Prospective application of municipal solid wastes for energy production in Portugal

Abstract

Municipal solid waste (MSW) collection and disposal is a major urban environment issue in the world today. MSW management solutions have to be technologically feasible, legally and socially acceptable and environmentally and financially sustainable. European policy is pushing for a rational management of natural resources; a promising technological perspective today is waste valorisation, a process that involves sorting at the source, combined with material recycling and waste-to-energy conversion. In this paper, we analyze the evolution of the Portuguese MSW management system, criticize the environmental policy issues for MSW management in Portugal and identify weak points in the criteria used for the technologies selection. Portugal is facing multiple problems with MSW management and is attempting to tackle them by passing legislation in order to improve the performance of waste management systems. At the technological level, gasification increasingly presents as an efficient and viable alternative to incineration. Gasification is a waste-to-energy conversion scheme that offers an attractive solution to both waste disposal and energy problems. Waste gasification by plasma has been validated but the economic viability of this technology must be proven before to be accepted by the industry.