Analysis of environmental sustainability reporting in the waste-to-energy sector: Performance indicators and improvement targets of the EMAS-registered waste incineration plants in Italy

This work analyzed how 15 Italian waste incineration (WI) plants registered to the European Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) in 2020 reported to the public their environmental sustainability. Their EMAS Environmental Statements (ESs) were analyzed to identify the environmental performance indicators and metrics used by the companies, the improvement actions planned, and the adoption of the Best Available Techniques (BAT) for WI. 197 environmental performance indicators and 140 improvement objectives, with an overall allocated budget of 79.8 M€, were inventoried. WI companies emphasized reporting and improvement of energy consumption, emissions to air, waste production, process management and energy production. Current values of 8 key performance indicators (HCl, NOx, CO, and dust concentrations in flue-gas, water consumption, waste production, and electricity consumption/production per 1 ton of treated waste) were assessed and compared. GHG reporting and compliance with the BAT for WI (on emissions to air, energy and raw materials consumption, and waste production), although often not detailed, w also analyzed. Requesting companies to report a predefined subset of key metrics, possibly related to the BAT emissions levels, and an explicit section on the adopted BAT could provide an even more representative description of the environmental performances of the WI plants. This study shows a novel approach that could be extended to other industrial sectors to analyze their environmental performance from a consistent, validated, and publicly available data source (EMAS ESs). It also provides metrics and recommendations that could be useful references for the environmental reporting of the WI sector.