Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2010:98
Date: 2010-02-25
Language of the case: Finnish
Court formation: Eighth Chamber
Subject matter: Environment;Waste
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Finland

Summary of the Judgment Environment – Waste – Incineration – Directive 2000/76 (European Parliament and Council Directive 2000/76, Art. 3, para. 5) A power plant which uses as an additional fuel, in substitution for fossil fuels used for the most part in its production activities, gas obtained in a gas plant following thermal treatment of waste is to be regarded, jointly with that gas plant, as a co-incineration plant within the meaning of Article 3(5) of Directive 2000/76 on the incineration of waste when the gas in question has not been purified within the gas plant. When the process of generating energy or producing a product is realised and terminated only when the gaseous substances obtained from the thermal treatment of the waste in the gas plant are transferred to the power plant, the complex comprising the gas plant and the power plant must be regarded jointly for the purposes of applying Directive 2000/76, by reason of the technical and functional link which then exists between the two installations. In addition, that outcome is justified by the fact that the harmful substances produced by the thermal treatment, commenced in the gas plant, to which the waste has been subjected are released and are discharged, at least in part, only when the crude gas has been transferred to the power plant. (see paras 29, 31, operative part)