The Confederation of European Waste-to-Energy Plants (CEWEP) has welcomed the recognition of waste management as a sector providing an essential service to society by Virginijus Sinkevičius, the European Environment Commissioner, on the occasion of the publication of a guidance on waste shipment in the context of the COVID19, and emphasised the ability of incineration to safely destroy viruses and pathogens.
Waste-to-Energy (WtE) incineration safely destroys viruses and other pathogens at high temperature. The waste is put directly into the bunker, and then discharged into the furnace through the feeding chute by an overhead crane, thus avoiding human contact with the contaminated waste. On this occasion, CEWEP would like to thank its members and all waste workers who are dealing with our waste every day. “They are doing a great job,” said CEWEP’s President Paul de Bruycker.
“In order to protect the public health in general and ensure workers’ safety in particular in these pandemic times, waste incineration is part of the critical infrastructure in the Member States to ensure the best possible treatment of contaminated waste that cannot be recycled. “Given its hygienic task for the society, it must be ensured that waste incineration can continue to provide this essential service to our citizens. Furthermore, governmental virology institutes like the German Robert-Koch-Institute state that for infectious waste thermal treatment is mandatory.
Source: Waste Management World
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