Potential of Waste to Energy Conversion in Egypt

Abstract

This paper proposes a study on the potential of waste-to-energy (WTE) possibility in the Arab Republic of Egypt. WTE is a viable option for municipal solid waste (MSW) management and a renewable energy source. The issue of waste spread is a chronic environmental challenge in the Arab Republic of Egypt. The MSW practices in Egypt are simply done by collecting the waste and dumping it in open landfill sites. This research aims to assess the potential contribution of the WTE facility to meet electricity demand in Cairo City, which is Egypt’s capital and the biggest city in population as a sample, and then apply the results to all of Egypt. The paper introduced a step-by-step calculation for the electrical power that can be generated from Cairo MSW. Four scenarios for WTE utilization were developed: Mass Burn without any waste processing, Mass Burn with 25% recycling, Mass Burn excluding 50% of organic material, and Mass Burn excluding 50% of organic material with 25% recycling. The Mass Burn scenario implies full MSW stream incineration; the Mass Burn with recycling scenario considers a partial separation of reusable materials and the waste leftover for incineration; the Mass Burn with excluding 50% of organic material scenario considers a partial separation of organic materials and the waste leftover for incineration; the Mass Burn with excluding 50% of organic material with 25% recycling scenario considers a partial separation of organic materials and partial separation of reusable materials and the waste leftover for incineration. The analyses were done for the period 2011–2031 for Cairo with a total population of about 10 million in Nov 2021. The results show the huge potential of WTE conversion as a source of renewable energy, which is a key factor in Egypt’s sustainable development strategy 2030. Available data have been theoretically processed to show the decision-makers in Egypt the amount of electrical power that can be generated by using the WTE options to manage the MSW in Egypt.