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There are three ways to burn waste at Waste to Energy facilities: the mass burn, modular, and refused-derived fuel (RDF) systems. Let’s have a look at how each work.
The main benefite of WTE as a form of waste disposal is reducing the volume and weight of trash. 75-80% of the weight and 85-95% by volume is reduced to ash. For countries that are landlocked and tight on space, WTE is appealing for dealing with their waste stream. Burning garbage through incineration, gasification, or pyrolysis can also reduce greenhouse gas emissions by reducing methane generation from landfills.
WTE facilities replace conventional electricity-generating technologies such as coal, oil, and natural gas power plants, thus reducing carbon emissions from fossil fuel sources. Although there are a number of benefits, WTE facilities are still toxic to human health and can contaminate air, water and soil even if plants use the most advanced technologies. Incinerators are major emitters of dioxins and furans and release more mercury than coal mines and emit more CO2 per megawatt-hour than coal-fired, natural-gas-fired, or oil-fired power plants.
The process of generating electricity in a mass-burn WTE plant has seven stages:
Modular Systems burn unprocessed, mixed municipal solid waste, but are smaller and portable. They can be moved from site to site.
Refuse derived fuel systems use mechanical methods to shred incoming municipal solid waste, separate out non-combustible materials, and produce a combustible mixture that is suitable as a fuel in a dedicated furnace or as a supplemental fuel in a conventional boiler system.
WTE Plants burn household garbage. This includes everything you would throw in the garbage to go to a landfill.
13 states house 71 out of the 86 WTE facilities. These states include California, Minnesota, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Virginia, Maryland, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and Florida.
Energy recovery is often used to describe WTE processes.
In the 1990s, research recognized the threats WTE plants posed on the public. The EPA enacted the Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) regulations to address these growing concerns. As a result existing facilities needed to retrofit their technology or shut down.
This is a hotly debated topic. Technically it is considered a renewable energy source and it offsets the need for fossil fuel-based energy. However, it is also argued that this is only turning waste into more waste.
There are a number of gases released during WTE process including dioxin, lead and mercury. It can be hard to separate dangerous material before it is burned, leading to other toxic pollutants being release.
11.8%
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