Kanadevia Inova is part of the consortium led by Marubeni Corporation that is designing, building and operating the ultra-large Waste to Energy (WtE) facility of Tadweer Group and the Emirates Water & Electricity Company (EWEC) near the Al Dhafra landfill, Abu Dhabi. The Zurich-based Kanadevia Inova (previously Hitachi Zosen Inova) is a global leader in WtE and renewable gas technology. Along with BESIX Group, it has also built Dubai Municipality’s WtE plant, touted to be the largest of its kind in the world. While the Abu Dhabi plant will have a processing capacity of 0.9 million tonnes of municipal solid waste per year and designed to generate enough electricity to power up to 52,500 homes annually, Dubai’s Warsan facility is processing 1.9 million tonnes of municipal waste per year, producing approximately 200 MW of electricity. The Abu Dhabi plant, however, will be able to boast the world’s most advanced Ultra-Large Combustion technology.
In an interview with R. Keerthana, Waste & Recycling magazine, Kanadevia Inova’s CEO Bruno-Frederic Baudouin shared insights into waste-to-energy as an efficient and affordable solution to waste diversion and carbon footprint reduction, and his vision for the future of waste management and circular economy.
Evolution of WtE solutions
Baudouin traced the origin of thermal waste treatment technologies to the 1930s, when communities identified pollution and heavy metal contaminants in landfills as a major threat to the environment. The initial focus was incineration but over time with the evolution of stricter environmental regulations, the need for resource recovery and air pollution controls emerged. This led to the development of WtE technology. Kanadevia Inova, formerly operating under the industrial group Von Roll, was among the pioneers of this transition. "By the 1970s-80s, we were constructing significant WtE capacities, particularly in the US, Northern Europe and parts of Asia," Baudouin noted.
Though the potential of WtE was recognised by the municipalities in Europe and in the U.S., the sector didn’t take off immediately in a big way due to structural and financial limitations. "From the 1980s until around 2010, the industry was technologically stable but struggled to evolve due to fragmented competition and limited investment capabilities," Baudouin explained. It was dominated by small players, each focusing on niche technologies, which stifled broader advancements. According to him, the turning point came with the 2008 Financial Crisis, when funding challenges pushed municipalities and utility companies to seek private equity investments which could at the same time heavily leverage low interest rates. This shift ushered in a new era of consolidation and innovation, enabling companies like Kanadevia Inova to grow and lead.
Today, Kanadevia Inova operates on a much larger scale, with annual revenues of over $1.4 billion. This growth has allowed the company to invest significantly in research and development. "What you see developing in Abu Dhabi today—a cutting-edge waste-to-energy plant—would have been impossible a few years ago. No one had the resources or capacity to develop such solutions," Baudouin said, highlighting the crucial role of ‘affordability’ as a key success factor.
“As a company we are not only able to invest in new technologies, but also make the solutions affordable. Waste management solutions must be cost effective because in the end, someone needs to pay for it,” he added, “whether it's through gate fees or community funding."
With over 90 years in the industry, the company and its parent have built over 1600 WtE projects globally, some of which are also maintained and operated by it.
From landfilling to WtE
While addressing criticism against WtE, Baudouin reminded us that in many parts of the world, waste management is a lucrative business. The economics of landfill operations make it a convenient and profitable solution for them. And this reliance on landfills often unfortunately leads to resistance against alternative technologies, he pointed out. “Landfills are significant sources of CO2 and methane emissions, with leakage rates hugely underestimated. Moving from a landfill to a WtE plant is a crucial step in our fight against greenhouse emissions, as it can offer a swift impact.” In the context of immediate climate action, transitioning from landfills to WtE within the next 20 years could deliver dramatic reductions in carbon emissions.
The right approach to WtE solutions, indeed, involves treating it as a transitional tool within the waste hierarchy, prioritising waste reduction, recycling, and source segregation and aligning with circular economy and decarbonisation goals, he clarified, adding, “It should address residual, non-recyclable waste without diverting waste from recycling streams.”
That said, he suggested that our quest for a zero waste solution does not end there. In an unexpected statement that took us by surprise, the CEO declared, "Waste-to-Energy has no future” — only to back it up with a clarification that this approach does not fully harness the potential of waste.
The future of Waste-to-Energy — or its absence
WtE often focuses solely on energy generation, whereas the approach should be tapping into broader resource recovery opportunities available within waste streams, he noted. He batted for a more holistic and circular approach to waste management – often referred to as "waste-to-X" The "X" represents the endless possibilities for transforming waste into valuable outputs, ranging from energy and resources to innovative products and materials.
“Discarded materials in waste streams contain metals, salts, and other valuable components that can be extracted through thermal treatment and reused. The CO2 emissions can be similarly captured and converted into valuable industrial feedstock. ” This integrated approach not only addresses the growing waste crisis but also contributes to resource efficiency and ultimately a circular economy.
With affordability and advanced infrastructure in place, Europe is witnessing a steady traction in waste-to-x solutions. The focus there is to capture and store CO2. Some emerging approaches also aim at combining the CO2 with other chemicals, such as hydrogen, to produce usable products, he explained.
Baudouin was quick to stress that bridging the affordability gap is critical to widespread adoption of waste-to-X systems, especially in developing countries. "It's not just about developing the technology but also about ensuring it can be implemented affordably and effectively, including through continuous innovation on the business model side" he noted.
Speaking of his vision for the future, Baudouin said there is scope for rapid acceleration in technology innovation within the sector. He predicted that emerging technologies like AI and automation will revolutionise the WtE industry further. In regions where labour shortages pose challenges, these technologies will prove to be invaluable additions.
He emphasised the importance of not over-relying on WtE for all waste management needs. “I hope we are able to implement specialised treatment streams for different types of waste. My dream is to see organic waste segregated at the source and directed for biological treatment, while plastics and other materials directed to fully circular treatment streams, and WtE reserved for residual waste," he shared.