Importance of Waste Management in Sustainable Energy Projects for Modern Cities

The annual generation of solid waste in India as in 2015, was estimated to be around 42 million tonnes. The gigantic waste has risen rapidly in cities owing to considerable population growth, urbanization and other factors. Municipal solid waste (MSW) generation varies between 0.25 to 0.66 kg/person/day according to Anis M. D, Siddiqui in his research report titled Waste to Energy: A Green Paradigm in Solid Waste Management -2015.

A staggering amount of solid and liquid wastes are generated by several industries that are then led into landfills and water bodies. Without treatment, these wastes emit Methane (CH4), Carbon Dioxide (CO2) leading to extremely bad odor, release of harmful green house gases and huge air and water pollution. Environment-friendly waste-to-energy technologies can mitigate the above scenario through systematic treatment of wastes before disposal, reducing the quantity of wastes while also generating sustainable energy.

Material Recovery for Waste Disposal

The problems connected with improper waste disposal can be eliminated significantly by material recovery. If there is systematic source separation of inert as well as high moisture content fractions, the potential for thermal recovery and other treatment options is greatly increased. Waste-to-energy technologies generate a substantial amount of energy, recover materials and even reduce landfills used for dumping. The introduction and implementation of waste to energy technologies depends on location, climate, demographics and several socioeconomic factors in India.

Popular Waste to Energy Technologies and Impact

The most popular waste to energy technology for residual waste makes use of immediate combustion with heat and power.

• Energy can be recovered from organic fraction of waste through thermo-chemical conversion and bio-chemical conversion
• Thermo-chemical conversion processes can treat wastes containing high organic non-biodegradable matter and extremely low moisture content. The main options for WTE (waste to energy) include Incineration and Pyrolysis/ Gasification.
• Bio-chemical conversion processes work for wastes that include high organic bio-degradable matter and huge moisture/ water content. Anaerobic Digestion is a popular method of waste to energy management here.
• Waste to Energy offers a clean and renewable source of energy, recovering latent energy present in solid or liquid waste through adoption of an accurate and suitable waste processing and treatment methods.
• The total quantity of waste is lowered by nearly 60% – 90% depending on the composition and technology used for processing and treatment
• With waste to energy, there is reduced demand for land used for land filling of waste.
• The cost of transportation involved of carrying waste to landfills is reduced.
• Huge reduction in environmental pollution.
• Along with power generation from waste, the slurry generated from the waste to energy processes deliver an efficient fertilizer
• Landfill waste forms landfill gas after collection, which can be converted into diverse sources of energy for different applications, replacing natural gas, vehicle fuel, steam, electricity and the like.

Implementing waste to energy in modern cities for sustainable energy projects

By encouraging communities in Indian cities for proper waste management, one can derive several benefits. Proper recycling of waste leads to cleaner rivers and better water sources for consumption. The waste dumped by industries into rivers and seas has led to the decline in population of animals and has contaminated multiple drinking water sources. Proper waste management and treatment can generate renewable energy with a clean and healthier ecosystem, boosting quality of life in all places.

With the process of anaerobic digestion, enough power could be generated to electrify homes and will bring down the costs involved too. Constant power outages will be non-existent, with communities being an integral part of consistent supply of sustainable and renewable energy sources.

Wate to energy can lead to jobs creation for many people in every community, reducing unemployment rates. The diminishing landfills can free up valuable land, improve air quality, and decrease bad odor too.

Urban cities worldwide are catching up

New York is now keen on implementing ways to transform waste into energy. One can witness several similar trends being replicated worldwide as many people realize the need for such transformative processes for building a sustainable future.

Waste combustion and its integrated solutions can bring down huge modern city problems by recovering otherwise lost energy and conserving limited natural resources used for energy. Cut down greenhouse gas emissions, save valuable land from becoming landfills and recover it from blatant consumerism. With waste to energy, going green for urban centers is possible and highly important for achieving ecological balance.

Contact Ankur Scientific for some efficient waste management and processing solutions and gasification systems that could help you gain valuable energy sources while free up existing natural resources.