Financial Analysis of Renewal Waste Treatment System with Hydrothermal Technology (A Case Study in Waste to Zero Project in a Cement Industry)

Abstract

To decrease the amount of solid waste in Gresik city, a solid waste processing machine was installed in final disposal sites. One of the machine products, Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF), a kind of biomass that can be used as coal substitute in cement plants. This program will be implemented successfully if RDF is produced continually and also has lower moisture. The initial design of the machine yielded 3.3 tonnes of RDF per hour with 10% moisture content and caloric value more than 4800 kcal/ kg. Nonetheless, for subsequent process, the machine could produce only 3 tonnes of RDF per day with a significant increase of moisture content (around 30%) and caloric value less than 4800 kcal/ kg. This problem might appear due to the existence of impurity (sand, gravel) in RDF and waste in the wet condition. According to this issue, an alternative technology that could be applied to fix the problems is hydrothermal technology. To execute this idea, a feasibility study should be assessed, especially related to the financial aspect. The assessment would be analyzed by using calculation how much opportunity cost generated from substitution of coal with RDF, Net Present Value (NPV), Payback Period (PBP), and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) against Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC). The financial analysis shows that a renewal waste treatment system with hydrothermal technology could improve RDF production capacity and maximize the profit.