Waste-to-energy technologies: A literature review

Rapid economic development and urbanization has caused rapid increase of waste generation worldwide. The Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) generation is expected to double by 2025. This rapid increase needs to be tackled to reduce the generation rates along with the environmental impacts it imposes. Disposal of waste in landfills results in the generation of huge amounts of Greenhouse Gases (GHG), negative impacts on human health, air and water pollution. Solid waste generation increments, rising demand for energy and preservation of fossil fuels, caused an increase in the popularity of Waste-to-Energy (WTE) technologies as the solution for waste managing problems and energy demands. Waste-to-Energy technologies convert the waste into energy and minimize the amount of waste sent to landfills. The aim of this paper is to present the process and specific aspects of WTE technologies along with their advantages and disadvantages. It illustrates that the waste and process must be closely matched to achieve proper conversion of waste and better efficiency of a WTE technology. This study also highlighted some thermochemical WTE facilities which can recover both energy and materials from waste. The continuous developments being made in process efficiency and process control of WTE facilities are expected to enhance the commercial feasibility of these conversion processes in the near future. © 2018 Widener University School of Civil Engineering. All Rights Reserved.