Energy recovery from municipal solid waste landfill for a sustainable circular economy in Danang City, Vietnam

Abstract

Sustainable development of Danang City in the direction of circular economy (CE) and a zero-waste city is an urgent solution because the impacts of local municipal solid waste (MSW) generation in the city’s districts are increasingly causing serious pressure for MSW management and treatment. Segregation of waste at source, reuse, recycling, and energy recovery from landfill gas (LFG) generated is considered as one of the keys to solving the dilemma of sustainable waste management. This study analyzed and evaluated the generation of greenhouse gases (GHGs), mainly CH4 and CO2 gases from the Khanh Son landfill based on the application of the EnLandFill software and assessed the potential of energy recovery, clean electricity generation, as well as GHG emission reduction in the period of 2021 – 2050 based on the CE-oriented scenario of the city government. With the potential to recover LFGs in the period of 2021 – 2050 could reach 136.9 million m3 (with efficiency E = 90%), the total annual potential value of electricity generation is estimated at 420.767 million kWh, equivalent to the total potential for GHGs emission reduction (GWP) about 271.25 thousand tCO2-eq. At the same time, this will be a baseline study to serve as the basis for extensive assessments and to suggest the most appropriate waste management strategies and policies create a circular economy in the future.