A Quali-Quantitative Comparison between In Situ and Ex Situ Waste-to-Energy Processes in Terms of Local and Global Impacts

Luca Adami and Marco Schiavon ()
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Luca Adami: Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, University of Trento, Via Mesiano 77, 38123 Trento, Italy
Marco Schiavon: Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment (DAFNAE), University of Padua, Via dell’Università 16, 35020 Legnaro, Italy

Resources, 2022, vol. 11, issue 10, 1-11

Abstract: Despite the improvements made in recent decades on the emission control of waste combustion plants, the chronically low public acceptance still influences the strategical choices of local authorities, who may decide to export waste to other regions instead of treating waste locally in a waste-to-energy (WtE) plant. The present paper proposes a method to identify a more sustainable solution between local waste treatment and the export of waste. To do this, two waste-management scenarios were compared: (1) an in situ WtE scenario, considering a WtE plant in a region of about 500,000 inhabitants; and (2) an ex situ WtE scenario, considering the road transportation of waste to a WtE plant located in another region. This method yields an estimation of the maximum distance that trucks may cover to balance the emissions of the air pollutants released in the in situ WtE scenario. The methodology is based on the COPERT emission model and on emission factors of WtE processes. The results show that the maximum distance is limited by the emissions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by road trucks. Finally, the paper discusses the results considering the energy efficiency of WtE processes and proposes alternative WtE strategies to increase the level of public acceptance.

Keywords: waste incineration; air pollution; energy recovery; emissions; road transportation; environmental assessment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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