Biowaste to energy potential in Czechia

Biowaste (biodegradable municipal waste) represents a significant portion of municipal waste in Czechia. Unlike in case of industrial biodegradable waste, where changes in legislation and notable increase of fees significantly lowered the generated amount, generation of municipal biodegradable waste did not change notably in past 15 years, and recently even starts to grow. Due to the much lower landfilling fees for municipal waste compared to the other European countries, major part of this waste ends up in landfills, not just without any further use, but even creating negative impacts in form of greenhouse gas generation and possible risk of water contamination. In this paper we present the development of biodegradable waste generation in Czechia, energy generation from this waste, and compare the current state with the energy potential from this waste. Based on our estimation, current amount of electricity from biowaste can be doubled to tripled, compared to the actual production in recent years. In addition we present a proposal for improving the current biowaste treatment practices in order to stimulate waste producers to avoid landfilling of biowaste. Main tools include the increase of the landfilling fee with subsequent subsidizing of the alternative biowaste treatment options.