Waste Accumulation Problems and Opportunities

by Zoltan Kish (Lee Enterprises Consulting, Inc./Biofuels Digest) ... In 2016, the Ontario government released its Strategy for a Waste-Free Ontario [2], diverting our wasteful ways towards an entirely circular economy, but it doesn’t seem to be widely discussed. This strategy requires appropriate tools and an innovative approach to solving the tremendous waste accumulation problem. Particularly, after China stopped the import of foreign waste, the waste recycled facilities around the world cannot send recycled waste to China anymore, and municipalities are facing pileups of garbage, substantial extra costs and the risk of losing millions in revenue.

Under the new circumstance, some municipal governments could get out of the recycling business altogether, and the recycled waste will end up in the landfills and the energy in waste is mostly lost, creating mountains of trash, emitting harmful pollutants into our air, water, and soil. In landfills, the biodegradable components of garbage decompose and emit greenhouse gases (e.g., methane, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, ammonia), which increase global warming. Also, the toxic content of the waste contributes to landfill leachate, which eventually leaks and contaminates nearby ecosystems.

For example, depending on the waste plastic composition and level of contaminations, the plastic feedstock could be effectively converted into high-value products through pyrolysis and waste steam gasification technologies. If the plastic feedstock is clean and has an appropriate composition, pyrolysis can be applied to depolymerize plastic and convert it mostly into liquid fuel. The steam gasification reformation technology is more suitable for contaminated plastic waste conversion into high energy value syngas and hydrogen. Additionally, syngas can be converted into liquid fuels and green chemicals using Gas-to Liquid catalytic process.

The advanced and effective Waste-to-Energy technology applications in combination with a reliable scrubbing/cleaning system can provide a solution for biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste disposal, clean energy production, and sustainable product regeneration. The waste, potentially, can be converted into various forms of clean energy products, such as electricity, hydrogen, liquid synthetic fuels, and “green” chemicals. Trash can be a cost-effective and environmentally sound supply of clean energy source and replace a portion of fossil fuels. High quality liquid synthetic fuels without sulfur contamination can be produced from waste materials by a combination of a Waste-to-Gas technology with a Gas-to-Liquids technology based on the Fischer–Tropsch catalytic process.

In a circular economy advanced emerging waste conversion technologies (e.g., Waste-to-Energy, Waste-to-Gas, and Gas-to-Liquids technologies) can play a pivotal role in waste disposal. Efficient waste conversion technology applications can be a path to a working circular economy. Recycling is not only based on simple reusing the waste products. The purpose of recycling is to redesign and convert waste into forms retaining as high value as possible in a circular economy. Contaminated waste products are challenging to recycle and reuse. Garbage can be converted into high-value products through mechanical/physical, thermochemical, and biochemical processes. The waste can be transformed into various forms of sustainable and clean energy products utilizing effective waste conversion technologies in the circular economy [9].

Regrettably, the underlying scientific/technical basis of the business is often neglected. As a result of this, enormous and overpriced Waste-to-Energy facilities were built producing very little energy from waste. Investors (e.g., in CleanTech sectors) often make an investment decision based on shallow scientific claims, optimistic financial and psychological factors as a consequence of that the basic science of the technology is not adequately evaluated. In addition to financial data and management of the company, the underlying scientific/technology base of the business should be considered. Science is supposed to be an essential pillar of the successful and sustainable business. The success of waste conversion technology applications depend on the following main factors: READ MORE