Amsterdam - Landfill vs Incineration Flashcards
Why did Amsterdam have issues with waste
*Lack of space
*Growing environmental awareness
*Growing population - (more waste)
What is the Dutch approach to waste?
What is this approach called?
*Avoid creating waste in the first place
*Recover the valuable raw materials from it
*Generate energy by incinerating residual waste
*Dump what is left
This approach - known as ‘Lansink’s Ladder’ was incorporated into Dutch legislation in 1994
When was ‘Lansink’s Ladder’ incorporated into Dutch legislation
1994
Why were there increasing numbers of objections to waste disposal sites from the public in Amsterdam
*Smell
*Soil pollution
*Groundwater contamination
What did the Dutch government introduce in 1995 to try and reduce landfill
*They introduced a landfill tax on every tonne of material landfilled
*This tax was increased year on year until 2012 (when it was repealed because the low levels of landfilling had rendered the tax unnecessary)
How many waste categories did the landfill ban introduced in 1995 include
35 waste categories
Did Amsterdam meet their landfill targets (which years)
By 2006 the country had already reached the targets of the Landfill Directive set for 2016
What was created in Amsterdam as part of the waste-to-energy (W2E) strategy
The Afval Energie Bedrijf (AEB) incineration plant
The AEB is capable of producing how much electricity annually
1 million MWh
The AEB incineration plant is used to create heating for several communities in Amsterdam, how much heat does it generate yearly
300,000 gigajoules of heat annually
How much waste is brought to the W2E plant annually
1.4 millions tons of waste
What percentage of waste that ends up at the W2E plant is recycled
64%
How many kilotons of CO2 does the AEB plant avoid each year
438 kilotons
Why is incineration controversial
It creates and/or releases harmful chemicals and pollutants
If the equivalent amount of waste was put into landfill instead of the AEB plant what would the yearly CO2 emissions be
1036 kilotons
(mainly as a result of methane gases developing at the landfill)
What target did the Dutch government set in 2014 involving incineration
To reduce waste-to-incineration by 50% and focus on improving rates of reduction and recycling
