Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and Johan Böni gives the ol’ saying new meaning when he describes himself on LinkedIn as “passionate about waste’s hidden beauty.”

In this piece,  Böni – an Incineration Bottom Ash (IBA) treatment sales and process engineer for ESWET member Magaldi – writes about the importance of Waste-to-Energy in our daily lives and relevance for our society.

The article is inspired by a bin strike in Birmingham that a few months ago exposed ugly scenes of waste pile ups, roaming rodents, and angry residents.

“A current example in Birmingham highlights why Waste-to-Energy (WtE) plants are – and may always be – a crucial part of our waste management strategies.

When waste is not properly managed, it’s not just an eyesore. It becomes a breeding ground for disease, rodent infestations, and foul odors that nobody wants in their neighborhoods. In Birmingham, the issue stems from a bin strike over salary negotiations in the waste management sector – not from a lack of infrastructure.

But it raises a critical question: What happens when waste management breaks down, and a system based solely on recycling and reuse proves insufficient?

Birmingham offers a preview. When waste management systems break down, even temporarily, the consequences are immediate and visible. Now imagine this happening in cities or regions without robust infrastructure or fallback solutions like WtE that are able to treat different waste types (municipal waste, clinical waste, sludge, industrial waste) at the same time. This contrasts with many specialised recycling infrastructures, which in the future will only be able to collect and treat a single type of waste independently.”

Advocating for Waste-to-Energy technologies compared to other waste disposal methods, Böni reiterates that WtE “is about managing non-recyclable waste in a safe, controlled, and beneficial way.

“Recovering energy and valuable materials from waste is far better than burying and landfilling it. Let’s move forward – not just with vision, but with balance.

The alternative – landfilling – is far worse. Landfills emit large quantities of methane, a greenhouse gas many times more potent than CO₂. By contrast, WtE facilities can recover energy and even extract rare metals from the ash, providing value from waste that would otherwise pollute the environment.”

According to Eurostat data, approximately 25% of Europe’s waste still went to landfills. That’s relatively low on a global scale, but still far from ideal. The World Bank reported in 2018 that over 50% of global waste is either openly dumped or landfilled with minimal control.

We all agree on the long-term goal of the 3 R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. But reaching that goal requires more than policy and a rapid transition– it requires a fundamental shift in how entire societies think and act around waste. That kind of cultural transformation takes decades, sometimes even generations.

With global waste expected to grow from 2.01 billion tons today to 3.40 billion tons by 2050, we can’t afford to rely on ideals alone. We need pragmatic, scalable solutions that bridge the gap between today’s reality and tomorrow’s vision.”