Incineration is a “waste treatment technology that utlises the combustion (burning) of organic materials at high temperatures and in a plentiful supply of air. Incineration and other high temperature waste treatment systems are described as “thermal treatment”.

Incineration of waste materials converts the waste into incinerator bottom ash, flue gases, particulates, and heat, which can in turn be used to generate electric power.

How does an incinerator generate electricity?

The heat from the incinerator generates steam in a boiler, and that steam is then fed into a turbine manufacturing as much as a hundred MW of electricity. A high stack, fan, or steam jet supplied from the boiler provides a draft to feed air into the process. The combustion takes place and the flue gases are cleaned of contaminants before they are dispersed in the atmosphere.

Did you also know that?

All waste incinerators in Europe must now be approved to be permitted to operate, and the owner/operator has to get and keep their licence which can be removed at any point by the Environmental Regulator if the flue gasses emitted surpass the authorized levels.

Incineration with energy recovery is an example of many waste-to-energy ( WtE ) technologies like gasification, plasma arc gasification, pyrolysis and anaerobic digestion which are classed as renewable energy helping to reduce climate change. Incineration could also be implemented without energy and materials recovery but this is quite rare in Europe now.

What Will We Do When All the Landfills Get Full?

Well if we do nothing we will suffer from ill health and diseases spread by rotting materials and decay around us once there is nowhere to take the waste.

In numerous areas in many countries the landfill sites are virtually full so that the Council’s waste management staff are contemplating beginning a waste management scheme that may include an incinerator.

We must find alternative ways to get rid of our rubbish without using landfill, otherwise diseases from rats and other decay will happen when the waste has to be left lying around.

Secret to What Mechanical Biological Treatment Plants Do?

They help to minimise waste, segregate waste, and treat it to as far as possible avoid sending organic based Municipal Soild Waste to landfills.

The best Mechanical Biological Treatment Plants Do Not burn the waste.

There many new ideas to discover in the new Waste Technologies. Find out more about what Mechanical Biological Treatment Plants are, plus you will learn about many other types of waste technology. These exciting new technologies will help ensure a sustainable future for society, and the health of future generations.

The only way it is possible to define the zero waste philosophy is to study the schemes which describe themselves as zero waste projects around the world.

However, let me make it clear, nowhere that I know of does it mean literally “zero waste” to landfill. As I said, this is a term coined by politicians rather than waste management engineers.

The “Zero Waste” or “No Waste” goals in the places which were studied by the Green Alliance in 2006, were found to mean in effect no un-recycled waste, and not much more.

Yes, most are articulated as Zero Waste to landfill, however, none of the places in question at that time seemed to be planning an increase in incineration for example, which would reduce the waste tonnage greatly, and some appear to have ruled it out (Canberra, Kamikatusu, New Zealand, Philippines) citing negative public opinion.

Some of the Zero Waste goals have target dates attached (Kamikatsu, Japan, 2020; New Zealand, 2020; San Francisco 2020). For others, “Zero Waste” provides a notional target with some interim targets (Bath, Philippines).

Canberra’s target of no waste by 2010 is acknowledged to mean in practice 95 per cent diversion from landfill.

Those municipalities espousing zero waste will nevertheless be some of the highest recycling rate achievers, and studies appear to show recycling rates are and will be raised to between 37 per cent and 80 per cent

The experience of a Flanders, France experience was thought in 2006 to indicate that household recycling rates of 60 per cent ought to be obtainable in the UK with the right mix of instruments – although until the new UK government was elected in May 2010, it was expected that local authorities would be allowed to charge householders extra for non-recycled (black bag) waste, as way to achieve these high goals. However, the Conservative/Liberal Coalition has already announced that no such an incentive will be allowed by the new UK Government.

A common feature to many of the Zero Waste targeted schemes is rigorous source separation and collection of recyclables, but so far, in no case, does this appear to be mandatory.

In many places zero waste recycling is driven by pricing of landfill (Bath, Canberra, Flanders, New Zealand) and variable charging of householders (Flanders, San Francisco).

All case studies assume that good markets will exist from now onward for most recyclates, although some will always be awkwardly distant (China and India). So, this raises questions as to whether the goal of zero waste is sustainable, in a market sense, or whether recycling will continue to suffer from the recessionary effect on China’s need for imported secondary materials.

The notions of designing out waste, changing the nature of products and making producers responsible for the consequences of wasteful consumption are still not really on the agenda for zero waste advocates, but shouldn’t they be?

Beyond European or European-style agreements on recycling of packaging and WEEE, there seems little real appetite for imposing more biting producer responsibility. The “Cradle to Cradle” concepts of beneficial products and continual recycling of biological and non-renewable materials are being developed, but are not yet necessarily a part of the Zero Waste philosophy in many places.

The UK is well investing heavily to take a lead on waste prevention with large amounts of landfill tax money being channelled into bodies such as WRAP, Envirowise, BREW, and the Centre for Sustainable Design. Let’s hope they will soon be able to produce some truly ground-breaking ideas and initiatives to actually achieve close to what the public must think the politicians and the waste industry mean by zero waste..

Underpinning the philosophy of zero waste is an aspiration for continuous improvement that goes beyond being compliant with legislation, targets or contracts. While practically delivering zero waste is a significant challenge, the desire to do more and do it better is perhaps the most important lesson we can draw from these case studies.

Zero waste had been portrayed as utopian and undeliverable, yet getting as close to it as possible is worth striving for, and the zero waste concept is already delivering results. Let’s hope the backwash from the press and media, and the public when they realise that most of the landfills will stay open, is not too great.

Visit the web-site: www.green-alliance.org.uk .

“Pay as you throw” charges for household waste have been ruled out by Communities Secretary Eric Pickles.

Plans to let English councils pilot schemes which would charge or reward people according to the waste thrown out had been drawn up by Labour.

But councils shunned the trials, aimed at cutting landfill, and Mr Pickles said the government backed rewarding people for recycling instead.

Labour said it should be up to councils to choose how to collect waste.

The UK must reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill by nearly two-thirds by 2020 to meet EU targets.
‘Bin tax’

Government says No! To bin tax.

Powers to allow five councils in England to trial the scheme from April 2009 were included in the Climate Change Act – but none applied, saying they had not been told how it would operate.

Critics said the “bin tax” idea could encourage fly-tipping and prompt people to burn rubbish at home.

You should treat people with respect instead of having a bunch of bin inspectors

Eric Pickles Communities Secretary

Mr Pickles has effectively ruled out a charging scheme, instead backing a recycling reward scheme pioneered by Windsor and Maidenhead council in Berkshire.

Households in the borough – which Mr Pickles visited on Monday to draw attention to the scheme – are being awarded points for the amount they recycle, which can be redeemed at shops, restaurants and leisure centres, or donated to schools.

Mr Pickles said the scheme had increased recycling by 35% and an incentive-based approach was more effective than taxes or fines in reducing the amount of rubbish sent to landfill sites.

“You should treat people with respect instead of having a bunch of bin inspectors, bin police,” Mr Pickles told BBC Radio 4′s The World at One.

Incentivising people was the quickest way to increase recycling levels, which he said would be badly needed if the UK was to meet its target of becoming “one of the green economies of Europe”.

“It does not put the costs up,” he added. “Actually what it does is it increases the recycling rate and puts money into the local economy.”

Windsor and Maidenhead council is inviting more than 60,000 households to join its RecycleBank service from Monday.

Councillor Liam Maxwell said: “Paying the public to recycle works. It increases recycling rates, reduces our environmental impact, reduces council tax and helps local businesses.

More at BBC News.

Here is our Waste Separation Technology list:

1. Screeners are sifting units that are rotated as powder is fed into their interior.
2. Air classifiers, cones or cyclones use the spiral air flow action or acceleration within a chamber to separate or classify solid particles
3. Concentrating tables or density separators screen bulk materials or minerals based on the density (specific gravity), size and shape of the particles.
4. Electrostatic separators use preferential ionization or charging of particles to separate conductors from dielectrics (non conductors).
5. Floatation systems separate hydrophobic particulates from hydrophilic particulates by passing fine air bubbles up through a solid- liquid mixture. The fine bubbles attach to and lift or float the hydrophobic particles up where they are collected.
6. Magnetic separators use powerful magnetic fields to separate iron, steel, ferrosilicon or other ferromagnetic materials from non-magnetic bulk materials. The magnetic field may be generated by permanent magnets or electromagnets.
7. Rake, spiral and bowl classifiers use mechanical action to dewater, deslime or separate coarse bulk materials from finer materials or liquids.
8. Trommels are large rotary drums shaped with a grate-like surface with large openings to separate very coarse materials from bulk materials, e.g. coarse plastics from fine aluminium.
9. Water classifiers such as elutriators and classifying hydrocyclones use settling or flow in water or a liquid to separate or classify powdered materials based on particle size or shape.

This type of equipment is normally found in Labs and in Industrial use – in wheelie bins.

Similar intentions have been in place in Scotland for somewhat longer.

The next step will be additional regulations to limit the use of landfill, because the intent is to do much better than current EU wide legislation and targets on waste diversion from landfill.

UK government funded organisation WRAP has funded a newly published report which proposes landfill bans for England and Wales, and UK organisations and residents are being given the opportunity to comment on these ideas right now.

WRAP’s vision is a world without waste, where resources are used sustainably. In their own words; they work with businesses and individuals to help them reap the benefits of reducing waste, develop sustainable products and use resources in an efficient way.

They certainly believe that by limiting or stopping various materials being sent to landfill there would be a net positive effect of these so called “landfill bans” both in the short term to our economy, but also, and in the end more importantly reducing emissions and making our world much more sustainable.

The Waster wonders about the possible negative effects on industry of landfill bans if the way that businesses can use materials becomes much much heavily restricted by the methods allowed for its disposal. Clearly, we have already moved a long way down that road, and no new principles would be established by this, but it is a matter of degree, and at some point our entrepreneurial spirit may be badly affected. In other words when does reasonably “a can do” culture turn into “too difficult” for those people and busineses with ideas, the courage and the spirit, to set up new manufacturing endeavours.

It is reported that climate change benefits and resource efficiency gains are likely to be greatest where landfill bans are coupled with a requirement to sort materials;

The report writers have selected the wastes for which these gains seem most likely to be achieved whilst delivering net benefits to society are:

For more information got to; WRAP report Landfill Bans: Feasibility Research

For organisaions and interreested individuals to comment to Defra on the report; Go to Consultation on the introduction of restrictions on the landfilling of certain wastes.

Also – Why not give us your comment, as well?

Renewable Energy Assurance Ltd., a part of the clean energy organisation known as the Renewable Energy Association, administers the Scheme, and has chosen 2 independent Certifying Bodies to appraise plants fairly against the standard.

A Panel with an independent Chair controls the Scheme and its rules, and makes sure that it’s working in the best interests of the users of biofertiliser, that it protects the environment and guarantees human, animal and plant health.

The Biofertiliser Certification scheme has been set up to provide guarantee to customers, farmers, food producers and shops that biofertiliser produced from anaerobic digestion processes is safe and of a high quality.

Biofertiliser is the name adopted for quality digestate materials produced when anaerobic digestion processes break down organic material left over from food and farm processes. By certifying the digestate materials produced by the AD process against a severe standard, plant operators can supply farmers with the mandatory confidence they have to use it safely to their land. In this fashion, farmers gain a valuable source of organic, carbon-free fertilizer.

The Quality Protocol element of the scheme effectively outlines what are sufficient inputs into the Anaerobic Digestion process, assesses if the input materials are treated in a production process that’s as per the PAS110 Standard, assesses whether the digestate produced is as per parameters laid down in the PAS110 standard and outlines the records that have to be generated and kept as proof of compliance to the conditions laid down in the protocol.

One of the primary needs of the protocol is to define when a waste material stops being a waste material and becomes a non-waste product.

A plant desiring to take part in making quality digestate must show conformity with the Quality Protocol and this is usually demonstrated by authentication by an authorized controlling body. ( In Britain and Wales this could be one of several. )

The PAS110 part of the scheme outlines the minimum conditions in which the input materials should be treated and sufficient parameter boundaries for items such pH and heavy metals. PAS is the short name for Publicly Available Standard, while 110 outlines which standard it complies with.

Visit the UK Biofertiliser web site for more information.

Waste Matchers – the re-use project – has announced a new service called the SMILE Network.

The SMILE Network encourages collaboration between businesses through networking events in order to save costs and help the environment.

At these events, businesses can offer items such as surplus products, byproducts, reusable items, office/warehouse space or logistics and acquire similar items from other businesses. All items offered will be either free of charge or below market value.

The first event will take place on 25th March 2010 at the Oriel House Hotel, Ballincollig, Co. Cork (9.00-14.00).

Funded by South Cork Enterprise Board, this event is free of charge and open to business from the majority of sectors.

For more information – including event Programme and Booking Form – Waste Matchers

The Measure, which is being driven by Environment Minister Jane Davidson, will enable Wales to adopt much more sustainable waste management practices, will support the Welsh Assembly Government’s work to introduce a mandatory charge for carrier bags and will be key to helping the Welsh Assembly Government achieve the ambitions sets out in its new waste strategy ‘Towards Zero Waste’.

Speaking after a recent visit to the Hermon Civic Amenity & Recycling Centre in Pembrokeshire the Minister said:

“The way that we manage waste and protect our environment is critical to the future of Wales.

“If successful the Waste Measure will enable us to achieve the ambitions set out in our strategy ‘Towards Zero Waste’ – that is becoming a high recycling country by 2025 and a zero waste country by 2050.

“We all know that landfill is the most environmentally damaging option for waste. The Measure will allow us to ban certain materials from landfill and ensure that we significantly increase our recycling rates. It will also support our work to introduce a mandatory charge for carrier bags.

“The Measure will drive us towards waste management practices that are much more sustainable and help us to reduce both our our ecological and carbon footprints.”

The Waste Measure covers four main areas:

* It will enable the Welsh Assembly Government to ban or restrict specified kinds of waste from landfill.
* It will provide the Welsh Ministers with the powers to set statutory targets for the percentage of municipal waste that local authorities recycle or compost, as well as provide the power to impose financial penalties on local authorities failing to meet those targets.
* It will provide the Welsh Ministers with the power to introduce fees and charging schemes for Site Waste Management Plans relating to the Construction and Demolition sector in Wales.
* And finally it will support the Welsh Assembly Government’s work to introduce a mandatory charge for carrier bags and will enable the Welsh Ministers to ensure, should the voluntary agreement with retailers fail to deliver satisfactory outcomes, that retailers pass the revenue raised from the carrier bag charge on to specified environmental projects. The proposed carrier bag charge is due to come into force in spring 2011.

From the Irish Times, 11 February 2010

WASTE CONTRACTS worth tens of millions of Euro are to be offered to private landfill operators by the four Dublin local authorities when the last Dublin regional landfill closes at the end of this year.

Almost all residual household waste collected in Dublin will be in the hands of private waste companies following the closure of the landfill at Arthurstown, near Kill, Co Kildare, next December.

The landfill, which accepts 600,000 tonnes of municipal waste per annum was due to close in 2007. An Bord Pleanála granted an extension of the facility until December 21st, 2010, but no further deposits of household waste will be permitted after this date.

It was initially envisaged there would be a short time lag between the closure of Arthurstown and the opening of the Poolbeg incinerator, and that during this period waste would be sent to the planned landfill at Nevitt, near Lusk, a Fingal local authority area.

However, while the Lusk facility was granted planning permission last year following protracted Bord Pleanála hearings on the case held on three occasions over two years, it still has not been granted an operating licence from the Environmental Protection Agency. The Poolbeg incinerator will not be operational until 2013 at the earliest. and the region’s local authorities have no other facilities to deal with household waste under their control.

They are now in a position where they will have run out of landfill space at the end of the year, and apart from small amounts of capacity in neighbouring county council landfill facilities, they will have to seek tenders from the private sector to deal with waste.

Dublin City Council has in the last week advertised for interested parties to enter into talks on the processing of up to 350,000 tonnes of waste annually.

While contracts have not yet been put out to tender, a source close to the council has said they are likely to be worth tens of millions of euro for the three years until the Poolbeg incinerator is scheduled to open. More here.

A European Commission study published on 1 February 2010 counsels setting up a dedicated European body to oversee the execution and enforcement of ECU waste law. The study is a part of a collection of steps being taken by the Commission to enhance waste management and guarantee it meets the standards set by ECU legislation to guard voters and the environment.

Illegal discarding of waste continues on a big scale, many landfill sites are sub-standard and in some Member States basic waste infrastructure is still missing. Illegal waste shipments are also a concern.

A second report made public today explains nearly one 5th of waste shipments checked as an element of recent enforcement actions in Member States were illegal. Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas expounded :

“Compliance with ECU legislation is crucial if we are to reach the overarching objective of ECU waste legislation, which is to offer protection to the health of European voters and the environment. We must look at all the options, including setting up an ECU agency or body which could enable ECU legislation to supply the maximum advantages for voters, the environment and the ECU economy.”

Study counsels dedicated agency to apply waste law Overseeing the safe and environmentally sound management of waste is one of the most significant environmental challenges facing the EU today. A projected 2.6 bill tons of waste is generated in the EU every year about 90 million tons of this is filed as unsafe.

The study broadcast today counsels setting up a dedicated agency at ECU level to take on the fundamental issues of poor implementation and enforcement of European waste legislation.

The size of the issue has grown in recent times following increases in waste generated and shipped in the enlarged ECU . In 2008, the European Parliament adopted a resolution encouraging the Commission to report on the viability of creating a “Community environmental inspection force”. The agency would carry out a number of jobs like reviews of enforcement systems in Member States, coordinated controls and inspection activities. This would be mixed with the making of a particular European body answerable for direct inspections and controls of facilities and sites in major cases of failure to comply.

A European network of Member States would support the agency in a number of activities. The changes are based primarily on replies from Member State officers and shareholders thru questionnaires, interviews and informal workshops. The yearly cost for carrying out the changes is guessed at only over Euros 16,000,000.

As well as other waste-related benefits, full implementation of ECU waste law would reduce emissions of CO2, including methane from landfills. This would save 2.5 bln yearly at today’s carbon cost of around thirteen Euros per tonne.

Other important business benefits from reinforcing implementation include a level playing field for European firms, better encouragement for innovation and increased access to valuable secondary raw materials. A comprehensive cost-benefit analysis will be carried out this year. Further steps might be suggested during 2011.

Gaps in implementation of EU waste law Current openings in implementation and enforcement have led straight to wide-scale illegal junking and enormous numbers of landfills and other facilities and sites that don’t meet ECU standards. In some Member States, waste infrastructure is insufficient or missing ( see IP / 09 / 1795 ). Further details : http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/index.htm .