Understanding the Waste Hierarchy

The Waste Hierarchy identifies five waste management activities in descending order of preference. The preferred activity is waste reduction; the least desirable is landfill disposal. The European Union and the United States Environmental Protection Agency have each concluded that municipal solid waste, if managed according to the Waste Hierarchy, can help to maximise energy savings and minimise greenhouse gas emissions.

After “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” the RECOVERY of energy from residual waste is preferred over landfill disposal. Using waste as a fuel, Energy-from-Waste (EfW) or Waste-to-Energy (WTE) technology recovers energy from residual waste to generate renewable energy.

The waste management hierarchy is the cornerstone of sustainable waste management in Europe setting out the order of preferred solutions based on environmental impact.

After the maximum levels of waste that can be sensibly Reduced, Reused or Recycled have been removed there is still a substantial tonnage of waste remaining known as ‘residual waste’.

Usedas a fuel source, EfW technology recovers energy from this residual waste, the majority of which is classified as renewable.

Treating waste in an EfW plant is an environmentally superior alternative to sending the waste for disposal at landfill. This is why ‘Recovery’ is placed above Disposal, and why the European Union and UK Government support the use of EfW plants over disposal in landfill.