Case Study: Regional Supply of Fuel to Cement Industry – Evalutaion of a Regional Waste Treatment

Abstract

In 2005, 49 million tonnes of municipal solid waste (MSW) were incinerated in conventional incineration plants (CWI-plants) in Europe. There are, however, alternatives to treating solid waste in CWI-plants. By treating the solid waste in a mechanical-biological treatment plant (MBT-plant) or in a mechanical treatment plant (MT-plant) the solid waste can be sorted into fractions of combustible matter, inert matter and metals. The sorted combustible matter (refuse-derived fuel, RDF) can be used for co-incineration in e.g. cement kilns. This study comprises an environmental economic evaluation of treatment of solid waste in a CWI-plant or treatment in a MBT-plant or a MT-plant, followed by incineration of produced RDF at a regional cement industry. The evaluation was made with an evaluation method, in which criteria were quantified or valuated. The aim of this study was to identify the economic and environmental effects of a regional treatment of solid waste. The study shows that a treatment of solid waste in a MT-plant is the best scenario from an environmental economical point of view, while a treatment and incineration in a CWI-plant is the worst scenario. The study clearly shows that KSRR and the environment has a lot to gain if the treatment of solid waste in the future is changed from treatment and incineration in a CWI-plant to a treatment in a MT-plant, where produced RDF is incinerated at the regional cement industry. It also shows that treatment in a MBT-plant or a MT-plant follows the waste hierarchy to a better extent, compared to treatment and incineration in a CWI-plant.