Energy Recovery from Waste—Closing the Municipal Loop

Emilia den Boer, Kamil Banaszkiewicz, Jan den Boer and Iwona Pasiecznik
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Emilia den Boer: Faculty of Environmental Engineering, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, 50-370 Wroclaw, Poland
Kamil Banaszkiewicz: Faculty of Environmental Engineering, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, 50-370 Wroclaw, Poland
Jan den Boer: Department of Applied Bioeconomy, Faculty of Life Sciences and Technology, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, 51-630 Wroclaw, Poland
Iwona Pasiecznik: Faculty of Environmental Engineering, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, 50-370 Wroclaw, Poland

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 3, 1-20

Abstract: Municipal waste management in the EU has been challenged to a thorough transformation towards a Circular Economy. It is addressed by a number of quantitative policy targets, including a restriction on municipal waste landfilling to 10% in 2035. This paper presents the data on municipal waste composition in a large Polish city, based on thorough waste sorting analyses. On average, 374 kg of municipal waste is collected per capita in Wroclaw, of which 41% are separately collected fractions. The approach to implement the EU recycling targets until 2035 is presented, including an increase of sorting and recycling efficiency and a significant share of recyclables being retrieved from the residual waste fraction. Notwithstanding the recycling targets, an important stream of residual waste remains, amounting to 200 k ton in 2020 and approx. 130 k ton in 2035, which is available for energy recovery. The respective LHV values range from 8.5 to 7.6 MJ/kg. The results indicate that the residual waste stream, after satisfying the recycling targets, is still suitable for energy recovery through the whole period until 2035. Moreover, it is a necessary step towards closing the materials cycling in the municipal sector and the only option so far to reduce landfilling sufficiently.

Keywords: municipal waste; circular economy; energy recovery; waste-to-energy; waste composition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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