Mechanical-biological treatment of municipal solid waste: Case study of 100 TPD Goa plant, India

Abstract

A long-term feasibility analysis of a 100 ton per day mechanical biological treatment (MBT) plant for municipal solid waste (MSW) valorization and material and energy recovery was carried out. It involves the material recovery and segregation stage (MRSS), organic extraction (pulping), thermophilic anaerobic digestion (AD), composting, effluent treatment plant (ETP), and biogas genset stages producing: 11.90% recyclables, 33% refused derived fuel (RDF), 5% compost of total waste received, 70 m3/day recyclable water and 0.435 MWh/day electricity. The biogas and methane yield were 0.535 and 0.350 m3/kg VSadded (avg.), respectively, with 40% VS removal (avg total solids (TS) 10%). Less than 3% (inert) of total waste received was subjected to landfill disposal. The MBT plant's revenue generation is 995 US$ per day/148 tons ($ 6.72/ton) waste processed. The gross OPEX is 24 US$/ton making the net OPEX of 17 US$/ton (minus revenue), which could be considered as the excellent OPEX for MSW based MBT plants as per global benchmarks. Further, local usage of RDF can significantly reduce the OPEX to 14 US$/ton, as almost 16% of the OPEX goes towards RDF disposal to cement companies located at a distance of 200–500 km from the MBT plant site. As per LCA study, the total GHG emissions have been calculated to be −25.68 tons CO2 eq./100 tons MSW. The negative emissions result from the export of electricity, compost, and RDF as well as recycling of paper and plastic products. Our study presents a cutting-edge scenario of all-inclusive recycling, recovery, and reuse loop of MSW direly required for accomplishing a circular economy.