Official Journal of the European Union

C 285/9

(Case C-251/07)

(Environment - Directive 2000/76/EC - Incineration of waste - Classification of an installation for the production of heat and electricity - Concepts of incineration plant and co-incineration plant)

(2008/C 285/13)

Language of the case: Swedish

Referring court

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Gävle Kraftvärme AB

Defendant: Länsstyrelsen i Gävleborgs län

Re:

Reference for a preliminary ruling — Högsta domstolen — Interpretation of Article 3(4) and (5) of Directive 2000/76/EC of 4 December 2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the incineration of waste (OJ 2000 L 332, p. 91) — Classification of a combined power and heating plant comprising a number of furnaces — Incineration plant or co-incineration plant

Operative part of the judgment

1.For the purposes of applying Directive 2000/76/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 December 2000 on the incineration of waste, where a co-generation plant comprises a number of boilers, each boiler and its associated equipment is to be regarded as constituting a separate plant.

2.It is on the basis of its main purpose that a plant is to be classified as an ‘incineration plant’ or a ‘co-incineration plant’ within the meaning of Article 3(4) and (5) of Directive 2000/76. It is for the competent authorities to identify that purpose on the basis of an assessment of the facts existing at the time at which that assessment is carried out. In the context of such an assessment, account must be taken, in particular, of the volume of energy generated or material products produced by the plant in question in relation to the quantity of waste incinerated in that plant and the stability and continuity of that production.

(<span class="super">1</span>) OJ C 170, 21.7.2007.