels, at its fourth (final) meeting on 23 January 2002, agreed to establish a CEN technical committee, adopted a prospective work programme for that committee, and accepted a background report on Solid Recovered Fuels presently under publication as CEN/TR 14745:2003.

3. CEN TC 343 Solid Recovered Fuels, (secretariat held by Finland) was established on 4 April 2001. It has achieved active participation from more than ten Member States. The work programme contains 27 items, i.e. standards to be developed. At the TC's second meeting on 21 January 2003, the following organisation of expert working groups was agreed upon:

• WG1: Terminology and Quality Assurance; secretariat held by Italy.
• WG2: Specifications and Classes; secretariat held by Sweden.
• WG3: Sampling, sample reduction and supplementary test methods; secretariat held
• WG4: Physical/mechanical test methods; secretariat to be held by Germany.
• WG5: Chemical test methods; secretariat held by Italy.

4. Policy matters arising during the period before the establishment of CEN TC343 were extensively discussed at eight joint steering committee and project group meetings. Representatives from DG ENTR, DG ENV, DG RTD, DG TREN and the European Environmental Bureau attended these coordination meetings.

5. As a result of the project, on 26 August 2002 the European Commission issued Mandate M/325 Solid Recovered Fuels to CEN for the execution of the standardisation work. The mandate asks CEN in particular to develop a test method for determining the biodegradable/ biogenic fraction of SRF to be used for the support systems of the RES-E Directive.

Impact

European standardisation for the production, trade and use of classified solid recovered fuels will expand the nascent market for these fuels and will create new jobs in a growing industry. During the course of this project, the SRF industry has established a new representative trade body designated the European Recovered Fuels Organisation (ERFO).

The estimated quantity of solid recovered fuel produced in 2000 was 1,000 kt/a. That figure is expected to rise to 10,000 kt/a in 2005, corresponding to 5,000 ktoe/a. The main market drivers are economic ones resulting from the implementation of instruments within the framework of European policy on environmental protection. The use of these fuels for the substitution of fossil fuels will significantly reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases in line with the Kyoto Protocol.