https://www.mdu.se/

This paper presents the results of assessment of the current status of waste-to-energy utilisation in five selected regions, which was conducted within the REMOWE (Regional Mobilizing of Sustainable Waste-to-Energy Production) project. The REMOWE project is part of the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-2013 and has been partly-financed by the European Union. The objective of this paper is the evaluation of the current practice with focus on the best practices that can be transferred to other regions. The selected regions are Estonia; Lower Silesia (Poland), Western Lithuania and North Savo Region (Finland) and the County of Västmanland (Sweden). The current situations in the project regions are presented with regard to the waste generation and treatment and the potential to use waste as RES. The waste types which were identified as relevant for energy recovery include municipal waste, sewage sludge, industrial waste (two streams: one suitable for biogas generation and the other one as alternative fuel for combustion) as well as animal manure. The greatest energy potential show residual municipal waste (68% of the total potential) and animal manure (24%). Energy recovery from these wastes should be a priority in waste management systems of individual regions. Current energy recovery from waste is very low in the considered regions, except for the County of Västmanland, where app. 68% of the waste to energy potential is utilised.

Keywords: waste, renewable energies, sustainability, residues.