Benchmarking with regard to the optimization of waste incineration plants using standardized indicators

Over the last years, the German waste management system has reached a remarkable and internationally accepted level concerning technological and ecological aspects. Municipal solid waste incineration facilities play an important role on the waste market. Nevertheless, these installations are under considerable economic pressure due to changing environmental standards and due to market changes initiated by legislation. Therefore, it is necessary to perform a continuous identification of internal weak points in the operational processes to reach a sustainable leading position on the market. There are, however, different methods to optimize technical processes economically and ecologically like material flow analyses, various waste management systems, eco-controlling and hazard-and life cycle analyses. This paper investigates the method of benchmarking as an integrative approach to identify operational weak points on the basis of a sector-wide comparison of technical parameters. The consequent benchmarking process helps to show alternatives with respect to operational, economic and ecological aspects. These alternatives can be used by the plant operators to compare and to optimize their plants e.g. in terms of economic efficiency.