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Clean technology from waste management

IONEL IOANA Department Mechanical Machines Equipment and Technologies, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering

University “POLITEHNICA” of Timisoara Bv. M. Viteazu, 1, 300222, Timisoara

ROMANIA [email protected], www.mec.upt.ro, http://www.energieregen.mec.upt.ro

Abstract: - Waste is representing an important environmental pollution source, not only for the soil and ground water, but also for the air. Deposit in open land fields is not allowed according European standards and the EU countries have met national regulations to close the exiting non-ecological deposits and turn them into ecological ones. Also the general management for the waste is to be accordingly re-evaluated and shaped in a novel. Waste is representing also an energy source that should be not wasted. The waste (mainly municipal waste) must be properly reused as it represents material and energy content. Combustion, fermentation and recycling are possible solution for turning the waste management into a business, also reducing simultaneously the environmental damages raised by the enormous waste quantities, nowadays. The presentation will focus on clean combustion and co-combustion of waste, and on technologies to turn the energy content of the waste into other cleaner energy sources. One will raise attention also about the barriers – technical and mental – to apply correct waste management, as well to the consequences of not given a correct input to this matter from the society and policy makers. Examples from the author’s experience and literature will elucidate the conclusions. Key-Words: - Waste, bio-waste, renewable energy resource, clean technology, clean combustion, CO2 reduction.

1 Introduction Waste management is the collection, transport, processing, recycling or disposal, and monitoring of waste materials. The term usually relates to materials produced by human activity, and is generally undertaken to reduce their effect on health, the environment or aesthetics. Waste management is also carried out to recover resources from it. Waste management can involve solid, liquid, gaseous or radioactive substances, with different methods and fields of expertise for each. Waste management practices differ for developed and developing nations, for urban and rural areas, and for residential and industrial producers. Management for non-hazardous residential and institutional waste in metropolitan areas is usually the responsibility of local government authorities, while management for non-hazardous commercial and industrial waste is usually the responsibility of the generator [7], [11], [24]. All organisms produce wastes, but none produces as many wastes of such diverse composition as humans. Society's wastes arise from many different activities; growth is worldwide still accompanied by increasing amounts of waste, causing unnecessary losses of materials and energy, environmental damage and negative effects on health and quality of life. It is a strategic goal of most developed countries to reduce these negative impacts, meaning to reduce waste or applying a correct management system to exploit it, turning into novel technologies, opportunities of

business, and offering new jobs and further advantages for the community that is generating it. The EU intends to turn waste into a resource efficient and thus put the base of a "Recycling Society". Waste management is already governed by a substantial body of regulation but there remain opportunities for further improving the management of some major waste streams [21], [25]. The several kinds of waste produced by a technological society can he categorized in many ways. Some kinds of wastes are released into the air and water. Some are purposely released, while others are released accidentally. Many wastes that are purposely released are treated before their release. There are wastes with particularly dangerous characteristics, such as nuclear wastes, medical wastes, industrial hazardous wastes, and household hazardous wastes. The novel world wide and EC strategy set out three national goals for municipal solid waste management: Increase source reduction and recycling, increase environmental friendly disposal capacity and improve secondary material markets, and improve the safety of solid waste management facilities, by using the energy content of the waste [1]. Solid waste is generally made up of objects or particles that accumulate on the site where they are produced, as opposed to water, and airborne wastes that are carried away from the site of production. Solid wastes are typically categorized by the sector of the economy responsible for producing them, such as mining, agriculture, manufacturing, and municipalities.

ADVANCES in WASTE MANAGEMENT

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Mining waste is generated in three primary ways. First, in most mining operations, large amounts of rock and soil need to be removed to get to the valuable ore. This waste material is generally left on the surface at the mine site. Second, milling operations use various technologies to extract the valuable material from the ore. These techniques vary from relatively simple grinding and sorting to sophisticated chemical separation processes. Regardless of the technique involved, once the valuable material is recovered, the remaining waste material, commonly known as tailings, must be disposed of. Solid materials are typically dumped on the land near the milling site, and liquid wastes are typically stored in ponds. It is difficult to get vegetation to grow on these piles of waste rock and tailings, so they are unsightly and remain exposed to rain and wind. Finally, the water that drains or is pumped from mines or that flows from piles of waste rock or tailings often contains hazardous materials (such as asbestos, arsenic, lead, and radioactive materials) or high amounts of acid that must be contained or treated - but often are not. Many types of mining operations require vast quantities of water for the extraction process. The quality of this water is degraded, so it is unsuitable for drinking, irrigation, or recreation. Since mining disturbs the natural vegetation in an area, water may carry soil particles into streams and cause erosion and siltation. Some mining operations, such as strip mining, rearrange the top layers of the soil, which lessens or eliminates its productivity for a long time. Agricultural waste is the second most common form of waste and includes waste from the raising of animals and the harvesting and processing of crops and trees. Other wastes associated with agriculture, such as waste from processing operations (peelings, seeds, straw, stems, sludge, and similar materials). Since most agricultural waste is organic, it is used as fertilizer or for other soil-enhancement activities. Other materials are burned as a source of energy, so little of this waste needs to be placed in landfills. However, when too much waste is produced in one place, there may not be enough farmland available to accept the agricultural waste without causing water pollution problems associated with runoff or groundwater contamination due to infiltration. Industrial solid waste from sources other than mining includes a wide variety of materials such as demolition waste, foundry sand, scraps from manufacturing processes, sludge, ash from combustion, and other similar materials. These materials are tested to determine if they are hazardous. If they are classified as hazardous waste, their disposal requires that they be placed in special hazardous waste landfills. Municipal solid waste (MSW) consist of all the materials that people in a region no longer want because they are broken, spoiled, or have no further use. It

includes waste from households, commercial establishments, institutions, and some industrial sources. Specialists and local communities, in addition to governmental agencies and local authorities generally decide how waste will be managed whether by landfill, incineration, recycling, composting, waste reduction, or a combination. Bio-waste [18], [25] is defined as biodegradable garden and park waste, food and kitchen waste from households, restaurants, caterers and retail premises, and comparable waste from food processing plants. It does not include forestry or agricultural residues, manure, sewage sludge, or other biodegradable waste such as natural textiles, paper or processed wood, that are biomass categories, as well. It also excludes those by-products of food production that never become waste. The total annual arising of bio-waste in the EU is estimated at 76.5-102 Mt food and garden waste included in mixed municipal solid waste and up to 37 Mt from the food and drink industry. Bio-waste is a putrescible, generally wet waste. There are two major streams (i) green waste from parks, gardens etc. and (ii) kitchen waste. The former includes usually 50-60 % water and more wood (lignocelluloses); the latter contains no wood, but up to 80 %, by mass, water. Waste management options for bio-waste include, in addition to prevention at source, collection (separately or with mixed waste), anaerobic digestion and composting, incineration, and environmental friendly land filling. The environmental and economic benefits of different treatment methods depend significantly on local conditions such as population density, infrastructure and climate as well as on markets for associated products (energy and composts). Today, very different national policies apply to bio-waste management, ranging from little action in some Member States to ambitious policies in others. Hazardous waste means waste that requires special precaution in its storage, collection, transportation, treatment or disposal to prevent damage to persons or property, and includes explosive, flammable, volatile, radioactive, toxic and pathological wastes. This category includes the management of three types of hazardous wastes from their source to ultimate disposal: (i) the radioactive materials, which are primarily the responsibility of specials national and international authorities, (ii) medical wastes, and (iii) the non-radioactive liquid industrial wastes, which are mainly under state or provincial jurisdiction. Hazards in the environment may arise also from natural occurrences like floods and hurricanes, from human environmental disturbances like CO2 build-up and acid rain, and from the improper treatment and disposal of the toxic and hazardous wastes generated by an industrialized society [1], [2].


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2 Problem Formulation concerning

Waste Management

Figure 1 indicates the structure of the waste disposal in time. The landfill is still the primary method of disposal. Historically, landfills have been the cheapest means of disposal, but this may turn in the future. Recycling and composting have grown, while the amount of waste going to landfills has declined somewhat.

Fig.1: Changes in Waste Disposal Methods. Source: Data from the U.S. EPA [18].

Fig. 2: Bad & good news in solid waste production. Source: Data from the U.S. EPA, 2005 [18].

Based on a Community-wide commitment to reaching a target of 20 % share of renewable energy in final energy consumption by 2020, the European Commission proposed a RES Directive to replace existing Directives on the promotion of renewable electricity (Directive 2001/77/EC) and bio fuels (Directive 2003/30/EC). Figure 2 indicates that waste production in Europe has risen steadily to more than 2 kg per capita per day. Recycling rates are also rising, however [15], [16]. The proposal strongly supports the use of all types of biomass, including bio-waste for energy purposes, and requires Member States to develop National Action Plans to outline national policies to develop existing biomass resources and mobilise new biomass resources for different uses. The Renewable Energy Road Map for Europe projected that around 195 million tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe) of biomass will be used in 2020 to achieve the 20 % renewable energy target. Biodegradable part of MSW is considered biomass. A report by the European Environment Agency found that the potential for bio-energy from the MSW is 20 Mtoe, which would account for around 7 % of all renewable energy in 2020, assuming that all wastes which are currently land filled would become available for incineration, with energy recovery and waste which are composted will be subject to anaerobic digestion first and then composted [2], [8], [15], [16]. As Figure 3 indicates paper products are the largest component of the waste stream. Changes in lifestyle and packaging have led to a change in the nature of trash. Note the increase in the amount of plastics in the waste stream, most of what is currently disposed or could be recycled.

Fig. 3: The Changing Nature of Trash. Source: Data from the U.S. EPA, 2004 [18].


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2.1. Current Techniques in Waste Management

From prehistory through the present day, the favoured means of disposal was simply to dump solid wastes outside of the city or village limits. Frequently, these dumps were in wetlands adjacent to a river or lake. To minimize the volume of the waste, the dump was often binned. Unfortunately, this method is still being used in remote or sparsely populated areas in the world. As better waste-disposal technologies were developed and as values changed, more emphasis was placed on the environment and quality of life. Dumping and open burning of wastes is no longer an acceptable practice from an environmental or health perspective. While the technology of waste disposal has evolved during the past several decades, options are still limited. Realistically, there are no ways of dealing with waste that have not been known for many thousands of years. Essentially, five techniques are used: (1) landfills, (2) incineration, (3) source reduction, (4) composting, and (5) recycling. Land filling, although according to the waste hierarchy the worst option, is still the most used MSW disposal method worldwide, even recently the EC reduced the legal existence of such techniques, by putting pressure to close the open air landfill deposits, and not permitting opening of new ones. Landfills need to be constructed and operated in line with the EU Landfill Directive (impermeable barriers, methane capturing equipment) to avoid environmental damage from the generation of methane and effluent, not mentioning the water and soil destruction. Older, poorly-designed or poorly-managed landfills can create a number of adverse environmental impacts such as wind-blown litter, attraction of vermin, and generation of liquid leachate. Another common by-product of landfills is gas (mostly methane and carbon dioxide), which is produced as organic waste breaks down an-aerobically. This gas creates odour problems, kills surface vegetation, and is a greenhouse gas. Fig. 4: Emission in Tonnes CO2 equivalent/tonne of used waste according efficiency of combustion WtE systems. Source: Internat. Panel on Climate Change IPCC [10].

Directive 2000/76/CE indicates the legal frame of the waste for incineration in favour of land filling, as Directive 1999/31/CE stipulates the national targets in the EC to reduce, the quantity of land-filled bio-waste, in a proportion of 75%, 50 % respectively 35% by 2006, 2010, 2016, in comparison to the level from 1998. Notable is also the Directive 2001/77/EC concerning the renewable energy resources utilisation for energy production, as waste and bio waste are considered such sources and may contribute to this objective, as well. 2006/12/CE is the basic European legislation concerning the waste [12]. Table 1 and Figure 4 present the prognosis for 2025 for the EC concerning the waste management and also the gap in Emission in Tonnes CO2 equivalent/tonne of used waste according efficiency of diverse combustion WtE systems that should be used. Table 1 Prognosis for 2025 concerning the waste management in the EC [2], [10].

Technology Deposit (%)

Incineration Using WtE

(%)

Recycling (%)

Bio-fuel (%)

EC - 2006 45/62 by 1995

18 36 1

EC - 2025 5 50 35 10

Incineration is usually a method to destroy part of the MSW, including bio-waste. Incineration is carried out both on a small scale by individuals and on a large scale by industry. It is used to dispose of solid, liquid and gaseous waste. It is recognized as a practical method of disposing of certain hazardous waste materials (such as biological medical waste). Incineration is a controversial method of waste disposal, due to issues such as emission of gaseous pollutants. Incineration is common in countries such as Japan where land is scarcer, as these facilities generally do not require as much area as landfills. Waste-to-energy (WtE) or energy-from-waste (EfW) are broad terms for facilities that burn waste in a furnace or boiler to generate heat, steam and/or electricity. Combustion in an incinerator is not always perfect and there have been concerns about micro-pollutants in gaseous emissions from incinerator stacks. Particular concern has focused on some very persistent organics such as dioxins which may be created within the incinerator and which may have serious environmental consequences in the area immediately around the incinerator. On the other hand this method produces steam or hot flue gases that introduced into a thermodynamic cycle (Rankin, combined, etc.) might be used to turn into heat and electrical energy [10]. Figure 5 indicates for several countries what the structure of the applied waste management is.


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Fig. 5: EC countries with NB of functional incinerators and generated power (MW), by 2006. Source: IPCC [10]. Depending on its energy efficiency, incineration can be regarded as energy recovery or as a disposal. As the efficiency of incineration is lowered by the moist bio-waste, it can be beneficial to remove bio-waste from municipal waste. On the other hand, incinerated bio-waste is regarded as carbon-neutral “renewable” fuel in the meaning of the renewable electricity directive and the proposed Directive on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources (RES Directive). Incineration is the process of burning refuse in a controlled manner. By 2004, about 15 % of the municipal solid waste in the United States was incinerated; Canada incinerated about 8 %. In the EC the situation and prognosis is indicated by Figures 5 and 6. It is supported by 2008/98/CE, assuming to reduce the waste quantity, to sort it, to recycle it and use it as energy potential [26]. There are three major groups in the EC (Figure 6): Group 1 (light colour): where incineration WtE is less than 25 % from the generated national waste quantity and utilisation of more than 25 % of the waste, Group 2, where incineration is less than 25 % and utilisation of waste more than 25 %, and Group 3 (dark colour) where the incineration WtE represents less than 25 % and utilisation of waste under 25 %. While some incinerators are used just to burn trash, most are designed to capture the heat, which is then used to make steam to produce electricity. Most incineration facilities burn unprocessed municipal solid waste. This is often referred to as mass burn technology. Many

countries have difficulty finding adequate space for landfills. Therefore, they rely on other technologies, such as incineration and recycling, to reduce the amount of waste that must be placed in a landfill. About one-fourth of the incinerators use refuse-derived fuel collected refuse that has been processed into pellets prior to combustion. This is particularly useful with certain kinds of materials, such as tires.

Fig. 6: EC countries according the WtE technologies adopted. Source: IPCC [10]. Incinerators drastically reduce the amount of municipal solid waste up to 90 percent by volume and 75 percent by weight. Primary risks of incineration, however, involve air-quality problems and the toxicity and disposal of the ash. Modern incinerators have many pollution control devices that trap nearly all of the pollutants produced. However, tiny amounts of pollutants are released into the atmosphere, including certain metals, acid gases, and classes of chemicals known as dioxins and furans, which have been implicated in birth defects and several kinds of cancer. The long-term risks from the emissions are still a subject of debate. Ash from incineration is also an important issue. Small concentrations of heavy metals are present in both the fly ash captured from exhaust stacks and the bottom ash collected from these facilities. Because the ash contains lead, cadmium, mercury, and arsenic in varying concentrations from such items as batteries, lighting fixtures, and pigments, the ash is tested to

determine if it should be designated as a hazardous waste. This is a concern because the toxic substances are more concentrated in the ash than in the original garbage


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and can seep into groundwater from poorly sealed landfills. In nearly all cases, the ash is not designated as hazardous and can be placed in a landfill or used as aggregate for roads and other purposes [25], [26]. The cost of the land and construction for new incinerators are also major concerns facing many communities. Incinerator construction is often a municipality's single largest bond issue. Incineration is also more costly than landfills in most situations. As long as landfills are available and legal (what is not any more the case in the EC), they will have a cost advantage. When cities are unable to dispose of their trash locally in a landfill and must begin to transport the trash to distant sites, incinerators become more cost effective.

Fig. 7: Disposal Methods Used in Various Countries. Source: Data from the U.S. EPA, 2000 [18].

To help reach renewable energy targets, energy recovery could be significantly enhanced by developments in the area of anaerobic digestion for production of biogas and by improving the efficiency of waste incineration, for example by using cogeneration of electricity and heat. Figure 7 brings data about the ratio for using the waste in the major EC countries, by land filing, incineration, and recycling, Most of the energy gained via incineration of MSW results from burning highly calorific fractions such as paper, plastics, tyres, and synthetic textiles while the "wet fraction" of biodegradable waste reduces overall energy efficiency. However, the biodegradable fraction of municipal waste (but including paper) still delivers about 50 % of energy coming from an incineration plant and increased recycling of bio-waste could limit the amount of bio-waste available for incineration. Although incineration is often viewed unfavourably by the general public, it has several advantages. It provides for a significant reduction of both the volume and weight

of solid wastes, which in turn extends the available life of existing landfills. Municipal incineration systems, or resource recovery facilities, also can provide steam and electricity generation for the surrounding community. However, as many people are aware, the disadvantages of incineration include high capital and operational expenditures and requirements for skilled operators. Improper equipment or operations can lead to problems associated with air pollution and emissions deposition. Municipal waste can be combusted in hulk form or in reduced form. Shredding, pulverizing, or any other size reduction method which can be used before incineration decreases the amount of residual ash, due to belted contact of the waste material with oxygen during the combustion process. Shredded waste used as fuel is generally referred to as refuse - derived fuel (RDF) and is sometimes combined with other fuel type’s classification for RDF. Good combustion depends on three principles, known as the three T’s: time, temperature, and turbulence. Time

refers to providing adequate residence time of list combustible matter within the system. Temperature

refers to the optimum temperature for complete combustion. Turbulence refers to the proper mixing of the flowing gases through the system. Every incinerator must be designed to optimize these three variables according to the waste type in order to provide complete and clean combustion. A modern municipal solid waste landfill is typically constructed above an impermeable clay layer that is lined with an impermeable membrane and includes mechanisms for dealing with liquid and gas materials generated by the contents of the landfill. Each day's deposit of fresh garbage is covered with a layer of soil to prevent it from blowing around and to discourage animals from scavenging for food. Selection of landfill sites is based on an understanding of local geologic conditions such as the presence of a suitable clay base, groundwater geology, and soil type. In addition, it is important to address local citizens' concerns. Once the site is selected, extensive construction activities are necessary to prepare it for use. New landfills have complex bottom layers to trap contaminant-laden water, called leachate, leaking through the buried trash. The water that leaches through the site must be collected and treated. In addition, monitoring systems are necessary to detect methane gas production and groundwater contamination. In some cases, methane produced by decomposing waste is collected and used to produce heat or generate electricity. As a result of the technology involved, new landfills are becoming increasingly more complex and expensive. They currently cost up to $1 million per hectare (Figure 8). A modern sanitary landfill is far different from a simple hole in the ground filled with trash. A modern landfill is a self-contained


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unit that is separated from the soil by impermeable membranes and sealed when filled. Methane gas and groundwater are continuously monitored to ensure that wastes are not escaping to the air or the groundwater.

Fig, 8: A Well-Designed Modern Landfill. Source: USA Solid Waste Management Association [6], [18]. Biological treatment (including composting and anaerobic digestion) may be classified as recycling when compost is used on land or for the production of growing media. If no such use is envisaged it should be classified as pre-treatment before land filling or incineration. In addition, anaerobic digestion (producing biogas for energy purposes) should be seen as energy recovery. Composting is the most common biological treatment option (some 95 % of current biological treatment operations). It is best suited for green waste and woody material. There are different methods of which the "closed methods" are more expensive, but less space demanding, faster, and stricter in terms of process emissions control (odours, bio-aerosols). Anaerobic digestion is especially suitable for treating wet bio-waste, including fat (e.g. kitchen waste). It produces a gas mixture (mainly methane 50 to 75 % by volume, and carbon dioxide) in controlled reactors. Biogas can reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions most significantly if used as a bio fuel for transport or directly injected into the gas distribution grid. Its use as bio fuel could result in significant reductions of GHG emissions, showing a net advantage with respect to other transport fuels. The residue from the process, the digestate, can be composted and use for similar purpose as compost, thus improving overall resource recovery from waste. Every tonne of bio-waste sent to biological treatment can deliver between 100-200 m3N of biogas

which could be upgraded to natural gas standards using 3-6 % of its energy. Anaerobic digestion of mixed waste brings similar energy gains but makes further use of residues on land difficult. Mechanical-Biological Treatment (MBT) describes techniques which combine biological treatment with mechanical treatment (sorting). Waste materials that are organic in nature, such as plant material, food scraps, and paper products, can be recycled using biological composting and digestion processes to decompose the organic matter. The resulting organic material is then recycled as mulch or compost for agricultural or landscaping purposes. In addition, waste gas from the process (such as methane) can be captured and used for generating electricity. The intention of biological processing in waste management is to control and accelerate the natural process of decomposition of organic matter. There are a large variety of composting and digestion methods and technologies varying in complexity from simple home compost heaps, to industrial-scale enclosed-vessel digestion of mixed domestic waste (Mechanical biological treatment). Methods of biological decomposition are differentiated as being aerobic or anaerobic methods, though hybrids of the two methods also exist. However, MBT using anaerobic digestion generates biogas and thus can also be an energy recovery process. Combustible waste sorted out in MBT processes may be further incinerated because of its energy recovery potential. Composting, anaerobic digestion and mechanical-biological treatment also produce emissions (including greenhouse gases CH4, N2O and CO2). After stabilisation through biological treatment, the resulting material binds short cycle carbon for a limited time: it is estimated that in the 100-year horizon about 8 % of the organic matter present in compost will stay as humus in the soil. The use of compost and digestate as soil improvers and fertilizers offers agronomic benefits such as improvement of soil structure, moisture infiltration, water-holding capacity, soil micro organisms and supply with nutrients (on average, compost from kitchen waste contains about 1 % N, 0.7 % P2O5 and 6.5 % K2O). In particular the recycling of phosphorous can reduce the need to import mineral fertilizer while replacement of peat shall reduce damage to wetland eco-systems. Increased water retention capacity improves workability of soils, thereby reducing energy consumption when ploughing them. Better water retention (soil organic matter can absorb up to 20 times its weight in water) can help to counteract the desertification of European soils and prevent flooding. Finally, the use of compost contributes to counteracting the steady loss of soil organic matter across temperate regions. Environmental impact of composting is mainly limited to some greenhouse gas emissions and volatile


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organic compounds. The impact on climate change due carbon sequestration is limited and mostly temporary. The agricultural benefits of compost use are evident but there is debate about their proper quantification (e.g. by comparison to other sources of soil improvers), while the main risk is soil pollution from bad quality compost. As bio-waste easily gets contaminated during mixed waste collection, its use on soil can lead to accumulation of hazardous substances in soil and plants. Typical contaminants of compost include heavy metals and impurities (e.g. broken glass), but there is also a potential risk of contamination by persistent organic substances such as PCDD/F, PCB or PAHs. Proper control of input material coupled with the monitoring of compost quality is crucial. Only a few Member States allow compost production from mixed waste. Most require separate collection of bio-waste, often in the form of a positive list of waste which may be composted. This approach limits the risk and reduces the cost of compliance testing by allowing less extensive monitoring of production and use of compost. Separate collection schemes function successfully in many countries especially for green waste. The kitchen waste are more often collected and treated as part of the mixed MSW. The benefits of separate collection can include diverting easily biodegradable waste from landfills, enhancing the calorific value of the remaining MSW, and generating a cleaner bio-waste fraction that allows producing high quality compost and facilitates biogas production. Separate collection of bio-waste is also expected to support other forms of recycling likely to be available on the market in the near future (e.g. production of chemicals in bio-refineries).

Fig. 9: Recycling Percentage for Selected Materials (2001) in the USA. Source: Data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Characterization of Municipal Solid Waste in the United States, 2001 [18], [25].

Recycling is one of the best environmental success stories of our century. The popular meaning of ‘recycling’ in most developed countries refers to the widespread collection and reuse of everyday waste materials such as empty beverage containers. These are collected and sorted into common types so that the raw materials from which the items are made can be reprocessed into new products. Material for recycling may be collected separately from general waste using dedicated bins and collection vehicles, or sorted directly from mixed waste streams. The most common consumer products recycled include aluminium beverage cans, steel food and aerosol cans, HDPE and PET bottles, glass bottles and jars, paperboard cartons, newspapers, magazines, and corrugated fibreboard boxes. PVC, LDPE, PP, and PS are also recyclable, although these are not commonly collected. These items are usually composed of a single type of material, making them relatively easy to recycle into new products. The recycling of complex products (such as computers and electronic equipment) is more difficult, due to the additional dismantling and separation required. Recycling, including composting, diverted about 30 percent of the solid waste stream from landfills and incinerators. Figure 9 demonstrates with data that recycling rates for materials have high value (automobile batteries). Other materials are more difficult to market. But recycling rates today are much higher than in the past as technology and markets have found uses for materials that once were considered valueless. Several kinds of programs have contributed to the increase in recycling rate. Some benefits of recycling are resource conservation, pollutant reduction, energy savings, job creation, and reduced need for landfills and incinerators. However, incentives are needed to encourage people to participate in recycling programs. Plasma gasification [13] offers states new opportunities for waste disposal, and more importantly for renewable power generation in an environmentally sustainable manner. Plasma is a highly ionized or electrically charged gas. An example in nature is lightning, capable of producing temperatures exceeding 6,980 °C. A gasifier vessel utilizes proprietary plasma torches operating at + 5,540 °C (the surface temperature of the Sun) in order to create a gasification zone of up to 1,650 °C to convert solid or liquid wastes into a syngas. When municipal solid waste is subjected to this intense heat within the vessel, the waste’s molecular bonds break down into elemental components. The process results in elemental destruction of waste and hazardous materials [13]. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. generated 250 million tons of waste in 2008 alone, and this number continues to rise. About 54 % of this trash (122,000,000 t) ends up in landfills and is


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consuming land at a rate of nearly 1,400 ha per year. In fact, land filling is currently the number one method of waste disposal in the US. Some states no longer have capacity at permitted landfills and export their waste to other states [26], [27]. The energy content of waste products can be harnessed directly by using them as a direct combustion fuel, or indirectly by processing them into another type of fuel. Recycling through thermal treatment ranges from using waste as a fuel source for cooking or heating, to fuel for boilers to generate heat and electricity. Pyrolysis and gasification are two related forms of thermal treatment where waste materials are heated to high temperatures with limited oxygen availability. The process usually occurs in a sealed vessel under high pressure. Pyrolysis of solid waste converts the material into solid, liquid and gas products. The liquid and gas can be burnt to produce energy or refined into other products. The solid residue (char) can be further refined into products such as activated carbon. Gasification and advanced Plasma arc gasification are used to convert organic materials directly into a synthetic gas (syngas) composed of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. The gas is then burnt to turn into useful energy (electricity, heat).

2.2 Comparison of Management Options

Most studies refer to management of biodegradable waste. The difference is that bio-waste does not include paper and has higher moisture content, which may have impact especially for comparison of options including thermal treatment of waste. For the management of biodegradable waste that is diverted from landfills, there seems to be no single environmentally best option. The environmental balance of the various options available for the management of this waste depends on a number of local factors, inter alias collection systems, waste composition and quality, climatic conditions, the potential of use of various waste derived products such as electricity, heat, methane-rich gas or compost. Therefore strategies for management of this waste should be determined at an appropriate scale based on a structured and comprehensive approach like Life Cycle Thinking (LCT) and the associated tool of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to avoid overlooking relevant aspects and any bias. The situation is of course dependant on the varying conditions in the countries. A range of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) based studies have been conducted on national and regional scales. Also recently, on behalf of the Commission, Life Cycle Assessments for MSW management in new member states have been conducted. Whilst arriving at different results depending on local conditions, they largely show the common pattern that the benefits of the chosen waste

management system for bio waste significantly depend on: • The amount of energy that can be recovered is a

crucial parameter giving high energy efficient options a clear advantage. It is due to better energy utilisation of wet biodegradable wastes by anaerobic digestion than by incineration. • The source of the energy which is replaced by the

recovered energy is mainly based on fossil fuels, the benefits of a high energy recovery of the bio waste system become more important. However, if the replaced energy is largely based on low emission sources, e.g. hydro energy, energy recovered from bio waste is obviously associated with significantly less environmental benefits. • The amount, quality and use of the recycled

compost and the products which are replaced by using compost - If the compost is used in landscaping or landfill cover any environmental benefits will be very limited. However, if high quality compost is replacing industrial fertilizers, the benefits usually will be significant. Also the replacement of peat yields high environmental benefits. • The emission profile of biological treatment plants

show that plants can have very different emission patterns, which lead to more or less environmental impacts. The studies show especially importance of emissions of N2O and NH3.

2.3 Economic Impacts

The capital and operating costs of MSW management and biological treatment of waste depend on multiple factors and vary regionally and locally, hence it is difficult to arrive at meaningful average values or make comparisons. The most important variables for such costs include the plant's size, technology used, geological conditions (for landfills), costs of locally available energy, type of waste available, transport costs and others. This excludes indirect costs on the environment and health. Land filling is usually considered the cheapest option, especially if the price of land is low, or where the environmental costs of land filling and future costs of landfill closure and aftercare have not yet been internalised in the gate fee (especially in the new Member States). The increase of costs due to the Landfill Directive will possibly change this situation combined with rising awareness of the “real” long term costs of landfills. Equally, revenues from energy recovery and products can at least partly offset the costs of other management options. These then can even come close to break even, making them economically more interesting than land filling. Incineration requires higher investment but can offer good economies of scale and


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does not require changes to existing MSW collection schemes for land filling, while brining in revenues from energy recovery especially when the efficiency is maximised by using waste in high efficiency cogeneration units for the production of both electricity and heat. As biological treatment must be applied to waste of sufficient quality to deliver safe compost, the costs of separate collection of bio-waste must be added to the treatment process. Selling compost may be a source of additional revenues and again, energy recovery using anaerobic digestion can provide further revenues. In the study for European Commission [3], [8] the following assumed financial cost estimates for management of bio waste were proposed, as representative for the EU-15 (2002): – Separate collection of bio-waste followed by composting: min 35 to 95 €/tonne; – Separate collection of bio-waste followed by anaerobic digestion: min 80 to 135 €/tonne; – Landfill of mixed waste: min. 55 €/tonne; – Incineration of mixed waste: min. 90 €/tonne. EUNOMIA estimates the additional costs of separate collection at 0-15 €/tonne, while optimisation of the separate collection systems (e.g. by increasing periods between collection of non-biodegradable waste) could decrease these costs below zero making collection profitable. On the other hand, COWI (2004) [3] gives examples of much higher costs of separate collection of 37-135 €/tonne and estimates it possible to achieve net benefits of separate bio waste collection, even if small and depending on a number of factors (cost of separate collection, energy efficiency of an alternative incinerator, type of energy displaced by energy from the alternative incinerator). Investment costs of biological treatment plants vary, depending on the type of installation, the emission reduction techniques used, and the product quality requirements. Study supporting the Impact Assessment for the revision of IPPC directive quotes 60-150 €/tonne for open composting and 350-500 €/tonne for closed composting and digestion in large-scale installations [10]. Market prices for compost are closely linked to the public perception and customer confidence in a product. Usually, compost for use in agriculture is sold for a symbolic price (e.g. 1 €/tonne, the price may even include transport and spreading). However, well marketed compost of recognised quality may reach 14 €/tonne, while for small amounts of packed compost or blends including compost the price may even reach 150-300 €/tonne. The prices are higher at well developed compost markets. Due to high transport prices and low market value, compost is usually used close to the composting site and presently long-distance transport and international trade

are limited which limits impact from the Internal Market on the competitiveness of this product. There is no problem with the market for biogas or landfill gas. It can be burnt on site to generate heat and/or electricity or cleaned and upgraded to reach the quality of automotive fuel or natural gas pumped into the grid. These uses would maximise the potential of anaerobic digestion for reducing GHG emissions, helping to achieve both the Kyoto and the RES Directive's targets. Separate collection schemes can help in diverting biodegradable waste from landfills, providing quality input to bio-waste recycling and improving the efficiency of energy recovery. However, setting up separate collection is not without challenges, including: • The need to re-design waste collection systems and

change of citizens' habits. While properly designed separate collection systems are not necessarily more expensive, their proper design and management require higher effort than mixed waste collection systems. • Difficulties in identifying areas suitable for separate

collection. In densely populated areas it is problematic to guarantee the necessary purity of the input. In scarcely populated areas separate collection may be too expensive and home composting may be a better solution. • Problems of matching the waste arising with the use

of recycled material, due to transport costs and low prices the use of compost is often confined to locations near the treatment plant. This may pose problems in densely populated areas. • Hygiene and odour issues, especially in warm and

hot climate.

2.4 Social and Health Impacts

Increased recycling of bio-waste is expected to have limited positive impacts on employment. New jobs may be created in waste collection and in small composting plants. Separate collection of bio-waste may be three times more labour-intensive than collecting mixed waste. It is also likely that inhabitants of areas covered by separate collection will have to change their waste separation habits; however, there are no data for assessing the societal cost of separate collection. There is a general lack of quality data on the health impacts of various waste management options based on epidemiologic studies. A study by DEFRA [4] did not reveal any apparent health effects for people living near MSW management facilities. Further to this study, in the future additional research could be required to ascertain the absence of risks to human health from such facilities. However, it identified small risks of birth defects in families living near landfill sites and of bronchitis and


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minor ailments for residents living nearby (especially open) composting plants though. No apparent health effects have been identified for incineration plants and the neighbourhood, especially as modern clean combustion and flue gas cleaning technologies are available and applied.

3 Technical Solutions for Incineration As incineration has many advantages and generates at same time a renewable energy resource, necessary for further development of the sustainable civilization, one will insist and present in the following some main features and possibilities for this technology. An incineration system is comprised of several components. It must have a waste reading system, also referred to as a loading or charging system, to ensure uniform loading of the incinerator. The incinerator itself generally consists of primary chamber, a secondary chamber, an auxiliary fuel system, air supply systems, a hearth or a grate area, and either moving grates or rams to move the waste ad the ash through the unit. The incineration system must also have an ash removal system: both wet and dry ash removal systems are available. Air pollution equipment will most likely be required on all new incineration systems. Many municipal incinerators also are equipped with efficient steam and or electricity generators,. The types of incinerators used in municipal waste combustion include fluidized bed incinerators, rotary water wall combustors, reciprocating grate systems are related modular incinerators [17], [20], [22], [23], [24].

Fig. 10: Modular incinerator [17]. The basic variations in the design of these systems are related to the waste feed system, the air delivery system, and the movement of the material through the system. As an illustration of typical system configurations, Figure 10 depicts a modular incinerator, and Figure 11 depicts a rotary combustor. Both are equipped with a heal recover boiler. Finally flue gas treatment is

available (Figure 12) [13], [24]. Several reference texts are available which provide further details on the various system designs [21], [22], [23]. Gross electric power output from a resource recovery system ranges from 340 kWh per ton of raw solid waste incinerated. Output is dependent on the type of incineration technology utilized and the type of waste fed. Electricity generated by a resource recovery facility will usually be used to supply the total electrical need for in-house power consumption, which ranges from 10 % to 15 % of the gross amount generated. The remaining 85 90 % can be sold to the local utility.

Fig. 11: Water-cooled rotary combustor and boiler [17].

Fig. 12: Normal flue gas treatment for incinerators (de dusting, desulphurisation, DeNOx, including Hg and HCl retention). Source: Process Diagram of Dry Sorption based on Bicar and SCR - DeNOx technology [13], [24]. Finally a pilot for co-combustion of waste with coal is presented, being a solution for small retrofitting of existing boilers in new member states, that are at the end of their life time, and thus having the chance to get further reduction possibility in limiting emissions from fossil sources, and additional generating, by cogeneration higher efficiency and CO2 reduction, from utilising of waste (biodegradable fraction) as renewable


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energy source. The facility (Figure 13) comprises several main parts, and is based on original design [19], [20]: (i) The main burning subassembly comprising the furnace, the air distributor, divided with grates for injection of the fluidisation air and main combustion air, the fuel bunkers (biomass and coal), the starting & post combustion burner working with natural gas, and diverse measuring instruments and observation gaps. (ii) The

heat transfer subassembly components are mainly formed by the convective case. (iii) The flue gases de-

dusting system components are formed by a cyclone dust separator, a convective connection, flow measuring sockets, extracting tubes for flue gas analysis and powder/dust sampling, thermocouples, thermometers & manometers. (iv) The flue gases cleaning subassembly is formed by a scrubbing tower, a neutralization reactor, a demister, and an appropriate air feeding system, including all necessary adaptors.

Fig. 12: Design of the co-firing facility in fluidized bed [19], [20]: 1 - Start-up burner, 2 - Fuel bunkers, 3 - Fluidized bed furnace 4 - Ash cooler, 5 - Convective case, 6 - Dust separator-cyclone, 7 - Scrubbing tower, 8 – Neutralisation reactor, 9 - Demister, 10, 13 - Reagents circulation pumps, 11, 12, 14 - Containers, 15 - Filter, 16 - Air feeding system, 17- Air distributor, CF – Chimney

4. Waste in the RES cocktail in the EC Fig. 13: Installed Electricity capacity of RES in EU, 2007. Source: Eurostat [6], [7].

Figure 13 is indicating a result of the waste implementation directives, by year 2007, attesting that waste is a part in the energy cocktail in the EU27. In the EU27, 524 kg of municipal waste was generated per person in 2008. 40 % of this municipal waste was land filled, 20 % incinerated, 23 % recycled and 17 % composted. The average amount of waste generated in the EU27 was virtually unchanged from 2007 (525 kg per person). This information is published by Eurostat [6], [7], the statistical office of the European Union. Municipal waste generated per person varied from 306 kg in the Czech Republic to 802 kg in Denmark [3], [5], [14]. Waste became recently also a matter of trade, as Figure 14 is indicating.

Fig. 14: Developments in shipments of paper waste as an example of non-hazardous wastes out and within the EU from 1995 to 2007. Source: Eurostat [7]. Increasing amounts, especially of waste paper, plastics and metals are being shipped from developed countries to countries where environmental standards are less stringent. Huge ships steam around the high seas everyday carrying goods from emerging markets in Asia to the West. Rather than sail back empty, and needing something to provide ballast, the ship owners are only too happy to take waste products from Europe to be recycled back in Asia [7]. That does not mean that shipments of waste are not regulated. Both the UN and the EU have strict rules on what can be shipped where [26], [8], [13]. At the global level international trade of 'hazardous wastes' (waste that is potentially dangerous for people or the environment) is regulated by the UN's Basel Convention. A central goal of the Basel Convention is to protect human health and the environment by minimising hazardous waste production whenever possible through environmentally sound management. The convention requires that the production of hazardous wastes be managed using an integrated life-cycle approach, which involves strict controls from its generation to storage, transport, treatment, reuse, recycling, recovery and final disposal.


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The EU's long term aim is that each Member State should dispose of its own waste domestically (the 'proximity principle'). However, as shipments of hazardous and problematic waste for disposal from EU Member States nearly quadrupled between 1997 and 2005, this aim has yet to be fulfilled [26], [27]. The factors driving the export and import of waste vary: availability of special treatment technology; a shortage of materials; differences in prices for disposal or recovery. EU policy, setting targets for recycling, also leads to waste shipments from Member States who cannot meet their targets at home. The volumes of waste on the market keep costs low for a country like China, which needs cheap raw materials. As long as this waste is not for disposal at its destination and does not contain hazardous materials, it is an acceptable trade.

Fig. 15: Europe’s share of the world market in green sectors. Source: EC News [9]. Figure 15 indicates that waste management is very important and promising hopes are related to its contribution to the potential green share in the energy cocktail offered by Europe in the global world energy balance [9]. In 2005 [2], [8] the total greenhouse gas emissions in the EU27 was 5,177 Mt CO2 equivalent (Figure 16) comprising 82.5 % CO2; 8.1 % CH4; 8.0 % N2O, while the remaining 1.4 % corresponded to the fluorinated gases. Energy related emissions continue to be the dominant representing approximately 80 % of the total emissions (see Figure 16), with the largest emitting sector being the production of electricity and heat, followed by transport. Even waste is sharing a reduced percentage in the total balance, it is not to be negligible. The C from waste content might be used for a better purpose, being the support for combustible matter. Since 1999, GHG emissions started to rise again, with some fluctuation over the period of 2004–2005. The

reduction in energy‑ related emissions was much

smaller than that observed for non‑ energy‑ related

emissions in agriculture, waste and other sectors. These

sectors reduced their emissions substantially, by 19.6 % across the EU27, due to improved waste management, emission reductions in industrial processes (as well as general restructuring leading away from heavy industry, particularly in the EU12) and agriculture [2], [9].

Fig. 16: Structure of total greenhouse gas emissions by sector, EU27, 2005. Source: EEA, Energy and environment report 2008 [2].


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Fig. 17: Pollutant Emissions by sectors, in 2005, EU27. Source: EEA, Energy & environ. Report 2008 [2], [8]. As it results from Figure 17, waste is also contributing to the general emission of pollutants into the ambient air.

Fig. 18: Contribution of renewable energy sources to primary energy consumption in the EU27. Source: EEA, Energy and environment report 2008 [2], [8], [9]. The share of renewable energy sources in primary energy consumption in the EU27 (Figure 18) increased slowly from 4.4 % in 1990 to 6.7 % in 2005. This development led to a reduction in CO2 emissions (see Figures 16 and 17) [2], [8], [10]. However, rising overall energy consumption in absolute terms has counteracted some of the environmental benefits from the increased use of renewable. The strongest increase came from wind and solar energy. In absolute terms, about 80 % of the increase came from biomass, including waste. Despite good progress, significant growth will be needed to meet, by 2010, the indicative target for the EU of a 12 % share of renewable [8].

5 Conclusions

1. Waste Management is becoming one of the key problems of the modern world, an international issue that is intensified by the volume and complexity of domestic and industrial waste discarded by society. Unfortunately, many of the practices adopted in the past were aimed at short-term solutions without sufficient regard or


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knowledge for long term implications on health, the environment or sustainability and this, in many cases, is leading to the need to take difficult and expensive remedial action.

2. Waste is indicated to be a resource for the energy system based on RES, in the EU27 and not only.

3. The quantity and type of wastes generated within a community must be estimated before an appropriate waste management plan can be developed.

4. The amount of waste produced by residents and businesses is increasing. Over the past decade, the annual rate of increase in household waste rising has generally been between 2 % and 3%. Analysis of recent trends in waste generation shows that the rate of growth in waste generation has been quite consistent for waste collected from households;

5. Three strategies are employed in waste minimization: reuse, reduction, and recycling. Composting is generally, considered to be a form of recycling.

6. Resource recovery facilities are advantageous because they provide for significant reduction of both the volume and weight of solid wastes, which in turn extends the available life of existing landfills. These facilities can also provide steam and/or electricity for the surrounding community.

7. Combustion or biogas production are technical options that are offering renewable energy benefits to the waste generating society, on spot.

8. Essentially, five techniques for a novel waste management are used: (1) environmental friendly landfills in novel deposits, (2) incineration, (3) source reduction, (4) composting, and (5) recycling.

9. Waste co-combustion makes the Kyoto protocol to be more realistic and brings advantages from three potentially benefit schemes:

• EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS),

• National Green Energy Schemes (Green Certificates),

• National Energy Efficiency Schemes (e.g. Combined Heat &Power markets).

10. Reducing (avoiding) the waste quantity is considered an optimum, cost effective solution for a sustainable management.

11. EU policy, setting targets for recycling, also leads to waste shipments from Member States who cannot meet their targets at home.

12. Correct waste management may improve the contribution to RES of existing energy resources and also to support the EC master plan (January 2008, the European Commission proposed Climate and Energy package) in energy for 2020, in comparison to 1990, meaning:

• 20 % less greenhouse gas emission, • 20 % improved energy efficiency,

• 20 % renewable energy, • 10 % renewable fuels.

This package comprises a set of key policy proposals that are closely interlinked. They include: (i) a proposal amending the EU Emissions Trading Directive (EU ETS); (ii) a proposal relating to the sharing of efforts to meet the Community's independent greenhouse gas reduction commitment in sectors not covered by the EU emissions trading system (such as transport, buildings, services, smaller industrial installations, agriculture and waste); and (iii) a proposal for a Directive promoting renewable energy, to help achieve both of the above emissions targets [8], [9], [13]. 13. The efforts required to meet these targets will also

cut air pollution in Europe. For example, improvements in energy efficiency and increased use of renewable energy will both lead to reduced amounts of fossil fuel combustion, a key source of air pollution. These positive side effects are referred to as the 'co-benefits' of climate change policy. Waste management is a considerable part and contributor to it!

14. Climate and resource challenges require drastic action. Strong dependence on fossil fuels such as oil and inefficient use of raw materials expose world wide consumers and businesses to harmful and costly price shocks, threatening our economic security and contributing to climate change. The expansion of the world population from 6 to 9 billion will intensify global competition for natural resources, and put pressure on the environment. Using the waste is a solution to contribute to the general aim of a worldwide solution to the problems of climate change at the same time as implementing the agreed climate and energy strategy.

15. In the next future of the world energy cocktail, waste represents a non negligible renewable energy resource, contributing as well to a cleaner environment, development of business entrepreneurship and offering security and jobs to local communities, direct producer of the waste.

16. Waste management must be analysed and applied in the context of the Commission’s proposal regarding five measurable for the EU targets for 2020 that will steer the process and be translated into national targets: for employment; for research and innovation; for climate change and energy; for education; and for combating poverty. They represent the direction we should take and will mean we can measure our success [2], [3].

17. Waste Management is a key player in maintaining a business’s ISO14001 accreditations. Companies are encouraged to improve their environmental efficiencies each year. One way to do this is by


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improving a company’s waste management with a new recycling service.

18. There are a number of concepts about waste management which vary in their usage between countries or regions.

19. So far municipal waste management has already reduced GHG emissions significantly within the EU: from 64 to 28 million tonnes CO2 annually between the years 1990 and 2007, which is equivalent to a drop from 130 to 60 kg CO2 each year per capita. As discussed by the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA) the EU municipal waste sector will achieve 18 % of the reduction target set for Europe before 2012 according to the Kyoto agreement. Looking forward, between 2012 and 2020 the EU municipal waste sector will become a net saver of GHG emissions according to current predictions [3] [7], [8], [14].

20. Waste utilisation has multiple advantages over conventional energy sources:

• It contributes to security of supply as a versatile and constant renewable energy source,

• It reduces greenhouse gas emissions and improves air quality, depending on technology,

• It creates employment opportunities and contributes to rural development and regeneration,

• Its use can lead to numerous other environmental benefits, such as the use of special wastes as feed stocks, leading to the reduction of landfill waste or sustainable energy crop management, leading to increased biodiversity.

Fig. 19: Diagram of the waste hierarchy. Source: [13]. 21. Waste hierarchy (Figure 19) refers to the "3 Rs"

reduce, reuse and recycle, which classify waste management strategies according to their desirability in terms of waste minimization. The waste hierarchy remains the cornerstone of most

waste minimization strategies. The aim of the waste hierarchy is to extract the maximum practical benefits from products and to generate the minimum amount of waste. The Strategy for the Waste Management Hierarchy, in order of preference, prevention, re-use, recycle/compost, recovery, disposal, except where costs are prohibitive, or where the environmental consequences can be demonstrated to be negative.

22. Extended producer responsibility (EPR) is a strategy designed to promote the integration of all costs associated with products throughout their life cycle (including end-of-life disposal costs) into the market price of the product. Extended producer responsibility is meant to impose accountability over the entire lifecycle of products and packaging introduced to the market. This means that firms which manufacture, import and/or sell products are required to be responsible for the products after their useful life as well as during manufacture.

23. Polluter pays principle is a principle where the polluting party pays for the impact caused to the environment. With respect to waste management, this generally refers to the requirement for a waste generator (person, industry, agent, community, etc.) to pay for appropriate disposal of the waste.

24. Promoting the economic and employment opportunities of sustainable waste management, consistent with the principles of sustainable development and best value, is of real importance.

25. Management of the resources and waste should occur in a way that meets the needs residents now without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

26. Work & Lobby closely of the legal governmental and associative agencies, including commercial, statutory, non-governmental, academic and community based or not-for-profit organisations, with the community & community sector to educate residents in waste-related matters and encourage engagement with waste prevention and reuse initiatives is of major importance and necessary. In this sense, acting together to research and develop coordinated services and infrastructure for waste collection, treatment, transfer and disposal, aiming to manage residual waste within the County/region, where this is consistent, and to manage all other waste at the nearest appropriate facility by the most appropriate method or technology is in perfect accordance with the proximity principle.

27. Finally only approaches to managing waste from commercial and industrial sources where this contributes to the overall environmental, social and economic wellbeing of Residents is important, as


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well to pursuit of the Partnership’s vision of sustainable waste and resource management.

28. Education and awareness in the area of waste and waste management are becoming increasingly important from a global perspective of resource management.

References:

[1] *** British Medical Association, Health

&Environmental impact assessment, an integrated approach, Earthscan Publications Ltd, 1999.

[2] *** A strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive

growth, Communication from the Commission Europe 20102010.

[3] *** COWI, http://www.cowi.com/menu/services/utilities/municipalandhazardouswaste/wastetoenergy/Pages/WasteToEnergy.aspx.

[4] *** DEFRA, http://www.defra.gov.uk/. [5] *** EUNOMIA http://www.eunomia.co.uk/. [6] *** USA Solid Waste Management Association, http://www.environmentalistseveryday.org/about-nswma-solid-waste-management/index.php.

[7] *** EUROSTAT, http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/waste/data/wastemanagement/waste_treatment.

[8] *** GREEN PAPER: On the management of bio-waste in the European Union, SEC (2008) 2936

[9] *** http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/president/news/statements/pdf/20100210_3_en.pdf.

[10] *** IPPC http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/syr/ar4_syr.pdf.

[11] *** LEICS, http://www.leics.gov.uk/lmwms_2006_.pdf.

[12] *** Waste Incineration Directive, 2000/76/EC. [13] *** Waste management , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waste_management#References, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_arc_waste_disposal.

[14] ***WTERT, http://www.wtert.eu/Default.asp?Menue=18&NewsPPV=7552.

[15] A. J. Waldau (editor), Energy use efficiency and Electricity from Biomass, Wind and Photovoltaics, in the EC, Paper EUR21217-EN, 2004.

[16] D. D. Chiras, Environmental Science. Action for

a sustainable future, The Benjamin Cummings Publishing Company Inc., 1990.

[17] G. Burke, B. R. Singh, L. Theodore, Handbook

of environmental management and technology, Wiley Interscience, A John Wiley & Sons, 2005.

[18] E. Enger, B. Smith, A. T. Bockarie, Environmental Science. A study of

interrelationships, Mc Graw Hill Higher Education, 2006.

[19] I. Ionel, Al. Savu, et al., Co-combustion of Waste in a Romanian Fluidized Bed Combustion Facility, World Renewable Energy Congress,

WREC 2006, Florence, 2006, pp. 269-275. [20] I. Ionel, Fr. Popescu, N. Lontis, W. Russ, Co-combustion of fossil fuel with bio fuel in small cogeneration systems, between necessity and achievements, SSE '09, Volume II, Proceedings of

the 11th WSEAS International Conference on

Sustainability in Science Engineering, Timisoara, pp. 352-358.

[21] J. G. Henry, G. W. Heinke, Environmental

Science and Engineering, Prentice Hall, 1989. [22] L. Yassin, P. Lettieri, St. J. R. Simons, Study of the Process Design and Flue Gas Treatment of an Industrial-Scale Energy-from-Waste Combustion Plant, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., 2007, 46 (8), pp. 2648–2656.

[23] L. Yassin, P. Lettieri1, St. Simons, A. Germanà, Thermal conversion of biomass and waste, ECI Conference on Fluidization, Vancouver, Canada,

Vol. RP4, Article 111, 2007, pp. 905-912, Produced by The Berkeley Electronic Press, 2010.

[24] N. Verdone, P. De Filippis, Thermodynamic behaviour of sodium and calcium based sorbents in the emission control of waste incinerators’, Chemosphere 54 (2004), pp. 975-985.

[25] W. Cunningham, M.A. Cunningham, B. W. Saigo, Environmental Science, A global concern, Mc. Graw Hill, Higher Education, 2007.

[26] USA Environmental Protection Agency, http://www.epa.gov/.

[27] *** EEA, http://www.eea.europa.eu/ highlights/the-waste-trade-2013-legal-and-illegal.

[28] *** EEA, Tran boundary shipments of waste in the EU, ETC/RWM 2008, European Topic Centre on Resource and Waste Management, http://eea.eionet.europa.eu/Public/irc/eionet.


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