Sustainable energy generation from municipal solid waste: A brief overview of existing technologies

Abstract

The aim of this mini review is to outline the currently existing methods of energy recovery from municipal solid waste (MSW), including incineration, pyrolysis, anaerobic digestion, and landfill gas recovery and utilization, providing tentative suggestions for further research. Through a comparative analysis of these technologies, the paper evaluates their feasibility in the context of MSW management and presents current research related to these technologies. Incineration and landfill gas capture and utilization emerge as the most prominent options for energy recovery from municipal solid waste. Incineration effectively reduces waste volume, sanitize the waste, and generates electricity and heat, while landfill gas capture uses methane emissions from the decomposition of landfilled waste to generate electricity and reduce environmental impact. Pyrolysis and anaerobic digestion, on the other hand, have limited use for obtaining energy from MSW due to their complex processes and challenges associated with heterogeneous MSW composition and there are problems that needs to be addressed before their successful application at an industrial scale. In addition, the paper analyses the thermal treatment of waste in the context of the waste management hierarchy. This review underscores the importance of matching technology choices to waste characteristics and highlights the importance of tailored approaches in waste management in general and Waste-to-Energy projects in particular.

Keywords

• Municipal solid waste
• Energy recovery
• Combustion
• Pyrolysis
• Anaerobic digestion
• Landfill gas capture