WtERT News & Events

According to the State of Garbage, in 2006, forty-six of the fifty states reported tonnage data for “recycled” (composted or mulched) organics, including yard trimmings and food residuals, and/or wood (non-C&D). The total tonnage of organics composted or mulched was 20,368,139 tons in 2006 [1]. This amount represented 5% of estimated Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) generated in the U.S. (387 million tons).

The statistical entropy (SE) function has been applied to waste treatment systems to account for dilution or concentration effects on metals. We later extended it to account for carbon flows, especially in waste management systems involving thermal treatment. Now, a simple lifecycle “net energy” metric – encompassing the “lost energy” that would have been gained when high-calorific materials are landfilled rather than combusted with energy recovery – is introduced to account for additional influxes of carbon when using landfilling as the primary disposal method. When combining net energy calculations and long terms effects of landfilling, waste to energy (WTE) becomes a more attractive option for dealing with non-recycled municipal solid waste (MSW). A greenhouse gasforcing factor is also introduced to account for the entropy generating effects of methane. When incorporating forcing and lost energy, WTE performs notably better than landfills with respect to entropy generation and carbon.

The city of Mumbai (Bombay), India is facing a solid waste management crisis. The infrastructure has been unable to keep pace with economic development and population growth, resulting in insufficient collection of municipal solid waste (MSW) and over-burdened dumps. Improper disposal of solid wastes over several decades and open burning of garbage have led to serious environmental pollution and health problems. This study examined the solid waste management process in Mumbai and the potential for implementation of waste-to-energy facilities.

By Nickolas J. Themelis Waste Management World, p. 37-44, July-August 2007 Global growth of traditional and novel thermal treatment technologies.

Italy is a European country with population of 58.5 million. It is divided into 20 regions that can be aggregated in three macro-geographical areas (North, Center and South). The generation of municipal solid wastes (MSW) in Italy in 2004 was 31.1 million metric tones. The source - separated collection of recyclables and compostables was 22.7% of the total MSW production. However, the situation is very different between the macro-geographical areas of Italy: the North has reached a value of 35.5%, the Center 18.3% and the South 8.1%.

Methane gas is a by-product of landfilling municipal solid wastes (MSW). Most of the global MSW is dumped in non-regulated landfills and the generated methane is emitted to the atmosphere. Some of the modern regulated landfills attempt to capture and utilize landfill biogas, a renewable energy source, to generate electricity or heat. As of 2001, there were about one thousand landfills collecting landfill biogas worldwide.

Renewable Energy, 2005
by Professor N.J. Themelis and Priscilla Ulloa
What is the potential for additional utilisation of landfill gas in the USA and around the world?