Fuelling the fire: European Investment Bank financing for the incineration industry

The European Investment Bank is mandated to promote EU policy with its project investments and invested over EUR 1.5 billion in 33 waste management projects between 2000 and 2006, the majority of which were in the EU. If the EIB is to truly support the implementation of EU policy, this bias towards incineration investments must be halted. The EIB needs to seize the opportunity of the Waste Framework Directive revision to review and publish its waste lending policy, and to ensure that it promotes waste reduction and recycling in concrete financial terms rather than continuing to lend financial support to incineration.