ETS / incineration: "The competitiveness of district heating jeopardized" (P. Guillaume, Fedene)

"If we increase the cost of waste incineration with the ETS, this will be reflected either in the cost of waste treatment or in the selling price of heat, and will therefore be passed on to citizens. What's more, it will jeopardize the competitiveness of heating networks, and therefore their extension and construction", Pascal Guillaume, President of the French Fédération des services énergie environnement (Fedene), told News Tank on 26/03/2026.

In a letter sent to Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, on 12/03/2026, several national associations from the waste sector in Austria, Spain, France, Italy, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, including Fedene, expressed their disagreement with extending the ETS perimeter to municipal waste incineration.

In France, waste heat from waste-to-energy plants accounts for 30% of the energy supplied by district heating networks.

Pascal Guillaume answers News Tank's questions.

Why do you fear an extension of the ETS to municipal waste incineration?

During the last review of the ETS, a meeting was scheduled for July 2026 to…