Technology

Unlike solar and wind energy generation, Waste to Energy plants
are a unique source of continuous renewable energy generation.

Waste to Energy Plant Concept

By integrating the disposal of waste with the generation of energy, waste to energy plants provide a solution to two of society’s greatest challenges: waste disposal and energy supply. Thermal waste to energy plants have a minimal greenhouse gas footprint relative to current landfill and landfill to energy practices. With over 600 grate type thermal waste to energy plants worldwide, more than half of which use the Martin grate technology, there is no doubt that such aspirations are not only achievable but demonstrable in practice.

A large scale waste to energy plant serving a major city will enable the city to achieve two of its long-term strategic sustainability goals: Increasing the generation of baseload renewable energy and also reducing household waste to landfill by approximately 90%. Furthermore, by providing an alternative to both landfills and coal fired baseload power generation, a waste to energy plant will actually eliminate the generation of greenhouse gases by much more than the relatively small amount of carbon dioxide emitted from non-renewable components during the combustion process.

Benefits of a modern waste to energy plant

  • No need for special or additional source separation of municipal solid waste, which reduces complexity and cost associated with waste collection and handling, and therefore does not require any change to current 2-3 bin collection systems (i.e. source separation of household and green waste from recyclables).
  • An independent North American study has shown that communities which have a waste to energy plant tend to recycle more than communities without a WTE plant.
  • Long term waste supply agreements are required, which also give the community stable rates for waste collection and disposal, while also allowing the community to benefit through the local generation of baseload renewable electricity.
  • Ferrous and non-ferrous metals can be recovered post-combustion from the solid bottom ash by-product (or slag, for a gasification process) and recycled, thereby further increasing recycle rates and reducing GHG emissions through avoidance of virgin materials production and associated energy consumption.
  • Additional full time employment positions would be created for plant management, operation and maintenance. In more established markets in North America and Europe, companies are developing technologies to reuse the solid ash (or slag) by-product in construction products such as bricks and aggregate for roads, thus offering the potential to further reduce landfill requirements.