Solid waste management professionals are certainly not ignorant of the need to reduce, reuse and recycle (in that order). Even after we have done the waste sorting (whether at an individual household level or centrally in a Mechanical-Biological Treatment (MBT) Plant), there is a limited number of ways to treat the sorted waste.

Biological waste should be treated in anaerobic facilities to produce biogas and fertiliser. Certain plastics (eg PET bottles) have recycled value and should be separately sold. The rest of plastics can be chemically recycled or turned into RDF (refuse derived fuel). Metals should of course be separated and recycled, while inerts such as glass should be separated where possible.

But there will always be a significant residue that can't be recycled in any way. Incineration is probably the best option for this residue and electricity can be generated at the same time.

Johnny Stuen explains all this in this article. And in fact, this is what Singapore will be doing with our upcoming Tuas Nexus WTE plant and proposed chemical recycling plant. See links in comments.

The reality is that there is no perfect way to deal with the stuff we dispose. We are in the realm of finding least-bad solutions. We need to reduce our consumption and the amount of rubbish we generate. What we throw, pls sort and avoid contamination.

"Asked how municipal waste can be reused for the benefit of people who produce it and society at large, he says direct reuse is the simplest and best, but also very hard to achieve. Next would be being able to recycle the materials directly without too much processing – but that is hard to achieve, and to find the right places and applications. Biological waste is best treated anaerobically, producing biogas and fertiliser. That biogas can be transformed into other useful gases/chemicals or used as a fuel.

“Then, when we have recycled and treated these fractions, we have a residual that is too dirty, too mixed and too polluted to recycle. It is best recovered as energy, both electrical and as heat,” says Stuen. “There are many ways to do this, and more innovative solutions come up now, especially in an energy crisis as we are seeing today.”"

"“Using the biogas instead of diesel or replacing fossil methane is very sound, and reusing the residual waste as energy gives very good results in these directions. If we can reuse the materials directly or recycle them without using too much energy, that must be done first. For that, the development of robust and precise sorting technology is very important. The sorting technology must be developed much more and put in front of biological treatment and WTE,” says Stuen."

Shlomo Dowen via groups.io Fri, 3 Feb, 14:20to SIRAG, UKWINhttps://www.mrw.co.uk/news/scottish-review-calls-for-end-to-plastic-incineration-03-02-2023/Scottish review calls for end to plastic incineration

03 FEBRUARY, 2023 BY DANIEL BOSLEY COMMENT

An independent review into the decarbonisation of Scotland’s residual waste infrastructure has recommended an end to plastic incineration.

The second report into the role of incineration in the country’s waste hierarchy, chaired by former Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM) chief executive Colin Church, said that keeping plastic out of incinerators was key to meeting climate targets.

“Incineration remains a more climate-friendly method of managing residual waste than traditional landfill, and more practical than any other currently available approach,” he said. “However, without further action, this advantage will erode over a relatively short time.

”Church’s first report, released in May last year, led to the Scottish government’s decision to ban new energy-from-waste (EfW) plants in the country, noting that an excess in infrastructure capacity was likely.

Wales had introduced a moratorium on new EfW plants above 10MW in 2021 but calls for similar measures in England have been rejected by the Government.

The review’s second Stop, Sort, Burn, Bury? report, released today, examined ways in which the impact of incineration can be reduced as Scotland transitions to a more circular economy.

In addition to an end to plastic incineration by 2030, it also recommended reducing plastic production and use, and promoting segregation of plastic and its removal from ‘black bag’ (residual) waste. Modelling provided by Eunomia showed that advanced sorting could cut direct emissions in half.

The review identifies carbon capture and storage as among the most feasible options for decarbonising the sector, as well as using heat from incinerators for heating homes and businesses where possible.

Schemes in England and Wales have sought to encourage integration of EfW plants with district heat networks, which is a more common practice in Europe.

Noting that heat networks can be “expensive and controversial to construct”, and should not be used as a reason to build an incinerator, the report said their role can still be beneficial for existing facilities.

It also proposed that emissions reporting from incineration be changed, having found that many emissions are not actually attributed to the waste sector, leading to “perverse incentives” for decision makers.

It found no evidence that biostabilisation of biodegradable waste was likely to be a major solution for Scotland and it also called for a reduction in plastic exports.

Podcast: UKWIN on over capacity, why CCS won't work and whether you're right to say energy recovery

https://www.endswasteandbioenergy.com/article/1805684/ukwin-capacity-why-ccs-wont-work-whether-youre-right-say-energy-recovery