Conference PaperPDF Available

Modern Waste Management Techniques - A Critical Review

November 2020

Conference: Modern Waste Management Techniques - A Critical Review
At: Chennai

Authors:

Avinashilingam University

In the 21st century, rapid growth of the population, urbanization, industrialization, modernization and digitalization results in the increase in wastes such as Domestic, Industrial, Commercial, Mining, Radioactive, Agricultural, Hospital, Electronic wastes, etc. Managing these wastes are becoming more biggest problem in the world. Waste management is the process of collecting, transporting, segregating, discarding, destroying, processing, recycling, controlling, monitoring and regulating the garbage, sewage and other waste products. Main objective of the waste management is to save the environment from detrimental effects, free from pollution and also to protect the people's health from the hazardous effects. To manage these wastes, many modern methods are adopted in the worldwide. They are biological reprocessing, recover through recycling, dumping in sanitary landfill, composting, waste to energy, bioremediation, incineration, pyrolysis, plasma gasification, disposal in ocean/sea, etc. These waste management techniques make the environment a better place for the living creatures to survive. This also paves the way for the future generation to live in the peaceful and healthy environment. Finding and adopting the best waste management technique is the need of the hour and also necessary for the welfare of the people in the world. By this, the waste management process will become very effective and successful. This paper tries to portray the different waste management techniques which has been adopted in the various parts of the world. Further it also tries to suggest some best waste management technique by critically reviewing the discussion and findings of the other researcher's study.

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IOC-2020 INNOVATION AND SUSTAINABILITY THROUGH E-STEM - 14th & 15th OCTOBER, 2020

MODERN WASTE MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES - A

CRITICAL REVIEW

M.VIJAYALAKSHMI

M.Sc., M.Phil. (Life Sciences), M.Ed., M.Phil. (Education), NET (Education), PGDBI

Assistant Professor of Education (Former)

Sri Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya College of Education (Autonomous)

Coimbatore - 641020

ABSTRACT

In the 21st century, rapid growth of the population, urbanization, industrialization,

modernization and digitalization results in the increase in wastes such as Domestic, Industrial,

Commercial, Mining, Radioactive, Agricultural, Hospital, Electronic wastes, etc. Managing

these wastes are becoming more biggest problem in the world. Waste management is the

process of collecting, transporting, segregating, discarding, destroying, processing, recycling,

controlling, monitoring and regulating the garbage, sewage and other waste products. Main

objective of the waste management is to save the environment from detrimental effects, free

from pollution and also to protect the people’s health from the hazardous effects. To manage

these wastes, many modern methods are adopted in the worldwide. They are biological

reprocessing, recover through recycling, dumping in sanitary landfill, composting, waste to

energy, bioremediation, incineration, pyrolysis, plasma gasification, disposal in ocean/sea, etc.

These waste management techniques make the environment a better place for the living

creatures to survive. This also paves the way for the future generation to live in the peaceful

and healthy environment. Finding and adopting the best waste management technique is the

need of the hour and also necessary for the welfare of the people in the world. By this, the waste

management process will become very effective and successful. This paper tries to portray the

different waste management techniques which has been adopted in the various parts of the

world. Further it also tries to suggest some best waste management technique by critically

reviewing the discussion and findings of the other researcher’s study.

Keywords: Recycle, Landfill, Composting, Bioremediation, Incineration, Disposal

Introduction

Humans depend on our environment for many things to satisfy our needs. Food, dress

materials, gadgets, buildings, vehicles, etc are getting from our environment and used by us in

our daily activities. In course of time, it becomes as unwanted or defective or worthless

materials. To live a sophisticated life, we developed a lot of things, used it and then threw it as

a waste in the earth. Unwanted and unused materials are considered as wastes. It can be in any

form, either in solid or liquid or gaseous. It may range from a small to large size. Increase in

IOC-2020 INNOVATION AND SUSTAINABILITY THROUGH E-STEM - 14th & 15th OCTOBER, 2020

population growth increases waste products also. Wastes are accumulated in large size in the

environment and became a big risk for us. It polluted our soil, water and air. It became

threatened to our earth and humans by its hazardous effects.

Saving our earth planet from the contamination became a giant challenge for us. To

conserve our natural resources, wastes should be maintained properly. So that all living beings

on this earth can live safely and get benefits from it. The process of managing waste is called

as waste management.

Waste management consists of a series of steps such as collection of the waste,

segregating it on the basis of its nature, transporting carefully and labelling them, undergoing

various types of treatment in order to reduce the its hazardous effect and disposing it by

burning, burying and recycling methods, etc. These steps prevent the spread of pollution,

reduces the hazardous effects and keeps the environment clean. So, the environment became a

good habitat for all living creatures.

In modern days, waste management has become more technical and innovative. To find

out the best and effective method of waste management and to enhance the environmental

protection this study is done.

Need of the study

Rapid population growth in all over the world lead to the more deposit of the waste in

all places. Due to this, unwanted materials are increased and lead to the formation of different

types of pollution and spreads diseases. This makes the people suffer from various types of

diseases and remains unhealthy. Because of all these, now environment became unfit for living.

So, it is vital to adopt a proper waste management system to control different types of pollution,

to stop the spread of diseases, to restore environment with all its resources, etc. Waste

management includes several methods with numerous steps and procedures. In modern days

more advanced technologies are adopted in order to reduce the wastes. For aware of those waste

management methods and to implement those procedures in our daily life this article will

remain as helpful. So, this type of article is needed for this period of time. This paper tries to

find out the most accurate and best methods of waste management from the findings of other

researchers.

Objectives of the study

 To define the terms waste and waste management

 To classify the types of the wastes

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 To list out the sources of wastes

 To portray about the modern waste management techniques

 To discuss about the waste management techniques followed by others

 To recommend the best waste management technique for future generation

Definition of Waste and Waste management

According to Cambridge English Dictionary waste is “an unnecessary or wrong use of

money, substances, time, energy, abilities, etc”.

According to Ecolife dictionary waste management is defined as “The concept of waste

management involves the collection, removal, processing, and disposal of materials considered

waste. Waste materials can be solid, gaseous, liquid, or even hazardous and are generally

generated through human activity”.

Types of Waste

Wastes are classified into three types. They are basis of physical state, basis of bio-

degradability and basis of effects on human health. On the basis of physical state, it is further

classified into Solid (seen by naked eye), liquid (home and industrial effluents) and gaseous

(not seen by naked eye). On the basis of bio-degradability, it is further classified into bio-

degradable (organic) and non-biodegradable (metals, plastics, paper and glasses). On the basis

of effects on human health, it is classified into hazardous (dangerous) and non-hazardous (non-

dangerous).

Sources of wastes

Domestic wastes: Household waste, food wastes, garbage (kitchen waste), rubbish (paper,

polythene, plastics, glass pieces), old toys, old clothes, old mattresses, etc.

Community wastes: Educational institutions waste, government offices, markets, public

cleansing, bulky wastes, hospitals, construction works, etc.

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Commercial wastes: Bulky wastes from shops, offices, hotels, non-government markets,

stores, tyres, electronics, plastic bags, bottles, buckets, packaging materials, paper fibres,

thermocol, discarded electric waste, etc.

Industrial wastes: Paper and pulp wastes, oil refineries, tanneries, distilleries, thermal power

plants, chemical industries, metal smelters, coal, ash, acids, chemicals, textiles, plastics, nuclear

wastes, unused metal sheets, metal scraps, rubber, leather, toxic effluents, fibres (residues),

heavy metals, solvents, resins, sludge, abrasive, etc.

Agricultural wastes: Farm waste, livestock yards, crop residues, bagasse from sugarcane,

outdated pesticides and fertilizers, manure, weedicides, fungicides, slaughter waste, plastics

and containers, organics, etc

Mining wastes: Waste rock, tailings, mine water, chemicals and others, etc.

Radioactive wastes: Nuclear explosions, nuclear testing, use of radioactive substances in

medical and scientific research, products contaminated by radionuclides including radioactive

diagnostic material or radio therapeutic materials, etc.

Construction wastes: Demolition, excavation, renovation works, road works, site clearance,

wood, glass, metal, plastic, concrete, etc

Municipal wastes: House hold discharge, street sweeping, sewage treatment plant waste,

waste from schools and other institutions, public toilets, etc.

Biomedical wastes: Hospitals, clinics, laboratories, etc.

Health-care wastes: Infectious waste, pathological waste, sharps waste, chemical waste,

pharmaceutical waste, cytotoxic waste, general waste, etc.

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(Syringes, needles, disposal scalpels and blades, expired, unused and contaminated drugs and

vaccines, swabs, bandages, gloves, disposable medical devices, urine bags, sanitary napkins,

napkins, diapers, human tissues, organs or fluids, body parts, contaminated animal carcasses,

disinfectants, sterilant, heavy metals, broken thermometers, batteries, chemicals, etc.)

Electronic wastes (E-wastes): Discarded electronic devices like computer, TV, music

systems, transistors, tape recorders, mobile phones, computer cabinets, mother boards, CDs,

cassettes, moue, wires, cords, switches, chargers, batteries, circuits, etc.

Waste Management Techniques

According to the deposition and type of waste, different techniques are used for waste

management. They may vary from person to person, place to place, time to time and nation to

nation. They are:

Recycling

Collecting the wastes from different places and segregating them according to the

nature of products and used for recycling process. Robots are used in America for collecting

the wastes in Baltimore river. In Malaysia and Hong Kong, recycling process is practiced for

controlling the construction wastes (Wahi, et.al., 2016). Recycled the municipal and

construction solid waste and used it for manufacturing highly environmentally friendly

geopolymer composite (Tang, Tam & Xue, 2020).

Composting

Organic wastes are separated from the wastes and allow to decomposed by microbes

for a long period of time in a pit. Then this becomes nutrient rich compost and used as a manure

for the plants. Soil fertility is enriched by these manures. Composting through biological

technique progresses the fertility of the soil. Vermicomposting method reduces environmental

impact and enhances the nutrient content of the soil (Bhat, et. al., 2020). Vermicomposting is

the effective process for sustainable organic agriculture and for also to maintain a balanced

ecosystem (Kaur, 2020). For high level of organic waste reduction and rapid composting time,

Black Soldier Fly (Larvae) was used. Then the residues were further treated with E. Eugeniae

which results in the production of best quality of vermicompost (Bagastyo & Soesanto, 2020).

Vermicomposting of onion waste with cow dump produces a valuable agricultural enriched

nutrient circle (Pallejero, et.al., 2020).

Landfilling

Dumping the wastes in the soil is called as Landfilling. Proper procedure should be

adopted for landfilling such as lining the base with protective layer, selecting low groundwater

level area, etc. Skilled manpower is needed for this process. In China, construction of horizontal

wells reduces leachate level in landfills containing municipal solid waste (Hu, et. al., 2020).

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Physical, chemical and biological processes-based model controls the Hg emission from

landfills (Tao, Deng, Li & Chai, 2020). The results of co-incineration of sewage sludge and

municipal solid waste showed more gaseous Hg0 to be oxidized to Hg2+ during the cooling

process. It leads to cause less environmental risk to the atmosphere (Sun, et. al., 2020).

Incineration

Burning the wastes at high temperature is called as Incineration. To avoid air pollution

(caused during burning of wastes), proper filters are used. For handling sludge, direct

incineration method without anaerobic digestion was found to be more preferred sustainable

approach (Hao, et. al., 2020). For fossil fuel conservation and waste disposal, the technology

of coal power plant along with waste incineration method was considered as a promising

technology (Ye, et. al., 2020). Degradation technologies such as plasma, mechanochemistry,

hydrothermal, photocatalytic and biodegradation had proved that they have good purification

effect and are considered as the best resource of MSWI fly ash (Zhang, Zhang & Liu, 2020).

Bioremediation

Process of using microbes and bacteria for removing the impurities, pollutants and

poisons from soil, water and other environments is called as bioremediation. Energy power

generation plants emit radioactive wastes which is the major threat to the human population.

To reduce these wastes, bioremediation strategy is used. Bioremediation technologies rectifies

the heavy metal pollution problem and helps to regain the natural condition of soil (Saini &

Dhania, 2020). Bioremediation is an eco-friendly, inexpensive, and effective technology which

is encouraged for the safe discharge of water from industrial activities (Coelho, 2020).

Waste-to-energy

Waste-to-energy is the process of creating energy in the form of electricity or heat from

the primary treatment of waste. In China, anaerobic digestion technology is used for energy

recovery and also has been identified as an effective approach to minimize the degree of harm

of GHG emissions which are related to FW treatment (Zhang, et. al., 2020). Waste-to-energy

(WtE) technologies such as pyrolysis, gasification, incineration, and bio-methanation can

convert MSW, as an appropriate source of renewable energy, into useful energy (electricity and

heat) in safe and eco-friendly ways (Malav, et al., 2020).

Remote Sensing & GIS

Remote sensing is the art of obtaining information about objects or areas from a

distance, typically from aircraft or satellites. In Coimbatore landfill sites, 75% of municipal

solid waste were dumped without treatment and it was found out by using vector data and

remote sensing (RS) (Gautam, Brema & Dhasarathan, 2020). Remote sensing is an avenue to

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quantify process-level emissions from waste management facilities (Cusworth, et al., 2020).

Use of remote sensing and GIS for distinguishable proof of the sensible objectives of solid

waste dumped depends on the overlaying of datasets and spots that fulfil the site suitability

criteria. The datasets and spots join the spatial examination devices given by GIS to arrange

and survey in order to choose possible waste areas (Vishnuvardhan & Elangovan, 2020).

Conclusion

To live a healthier life proper waste management technique is essential. Through

Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, we can conserve the natural resources and saves energy.

Composting enriches nutrients to the soil, decreases the landfill wastes, keeps more

microorganisms to be present in the soil and makes pollution free environment. In Landfills,

latest technologies are used and helps in energy production such as methane in large amount.

Incineration decreases the amount of solid waste, helps in the production of heat and energy,

reduces pollution and makes the place environment friendly. Bioremediation is a natural

process, minimum equipment and little energy is needed, without harmful side effects, quickly

makes soil and water more useful, etc. Waste-to-energy minimizes greenhouse gases, produces

clean energy and reuses metals. Remote sensing helps to collect information about the large

spatial areas and to characterize the natural features of the objects. This information helps to

make decision about physical objects. GIS provides detailed information about the location and

helps to make decision about it. Waste management techniques keeps the environment free

from pollution, increases the fertility of the soil and groundwater level and saves the earth and

energy sources. These waste management techniques are considered as the best methods to

safeguard our environment. Clean and green environment is the greatest assets for our

forthcoming generation. To achieve this, environmental guiding principles, values, policies and

legislations should be framed properly and followed strictly for eco-friendly sustainability.

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Chapter

May 2024

The accumulation of solid waste is increasing in the environment, and this accumulation affects the environment and health of people, causing pollution of the air, soil and water. Globally, there are decisive attempts to manage and thus decrease solid waste with the ultimate goal that the affect the environment and the lives of future generations. This is what the term sustainable development explains. This chapter explains what sustainable development is and its fields, the world’s direction towards it, because through it, solid waste is disposed and utilized without harming the environment and future generations. It also explains some sustainable development techniques such as Gasification and Ash Melting, Anaerobic Digestion and Composition. In addition, explain the latest developments reached by scientists about these technics in which serves interests sustainable development of solid waste management. Moreover, this chapter includes how solid waste is disposed in Malaysia and Malaysia’s direction towards developing disposal technologies to maintain sustainable development.

Application of remote sensing and GIS for identifying suitable sites for solid waste disposal in Erode Corporation, Tamil Nadu, India

Research

Full-text available

Aug 2020

This investigation focuses on the selection of suitable sites for solid waste dumps in Erode Corporation, Tamil Nadu using Spatial Multi-Criteria Evaluation (SMCE) with the help of Topographical map and Landsat-8 satellite data for the generation of road, water bodies, rivers and drainages, land use/land cover, landforms, geology and soil, slope maps. Use of remote sensing and GIS for distinguishable proof of the sensible objectives of solid waste dumped depends on the overlaying of datasets and spots that fulfill the site suitability criteria. The datasets and spots join the spatial examination devices given by GIS to arrange and survey in order to choose possible waste areas. Finally, in Erode city Municipal Corporation an appropriate dumping zone and few locations for dumping of solid waste are created. A set of twenty-one (21) sites is found to be the most favorable locations for dumping of solid waste. Indeed, SMCE is found to be the best method for the present work.

Vermicomposting process of mixed food waste and black soldier fly larvae composting residue by using Eudrilus eugeniae

Article

Full-text available

Jun 2020

The composting process by utilizing Black Soldier Fly (BSF) Larvae has increasingly been carried out in practice. This is due to the high level of organic waste reduction and the rapid composting time. However, shorter duration of composting may limit the larvae ability to digest organic material containing a lot of cellulose materials, eventually generating BSF larvae residues. These waste residues can be potentially further reduced by vermicomposting applying E. eugeniae. In order to get more substrate, an amount of food waste was added in the vermicomposting process of the waste that had been pre-composted by BSF larvae. Therefore, the aims of this study were to determine the degradation level of BSF larvae composting residue mixed with food waste and to analyze the quality of the vermicompost produced. The experiment was carried out in duplicate for 60 days. The amount of worms added to the substrate and the composition of the substrate (i.e., food waste and BSF larvae residues) were evaluated and discussed. The results showed that the highest degradation rate was observed when applying the composition of the substrate 1:2 with 15 g worms/kg substrate. The reduction rate was 59.92% and vermicompost production was 75.47%. The best quality of vermicompost was achieved in the same composition but with 20 g worms/kg substrate. The results obtained were pH 7.7, temperature 26 ºC, moisture content 59.47%, organic C/N 15.35, and total C/ N 15.18.

Bioremediation of water contaminated with uranium using Penicillium piscarium

Article

Full-text available

Jun 2020
BIOTECHNOL PROGR

Penicillium piscarium can be indicated as promising in the treatment of sites contaminated with uranium. Thus, this research aimed to analyze the P. piscarium dead biomass in uranium biosorption. This fungus was previously isolated from a highly contaminated uranium mine located in Brazil. Biosorption tests were carried out at pH 3.5 and 5.5 in solutions contaminated with concentrations of 1 to 100 mg/L of uranium nitrate. Our results showed that the dead biomass of P. piscarium was able to remove between 93.2 and 97.5% uranium from solutions at pH 3.5, at the end of the experiment, the pH of the solution increased to values above 5.6. Regarding the experiments carried out in solutions with pH 5.5, the dead biomass of the fungus was also able to remove between 38 and 92% uranium from the solution, at the end of the experiment, the pH of the solution increased to levels above 6.5. The analysis of electron microscopy, Energy‐dispersive spectroscopy, and X‐ray fluorescence demonstrated the high concentration of uranium precipitated on the surface of the fungal biomass. These results were impressive and demonstrate that the dead biomass of P. piscarium can be an important alternative to conventional processes for treating water contaminated with heavy metals, and we hope that these ecofriendly, inexpensive, and effective technologies be encouraged for the safe discharge of water from industrial activities.

Vermicomposting: An Effective Option for Recycling Organic Wastes

Chapter

Full-text available

Apr 2020

Tamanreet Kaur

Urbanization and industrialization resulted in rapid increase in volume of solid waste; its management has become one of the biggest problems today. Solid wastes can be disposed off by methods like land filling, incineration, conversion into biogas, recycling, and composting, but its overproduction has led to inappropriate disposal practices such as their indiscriminate and inappropriately timed application to agricultural fields that ultimately leads to water and soil pollution. However, if handled properly, these organic wastes can be used for vermicomposting; it is an effective recycling technology that improves the quality of the products which is disinfected, detoxified, and highly nutritive. It is a low cost, eco-biotechnological process of waste management in which earthworms are used to cooperate with microorganisms in order to convert biodegradable wastes into organic fertilizer. Earthworms excreta (vermicast) is a nutritive organic fertilizer rich in humus, NPK, micronutrients, beneficial soil microbes; nitrogen-fixing, phosphate solubilizing bacteria, actinomycets, and growth hormones auxins, gibberlins and cytokinins, is a suitable alternative to chemical fertilizers, being an excellent growth promoter and protector for crop plants. Thus, vermiculture not only results in management of soild waste but also produces excellent nutrient enriched vermicompost. Vermicompost is beneficial for sustainable organic agriculture and maintaining balanced ecosystem.

Advanced progress in recycling municipal and construction solid wastes for manufacturing sustainable construction materials

Article

Full-text available

Apr 2020
RESOUR CONSERV RECY

The sharply increasing solid waste generation has raised environmental concerns worldwide which currently have been escalated to a worrying level. Intending to eliminate the negative environmental impacts of solid waste and meanwhile promote sustainability in the energy- and resource-intensive construction and building sector, considerable efforts have been devoted to recycling solid waste for the possible use in construction material products. This paper reviews the existing studies on recycling municipal and construction solid waste for the manufacture of geopolymer composites. Special attention is paid to the predominate performance of these geopolymer composite products. The principal findings of this work reveal that municipal and construction solid waste could be successfully incorporated into geopolymer composites in the forms of precursor, aggregate, additive, reinforcement fiber, or filling material. Additionally, the results indicate that although the inclusion of such waste might depress some of the attributes of geopolymer composites, proper proportion design and suitable treatment technique could alleviate these detrimental effects and further smooth the recycling progress. Further, a brief discussion is provided to identify the important needs in future research and development for promoting the utilization of solid waste materials in the forthcoming sustainable geopolymer industry. In summary, this work offers guidance for the better ecological choice to municipal and construction solid waste through developing waste materials into highly environmental-friendly construction materials.

Using remote sensing to detect, validate, and quantify methane emissions from California solid waste operations

Article

Full-text available

May 2020
ENVIRON RES LETT

Solid waste management represents one of the largest anthropogenic methane emission sources. However, precise quantification of landfill and composting emissions remains difficult due to variety of site-specific factors that contribute to landfill gas generation and effective capture. Remote sensing is an avenue to quantify process-level emissions from waste management facilities. The California Methane Survey flew the Next Generation Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS-NG) over 270 landfills and 166 organic waste facilities repeatedly during 2016-2018 to quantify their contribution to the statewide methane budget. We use representative methane retrievals from this campaign to present three specific findings where remote sensing enabled better landfill and composting methane monitoring: (1) Quantification of strong point source emissions from the active face landfills that are difficult to capture by in situ monitoring or landfill models, (2) emissions that result from changes in landfill infrastructure (design, construction, and operations), and (3) unexpected large emissions from two organic waste management methods (composting and digesting) that were originally intended to help mitigate solid waste emissions. Our results show that remotely-sensed emission estimates reveal processes that are difficult to capture in biogas generation models. Furthermore, we find that airborne remote sensing provides an effective avenue to study the temporally changing dynamics of landfills. This capability will be further improved with future spaceborne imaging spectrometers set to launch in the 2020s.

Mercury transport and fate in municipal solid waste landfills and its implications

Article

Full-text available

Mar 2020
BIOGEOCHEMISTRY

Mercury (Hg) release and migration from municipal solid waste landfills has been an important issue to nearby ecosystems and human health. To completely understand the Hg biogeochemical cycle in landfills, this review presents the Hg emission processes via different pathways, related controlling mechanisms, and critical Hg transport and transformation processes involving the diffusion and advection of Hg, Hg volatilization, Hg adsorption and desorption, Hg redox reactions, and Hg methylation and demethylation. These critical physical, chemical, and biological processes result in the phase transfer of Hg and the distribution of different Hg species in landfill gas (LFG), leachates, and cover soils. In addition, key factors (e.g., LFG, meteorological conditions, cover soils, and vegetation) affecting Hg emission processes and their impacts are discussed here. This work provides a comprehensive picture of Hg behavior in landfills, and has positive implications for the development of a process-based model and the control of Hg emissions from landfills.

Waste Management Technology for Sustainable Agriculture: Waste Management

Chapter

Feb 2022

The process of collection, transport, disposal, recycling, and monitoring of wastes is called waste management. The waste management is undertaken to recycle the wastes so as to reduce the ill effects of wastes on environment, health, and aesthetics. There are several kinds of wastes produced such as agricultural wastes, municipal wastes, industrial waste, mining waste. Some wastes are more hazardous such as medical wastes and nuclear wastes. Various techniques are used for the management of wastes which includes landfilling, incineration, anaerobic digestion, pyrolysis, plasma gasification, recycling, composting. Anaerobic digestion produces biofuel in the form of biogas. Plasma gasification results in the generation of electricity from wastes. Recycling of wastes involves the collection, sorting, and reprocessing of wastes into new products. Vermicomposting is the preferred form of composting as it results in the formation of vermicompost called black gold due to the presence of rich nutrients and growth promoting factors in it.

Process simulation and comprehensive evaluation of a system of coal power plant coupled with waste incineration

Article

Sep 2020
WASTE MANAGE RES

The technology of coal power plant coupled with waste incineration is considered as a promising technology for fossil fuel conservation and waste disposal. In this paper, a system of coal power plant coupled with waste incineration is simulated by Aspen Plus software, and a conventional coal power plant is also simulated for comparison. Comprehensive evaluation including thermodynamic, economic and environmental impact performances are analysed and compared. Evaluation results indicate that the thermodynamic performance and environmental impact of the system of coal power plant coupled with waste incineration are worse, but the economic performance of the system is obviously better than the coal power plant. When the replacement ratio of waste is 20%, the energy and exergy efficiencies of the system are 38.54% and 37.27%, the internal rate of return and discounted payback period of the system are 21.83% and 9.14 years, and the environmental cost of the system is $3597.73 h-1. Therefore, the technology of coal power plant coupled with waste incineration has technical feasibility and economic advantages, and the environmental impacts need to be considered in the application of the technology.

A review on municipal solid waste as a renewable source for waste-to-energy project in India: Current practices, challenges, and future opportunities

Article

Jul 2020
J CLEAN PROD

Waste generation is steadily growing in developing countries such as India due to the continuous growth of industrialization, urbanization, and population. Mismanagement of municipal solid waste (MSW) not only has negative environmental effects but also causes the risk to public health and raises some other socio-economic issues that are worth discussions. Therefore, it is essential to urgently enhance the handling of waste collection, segregation, and safe disposal. Waste-to-energy (WtE) technologies such as pyrolysis, gasification, incineration, and biomethanation can convert MSW, as an appropriate source of renewable energy, into useful energy (electricity and heat) in safe and eco-friendly ways. This review aims at (1) describing the challenges of MSW management, (2) summarizing the health significance of MSW management, (3) explaining the opportunities and requirements of energy recovery from MSW through WtE technologies, (4) explaining several WtE technologies in detail, and (5) discussing the current status of WtE technologies in India. The paper also discusses the challenges to WtE projects in India. Moreover, a number of recommendations are provided for improving the currently implemented solid waste management (SWM) in the Indian context. This review has the potential of helping scholars, researchers, authorities, and stakeholders working on MSW management to make effective decisions.

Modern Waste Management Techniques - A Critical Review

Abstract

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