Municipal solid waste management and waste-to-energy in the context of a circular economy and energy recycling in Europe

Abstract

a b s t r a c tThis paper proposes an overarching review of national municipal waste management systems and wasteto-energy as an important part of it in the context of circular economy in the selected countries in Europe. The growth of population and rising standards of living means that the consumption of goods and energy is increasing. On the one hand, consumption leads to an increase in the generation of waste. On the other hand, the correlation between increased wealth and increased energy consumption is very strong as well. Given that the average heating value of municipal solid waste (MSW) is approximately 10 MJ/kg, it seems logical to use waste as a source of energy. Traditionally, waste-to-energy (WtE) has been associated with incineration. Yet, the term is much broader, embracing various waste treatment processes generating energy (for instance, in the form of electricity and/or heat or producing a wastederived fuel). Turning waste into energy can be one key to a circular economy enabling the value of products, materials, and resources to be maintained on the market for as long as possible, minimising waste and resource use. As the circular economy is at the top of the EU agenda, all Member States of the EU (including the EEA countries) should move away from the old-fashioned disposal of waste to a more intelligent waste treatment encompassing the circular economy approach in their waste policies. Therefore, the article examines how these EU policies are implemented in practice. Given that WtE traditionally is attached to the MSW management and organisation, the focus of this article is twofold. Firstly, it aims to identify the different practices of municipal waste management employed in selected countries and their approaches in embracing the circular economy and, secondly, the extent to which WtE technologies play any role in this context. The following countries, Estonia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, and the UK were chosen to depict a broad European context.

Status and Opportunities for Energy Recovery from Municipal Solid Waste in Europe

“…Thus, the share of MSW recycled increased from 11 to 29% between 1995 and 2015. Recycling and composting together accounted for 45% in 2015 relative to waste generation, in comparison to 17 can also be observed with respect to the significant rise in the use of incineration with energy recovery (R1) as compared to incineration without energy recovery (D10).…”

“…Energy from waste can also be a part of this process; however, waste is still regarded as 'nuisance' rather than a resource in most of the European countries, and this vision must change in order to move towards a circular economy [17]. The European Commission states that "it is only by respecting the waste hierarchy that WtE can maximise the circular economy's contribution to decarbonisation, in line with the Energy Union Strategy and the Paris agreement" [18].…”

Mutually-Beneficial Renewable Energy Systems

“…Bioenergy systems present a complicated and contested set of prospects for ecological enhancement, involving persistent debates on their use for modern energy rather than for non-energy uses such as food production and soil health (Breeze 2018;Malinauskaite et al 2017). A hierarchy of uses of bio-based materials prioritizes prevention, reuse and recycling of waste materials prior or in addition to the conversion of energy from waste (European Commission 2017).…”

“…Modern bioenergy chemically converts diverse sources of organic matter, including wood, crop residues, livestock waste, and biodegradable municipal waste into bioheat, liquid biofuels and biomass power (Ellabban, Abu-Rub, and Blaabjerg 2014;Gasparatos et al 2017;Malinauskaite et al 2017). Mitigation generally includes implementing ecologically-sensitive agricultural and forestry practices, siting on degraded or marginal lands, and carefully collecting, transporting, handling, converting and disposing waste resources (Gasparatos et al 2017;Moya et al 2017).…”

Households’ Perception of Financial Incentives in Endorsing Sustainable Waste Recycling in Nigeria

“…Economic, environmental, and social factors will remain crucial in driving Nigeria towards adopting sustainable recycling systems for municipal solid waste. A study conducted by [24] assessed the adoption of energy recycling within the European Union as part of the circular economy approach for sustainably managing municipal solid waste.…”