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Published:  April 02, 2022 18:30 Azeem Samar, Correspondent

Karachi: Agreements have been signed with leading power sector companies to safely use garbage collected in Karachi for production of clean electricity.

The Sindh government’s Energy Department, Local Government Department, and Sindh Solid Waste Management Board (SSWMB) have joined hands to launch the project under the public-private partnership.

The proposed waste-to-energy project will consume 6,000 tonnes to 8,000 tonnes of trash generated daily in the city. Work on the project will start immediately.

Up to 16,000 tonnes of municipal waste generated in Karachi daily creates serious issues for its residents as massive resources are required for timely and safe disposal of the trash every day.

The SSWMB has hired the services of Chinese companies for the purpose.

Speaking on the occasion, Sindh Energy Minister, Imtiaz Ahmed Shaikh, said the proposed waste-to-energy project would generate 175 Megawatts of clean electricity with an investment of $600 million.

He said the Sindh government would provide the land near Karachi landfill site for launching the project that would go a long way in keeping the city clean and green.

Shaikh said the project would be extended to other major cities of Sindh as well after its successful execution in Karachi.

He said the government’s Energy and Local Government Departments had collaborated with each other to unveil the project that would be a milestone in the proper disposal of the municipal waste generated in the city.

He said the project had been launched in accordance with the slogan of the government “Green Energy, Clean Karachi” which reflected the vision of Chairman of Pakistan People’s Party, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, that stood for increasing green cover in Karachi after tackling the issue of its municipal waste.

Karachi’s Administrator, Barrister Murtaza Wahab, also spoke on the occasion and appreciated that the plan had been kicked off to safely dispose of tonnes of municipal waste daily generated in the provincial capital.

He said the project would go a long way to overcome the issue of environmental pollution in the city, as, after its successful execution in Karachi, similar projects would be launched in other urban centres of the province.

https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/pakistan/pakistan-karachis-municipal-waste-to-be-used-for-clean-power-generation-1.86914875

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Muhammad Shafa Published in Business Recorder, April 2, 2022

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KARACHI: Four globally reputed companies are intending to make a cumulative $600 million investment to convert Karachi’s garbage into electricity and the Sindh government has also given them green signal by signing Letter of Intent (LOI).

Sindh Energy Minister Imtiaz Ahmad Shaikh while talking to Business Recorder after the signing of LoI here at a local hotel Friday said that these companies will set up separate ‘waste to energy projects’ with a total capacity of 175 to 200 MW of electricity at Jam Chakro landfill site, Karachi by next year.

The provincial government will provide them land for the establishment of plants as part of its “Green Energy, Clean Karachi” initiative, he said.

Once executed, this would be Pakistan’s first waste to energy project in Karachi. All four companies will execute work on their respective projects, simultaneously.

“We are expecting around $600 million foreign investment in these projects,” Imtiaz said.

This project will also be expended to other cities of the province in future. We have also selected Hyderabad, Sukkur and Larkana, in the next phase.

LoI was signed by Imtiaz Shah Director Alternate Energy on behalf of Sindh Energy Department with the representatives of the five companies – M/s Khan renewable Pvt Ltd, M/s Babcocks and Wilcox renewable, M/s China Machinery Engineering Corporation, M/s Green Waste Energy Pvt Ltd and M/s Engro Energy Pvt Ltd.

Advisor to CM Sindh for Law and Administrator KMC, Barrister Murtaza Wahab, Dutch ambassador in Pakistan, Consul General of USA in Karachi, Consul General of UAE in Karachi, besides representatives of the energy companies and Secretary Local Govt Sindh Najam Ahmed Shah, Secretary Energy Sindh Abu Bakar Madni and other officers of provincial Energy department and Local Government department were also present.

Imtiaz said around 15,000 tons of garbage is generated from Karachi on a daily basis, which is transported to designated landfill sites. The intention of global energy companies for making handsome investment in waste to energy projects is good omen for a clean Karachi.

To a query he said, tariff for the waste to energy projects would be determined by National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra), and “If the Sindh Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Sepra) is established in the meantime, it will determine tariff,” Imtiaz said.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022

Muhammad Shafa Published in Business Recorder, April 2, 2022

https://www.brecorder.com/news/40164730

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By Our Correspondent: Published in The News, April 02, 2022

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Speaking on the occasion, Sindh Energy Minister Imtiaz Shaikh said that letters of intent had been signed with leading power sector companies to safely consume 6,000 to 8,000 tonnes of municipal waste generated on a daily basis in Karachi.

He said the proposed waste-to-energy project would generate 150 megawatts (MW) of clean electricity with an investment of $600 million. He said the Sindh government would provide land near the landfill site for the waste-to-energy project that would go a long way towards keeping the city clean and green.

Shaikh explained that the project would be extended to other major cities of Sindh after its successful execution in Karachi. He said the Sindh energy and local government departments had collaborated for the project that would prove to be a milestone in the proper disposal of municipal waste generated in the city.

The project had been launched in accordance with the slogan of the Sindh government, “Green Energy, Clean Karachi”, the energy minister remarked. He said that energy companies belonging to China, Netherlands, and other countries would use the latest technology for consuming garbage produced in the city in a scientific manner for the production of renewable energy.

Karachi Metropolitan Corporation Administrator Barrister Murtaza Wahab also spoke on the occasion and said the plan had been kicked off to safely dispose of tonnes of municipal waste daily generated in the provincial capital.

He said the project would help overcome the issue of environmental pollution in the city. The ceremony was attended by the ambassador of Holland in Pakistan, consuls general of the United States and United Arab Emirates, Sindh government’s secretaries for the local government and energy departments, Sindh Solid Waste Management Board managing director and representatives of the energy companies.

Published in The News, April 02, 2022

https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/946575-sindh-govt-signs-agreement-with-five-companies-for-waste-to-energy-project

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Tahir Siddiqui Published in Dawn, April 2, 2022

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KARACHI: The Sindh government on Friday signed a letter of intent with four foreign energy companies for a waste-to-energy project for production of 150 megawatts daily from the garbage produced in the city.

The signing ceremony was attended among others by Energy Minister Imtiaz Shaikh, Karachi administrator barrister Murtaza Wahab, consuls general of the United States and the United Arab Emirates, the ambassador of The Netherlands and representatives of the four energy companies.

On behalf of the provincial energy department, alternate energy director Imtiaz Shah signed the agreement with the representatives of the firms belonging to US, Denmark, The Netherlands and China.

Addressing the ceremony, the energy minister said that under the slogan of “Green Energy, Clean Karachi” the provincial government had signed the letter of intent with world’s reputed energy companies, achieving another milestone as the waste-to-energy project would produce 150MW to 175MW of energy daily from garbage collected from the city.

“This project will not only help clean the garbage from city, but it will also help meet our energy requirements,” he added.

Mr Shaikh said that the unique waste-to-energy project had been planned according to the vision of PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and this project would be expanded to other cities of the province in future.

He said that the provincial government would provide land for the project at a landfill site in the city. “An approximate investment of 600 million US dollars is expected in this project and about 6,000 to 8,000 tonnes of waste will consumed daily for production of 150 megawatts of energy daily through this project,” he said.

The energy minister said that Sindh again took a lead in the country by not only preparing a Sindh waste-to-energy policy, but also initiating waste-to-energy projects in the province.

He said that Karachi alone produced over 15,000 tonnes of municipal waste, while other cities in the province approximately 2,000 tonnes each day, besides agriculture waste in the form of bagasse, cotton sticks and rice husk. “Converting this waste into energy can generate significant amount of electricity.”

He said that the waste-to-energy policy of the province would utilise resources and dispose of the waste efficiently.

Energy secretary Abu Bakar Madni told the participants in the meeting that the conventional landfill sites usually failed to exploit the potential of waste as an energy resource.

“The anaerobic decomposition of organic waste in landfill sites leads to the release of methane to atmosphere, which is not usually controlled and captured and as such it has been one of the most negative side effects of landfill sites.”

He said that waste-to-energy referred to a variety of treatment technologies that converted waste into electricity.

Published in Dawn, April 2nd, 2022

https://www.dawn.com/news/1682916

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ORIGINAL LINK: Contents [show]

Are Landfills Bad?

With utmost certainty, landfills are bad, not only for the environment but also for our health. In a report by the United States’ Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), landfills eventually leak and runoffs from landfills will bring toxic chemicals into our water supplies, contaminating the drinking water of neighboring communities.

Landfills are also the third-largest source of human-related methane emissions in the United States, according to the EPA. Methane is a greenhouse gas that is roughly 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide, making it a powerful contributor to our climate crisis.

Additionally, landfills give off potentially harmful gases with odors that permeate neighborhoods. They are also linked to birth defects and other serious health problems. Even after they are closed, the sites are not completely safe for use as playgrounds, parking lots, athletic fields, for construction and other activities, because they can lead to cracks on the cover as well as subsequent leakages. Landfills are the ideal solution for dumping waste and garbage, but their potential negative effects out way the benefits.

Are Landfills Bad for The Environment?

Definitively, landfills are bad for the environment. This is why:

1. They are a major source of pollution: Landfills pollute the air, the soil and underground sources of water. They are not a beautiful sight to see or associate your community with. They produce nauseating odors that pollute the air and unpleasant views that harbor rats, seagulls and other animals, causing other pollutive problems.

2. Their effects last a long time: Landfills are not easy to clear or clean and their effects could last for years. Additionally, if the rubbish is buried in landfills, it breaks down at very slow rates and remains a problem for future generations as well as the environment for quite a while.

3. They harbor toxins: Landfills host many materials, some of which contain toxic substances, like an electronic waste. Waste from televisions, computers and other electric appliances have a long list of hazardous substances like mercury, PVC, acids, arsenic, lead and cadmium.See also  Advantages and Disadvantages of Landfills

Other dangerous toxins contained in landfills include unused pharmaceutical waste, fertilizers, expired products, among many others. These toxins adversely affect the environment as well as the people living near the landfills.

4. Polluting groundwater: Landfills will produce leachate, which is the liquid formed when waste breaks down in landfills. Such leachate is highly toxic and can pollute the land, as well as groundwater and waterways. When these bodies of water are affected, the toxins will affect people and lands that are miles away from the landfill, and for a very long period.

5. Producing greenhouse gases: This is perhaps the biggest environmental threat posed by landfills. Most materials in landfills eventually break down through anaerobic processes, producing greenhouse gases such as methane which is more potent than carbon dioxide.

In the US alone, landfills are the third-largest source of methane emissions. If the methane is allowed to build up in concentration, it becomes increasingly dangerous. All these gases contribute to global warming and climate change.

6. Impacting biodiversity: Landfills are responsible for the loss of approximately 20 to 300 species per hectare. Local species including mammals and birds are affected by the species that feed on the waste, such as crows and rats. Vegetation is also affected with some plant species not native to the area growing and killing off and replacing the native plants.

7. Affecting the soil and land: These toxic substances and decaying organic material also affect the soil on which the landfill sits. This adversely affects the quality of the soil including that of surrounding areas. Any crop grown on such soil might be affected, meaning there will be an effect on and even permanent alteration of the biodiversity of local vegetation.

How Do Landfills Affect Humans?

1. Effects to workers in the landfills: Organic domestic wastes pose a serious threat, as they ferment and create conditions that favor the growth and survival of microbial pathogens. If these workers directly handle solid waste, they can contract various types of infectious and chronic diseases

2. Affecting general human health: Exposure to these hazardous wastes affect human health, with children being the most vulnerable group. Direct exposure lead directly to diseases and the chemical wastes in the environment cause chemical poisoning. There is a myriad of studies proving these facts and concluding that landfills negatively affect humans.

According to one study, there is a strong correlation between Hydrogen Sulphide, used as a surrogate for pollutants emitted from landfills, and deaths caused by lung cancer, as well as deaths and hospitalizations for respiratory diseases, especially in children.

3. Poisoning the soil and plants that humans feed on: The waste has been identified to negatively affect the environment. It also affects plants and crops grown next to such landfills. Humans, end up eating such crops, directly or indirectly. The former refers to when we eat them, like vegetables, straight from the farm., indirectly means when we consume meats or milk from animals that originally fed on those plants. Therefore, we inadvertently end up poisoning ourselvesSee also  Space-Based Technologies Unravel Satellites To Locate Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions

4. Poisoning the water that we consume: Like in the point on crops and plants above, we end up consuming water, eating crops grown using water, or food products from animals that consumed water that was directly affected by the toxins. The water is directly affected if the leachate flows into bodies of water, or is absorbed by the ground and ends up in underground bodies of water.

5. Odours: The odors produced by landfills is too strong and could inhibit proper breathing in humans. People with respiratory issues may be hard hit by the problem of odors and could end up in hospitals

6. Harbouring rodents and flies: Landfills are perfect homes for flies, rodents and other species that feed on waste. They in turn will end up in our homes, further destroying our belongings. Additionally, these species are responsible for spreading waste from the landfills nearer to homes, therefore dirtying our communities.

What Are the Negative Effects of Landfills?

There are several negative effects of landfills, the majority of which have been discussed above. Here are some more:

1. Economic Effects

All the effects already mentioned can drain a lot from the environmental regulatory agencies, local governments and the local communities. The agencies will use a lot of money in devising policies and the local governments will use monies to control, manage and treat landfills.

If an area is known to have serious landfills, economic activities will be affected and the local community will lose, economically. As these materials in landfills could take thousands of years to fully decompose, a lot has to be invested with regards to management and recycling initiatives.

2. Landfill Fires

It is incredibly easy for landfills to catch fire. One of the accelerants is, of course, the methane gas produced from these sites, known to be highly flammable and combustible. Once a fire is ignited, it can become incredibly challenging to put it out, let alone the amount of air pollution it will cause. The fires can as well get out of control and destroy neighboring habitats

3. These Effects Last For Very Long

Even if a landfill is cleared completely, two major issues will come up. First, where will all that waste go? It might mean that it will be a problem for another area. Secondly, and most importantly, the effects already mentioned, continue to affect the area, the people, the soil, plants, bodies of water and air for a long period to come. Additionally, these areas continue to pose threats to any structures that might be erected on the site

4. Other Effects on Humans

Landfills and their foul smells, elevated levels of ammonia and hydrogen sulfides, can also cause coughing, nasal blockage, nausea, aggravation of asthma, sleeping difficulties, breathing difficulties, chest pains, headaches, weight loss, and irritation of the eyes, throat and nose.See also  Importance of Recycling and Why Should We Recycle

Do Landfills Cause Global Warming?

Unequivocally, landfills cause global warming. The waste in landfills will decompose, releasing methane, a greenhouse gas that is about 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide. With the gas being released into the atmosphere, it helps in trapping more heat within the atmosphere, resulting in global warming and ultimately, climate change. Therefore, reducing methane release from landfills can be instrumental in the fight against climate change

What Are Some Alternatives to Landfills?

1. Recycling

It perhaps is the most obvious alternative to using landfills. The majority of products, like glass, paper, wood, textiles, aluminum and plastics can be recycled through various processes. Recycling will convert the material into reusable material, thereby avoiding being dumped in landfills.

2. Composting

It is an environmentally-friendly process that allows biological waste to naturally decompose into fertilizers for plants. Composting is a simple process and can be done by many people even in their backyards, to reduce household waste

3. Waste-to-energy

This process converts plastic waste into energy by heating, melting and vaporizing it into a gas. The process decreases the need for landfill usage and further reduces the emission of harmful greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. It also produces renewable energy, which decreases our dependence on finite energy sources.

4. Anaerobic Digestion

When anaerobic digestion is taking place, bacteria and other microorganisms break down organic waste. The process is quite similar to composting although, in anaerobic digestion, the waste does not need exposure to oxygen. Through the process, waste is turned into methane or natural gas, which can be used in homes to power various engines, or for cooking.

What Will Landfills Be Like in The Future?

Evidently, the number of landfills is going down. According to the EPA, a few years back, there were 1,956 waste landfills, down from 6,326 in 1990. Many companies are taking control of their waste instead of having it taken elsewhere. Some are tweaking their operations so that they get something from the waste, like converting them into waste-to-energy plants, co-located with a landfill.

Experts are saying that the future of solid waste is not in landfills, with their primary advocacy being the shutdown of existing landfills, mainly because of how they contaminate water.

The few that continue to use landfills are turning them into sources of electricity, rather than having them sit idle. The conversion of landfill gases to energy is bound to continue if incentives exist and if organics continue to be landfilled in large volumes. The bottom line is that the fate of landfills is linked to broader societal discussions about the relative value of the various ways of handling organic wastes and producing energy.

References:

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Most of us can claim to have read up on waste management processes. However, it should come as no surprise that despite our best efforts, the damage has continued, only at a different rate. We have come a long way in efficiently dealing with waste, yet several key problems continue to merge and injure the planet at large.

The negative effects of improper waste management not only ends in a disgusting view but also affects the overall economy of a country. The state has to spend a lot of money to counter the effects of improper waste management. Moreover, animals depended on the environment also face a great threat due to the oil spills and leaching of chemicals which directly cause soil and water contamination. Burning of any disposed waste and plastic materials results in air and environmental pollution.

Though we all are familiar with common methods of waste management like landfills, incineration, recycling, biological processing or energy conservation; we find ourselves living in a world filled with waste. Renewable energy and recycling took us to newer heights, but the adverse effects of improper waste management continue to plague us.

Some of the catastrophic effects of today’s poor waste management systems are listed below:

1. Soil Contamination

Ideally, we would like our plastic, glass, metal and paper waste to end up at a recycling facility. It then returns to us as a renewable product. But the reality is entirely different. Have a look at the informative image below.

by memuco.

From Visually.

Contamination occurs by spilling and burying hazardous components in soil. So, we need to be watchful of how we process petroleum hydrocarbons, solvents, pesticides, heavy metals and lead.

Read more: The usage of metal and how it is recycled

For example, here’s what happens when a plastic water bottle is incorrectly sent to a landfill, or left, at any other place, to be absorbed by the soil:

• Plastic water bottles eventually break down to release a harmful component called, DIETHYLHYDROXYLAMINE (DEHA). (A carcinogen which hurts our reproductive capabilities, causes liver dysfunction and weight loss issues.)
• DEHA seeps into the surrounding areas of the soil and water bodies to harm the animal and plant life depends on it.

You can see this nice, short, animated video explaining why plastic is so harmful. https://www.youtube.com/embed/n4SmwBFbhEM

2. Water Contamination

Water is an excellent solvent; it can contain numerous dissolved chemicals. As a  result, while moving through, water picks up pollution along the way. It often has dissolved substances like various chemicals and gases.

Rainfall easily mixes to toxic liquid substances and seeps into the water streams to end up in nearby water bodies. Thus, the neighbourhood fountain, pond, lake or even drinking water taps are susceptible to the dangers of contamination.

The victims? All living organisms including us, humans.

3. Extreme Weather Caused By Climate Change

Firstly, harmful greenhouse gases are created from decomposing waste. These rise up to the atmosphere and trap heat. This adversely causes extreme weather reactions in the form of storms and typhoons.

How else are we impacted? Well, apart from temperature what is also drastically affected is the level of precipitation in the air. From acid rain to severe hail storms or global warming – everything is fair game at present. This also spreads out into other areas with regards to subdivisions such as thermal and radioactive pollution.

Check out the November 2017 Global Climate Report active pollution.

4. Air Contamination

Let’s talk about the ozone layer first. A lot of it leaves us feeling hopeless for we feel unable to make necessary changes. We think we cannot consume any less. Even so, we can, at least, follow strict protocol over how it’s recycled.

On the occasions paper and plastic are burned at the landfill, causing landfill gas, the chemicals released which accumulate and contribute to the ozone layer and also hurt the surrounding human population. Methane gas adds to it as well. Besides, with chemicals such as dioxin out there, the air has been proven to have harmful effects on us.

All of it, and especially when improper waste management is concerned, play a significant role in causing global warming.

5. Harm Towards Animal and Marine Life

Despite strict measures to stop it, we keep seeing the continual dumping of garbage, raw or untreated sewage. Any animal or marine life coming in contact gets impacted in the worst of ways. The inevitable formation of algal bloom and clusters contaminates and eventually suffocates marine life such as coral and fish.

As discussed comprehensively by Conservation International, we have seen how consumption of fishing lines, cigarette butts, plastic bottles and Styrofoam can kill millions of marine lives each year.

Furthermore, it is a vicious cycle which feeds itself:

• Waste is dumped into the ground
• Absorbed by the soil and groundwater
• Waste contaminates the land on which we grow food and provides water for us and animals
• Waste in the marine life kills fish
• Carcasses float on the surface, and we see mosquitoes feed on it
• The diseases carrying mosquitoes now spread sickness and death among the living population

6. Human Damage

Consider the majority of the human population where we do not see any scientific waste management system. Such places may possess a system, but there is no disposal area to be found.

Those who are at significant risk are:

• Children and those who live near such facilities
• Waste disposal workers
• Employees whose workplaces manufacture or come into contact with waste materials

Think about the fires at landfills and its effects on us. Whether coming from the air or its accumulation in our cellars, those landfill gases have been exposed for causing cancer, create respiratory and visibility problems, and the explosion of cans put people nearby at constant risk. 

Additionally, when we come in contact with waste, it causes skin irritation and blood infections.  We also contract diseases from flies which are carriers of illnesses after breeding on solid waste. With regards to mosquitoes, we know, besides feeding on dead fish, they find sewage, rainwater, tires, cans and other objects to be ideal breeding grounds. They carry and spread diseases such as malaria and dengue.

With an abundance of disease-carrying pests, it becomes difficult to be vigilant about waste management facilities. Despite all efforts, for example, rats continue their massive infestation on such facilities and sewage systems. They harm crops, spread diseases such as Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome, Leptospirosis, Rat-bite Fever and Salmonellosis.

Waste management is our responsibility for we benefit and suffer from it in radical ways. Education and awareness across all communities, irrespective of their social, economic condition, must be ever-present for as long as life inhabits this planet. A butterfly fluttering its wings 900 miles away from you can cause a hurricane right where you live.

Therefore, significant mismanagement of waste by Turkey and Chile, where only 1% of waste was reported to be recycled, can contribute to global warming. Even if you live far away in Greenland, there is no escape. We must all play a role.

For more information about waste disposal and waste management, speak to the team at Metropolitan Transfer Station, a waste transfer station near you in Melbourne today.

Original link is below:

https://www.metropolitantransferstation.com.au/blog/negative-effects-of-improper-waste-management/

Sun, 8 Oct 2017

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It follows from this that we plead for all politicians to pledge to support a policy of methane reduction first, above all other forms of climate change abatement.

At Wasterblog we think that our topic of waste and recycling is about to become a whole lot more important as the world finally wakes up to the perils of climate change!

Read on and find out why “Wastersblog” will be very busy in the years to come after COP26 in Glasgow!

To Have the Biggest Effect on Reducing Global Warming Landfill Methane Emissions Must be Reduced as “Low Hanging Fruit”

Landfills are massive emitters of the most potent of all high emission greenhouse gases, which is methane. But, waste must be made safe, or it will harm people. So a world without landfills tomorrow is impossible. Nevertheless, certainly, within the next 10 years, all but a few will have to be closed.

Waste to Energy (WtE) technology is well developed and available now. It will be the replacement technology for all landfills.

New Waste to Energy facilities must be built and extended to take all the waste currently sent to landfills, barring inert residues.

Methane emissions reduction is THAT important. Waiting for a better technology than WtE is no longer even remotely tenable.

Wait and the globe will sail past the 1.5°C rise scenario with the appalling consequences of yet greater sea level rises and suffering by humanity and all living creatures on this planet.

Waste to Energy (WtE) Technology is Not Perfect –  Why Stop Landfill?

There are a number of different ways to dispose of rubbish, but landfill is the worst for our environment in very many ways. Now that the IPCC has studied methane, and its global warming effect has been reported on, it is clear that landfill really does have to stop.

That’s because climate change is progressing at an alarming and accelerating rate and the most urgent greenhouse gas to stop pumping out, is methane.

All you can do with a landfill is to reduce the environmental impacts. Science cannot stop them.

The most critical first way to reduce methane is to reduce the organic waste sent to landfills.

The waste industry in many nations is providing alternative ways to prevent food waste and garden waste from being sent to their landfills. Food waste diversion away from landfills needs to be continued and done faster as food wastage is so high.

Waste Processing Technology Aids the Move Away from Landfill

The waste industry’s ability to separate waste types, reuse and recycle, is the key to offering alternatives to landfills. Examples of alternatives are anaerobic digestion and composting.

Bans of organic waste (biowaste) are likely to be brought in for some landfills in some countries as early as 2024.

The move away from landfills is essential for landfilling to be used for only non-organic waste. The less organic (biogenic) material placed in a landfill directly influences how much methane it produces. Lower organic input means less damaging methane/ greenhouse gas.

Beware the landfill companies that suggest that they capture by far the largest part of the methane their sites produce. In reality, they are usually simply quoting the proportion they collect while they are active on the landfill.

Landfills Produce Small Amounts of LFG for very Many Years

The truth is that the landfill will still produce that gas long after their landfill gas (LFG) collection systems wear out or are shut down due to insufficient incoming gas.

A landfill built today will be making landfill gas for, of the order of, 100 years. After a while, the rate of LFG production reduces continually but only slowly. This lessening rate of production means that after a while it makes no economic sense to collect and extract the LFG.

But the LFG production persists for a very long time, only very gradually decreasing.

In fact, the low gas flow that goes on for a very long time does add up to a whole lot of methane.

And, that uncollected methane can easily account for half of the gas the landfill site will produce before the air around a landfill once again enters the waste. Only at that time will aerobic conditions return and landfill gas output end.

Politicians Need to Also Pledge to Immediately Fit LFG Extraction Systems to Landfills

Methane from landfills is of course only damaging as a greenhouse gas once it has escaped to the atmosphere. Collecting the biogas (landfill gas) and either flaring it or using it to generate electricity or even better upgrading it to biomethane for vehicle fuel, are all skills residing in the waste management industry.

Limiting Global Climate Temperature Rise to 15°C

Methane emissions reduction is central to current efforts to minimize climate change rise to just 1.5°C. This limit is important because the body of climate change research suggests that a rise beyond 1.5 degrees above current global warming will be extremely costly not only economically but in the quality of our lives.

IPCCC Study Report Reveals the True Danger from Methane Emissions

The IPCCC has shown in a risk study that methane has so far been responsible for half of all global warming. This shows just how aggressive methane is above and beyond the other greenhouse gases – even CO₂.

After looking at this all-round, the United Nations has decided that cutting methane emissions is the best way to slow global temperature rises in the short term.

While there are rising methane emissions in nature, for example, due to anaerobic decomposition in areas where the permafrost is thawing. And there are many other examples of natural methane emissions that are very important. All those are hard to influence. Landfill methane emission is by comparison easy to abate.

Working with the Waste Industry to Reduce Methane Emissions

Where society can make a change in less than 10 years from now, is within waste management methods. The policies which set these methods need to change to ensure local and central governments enact suitable policies. These policies must ensure that the global waste management profession works with waste in a way that reduces methane emissions.

This is where the global Waste Management industry can if mobilized to do so, assist rapidly and significantly reduce anthropogenic methane emissions.

Methane is such an Aggressive Climate Warming Gas

Methane really is an aggressive climate-warming gas. Estimates vary between it being between 30 and 80 times the warming effect of a unit of carbon dioxide.

The interesting fact though is that methane (CH₄) decays more rapidly in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. With that in mind, it stands to reason that by ceasing its discharge, the amount of CH₄ present tails off more rapidly than for an equivalent carbon dioxide reduction.

That means that real measurable climate warming reductions can stack up. But only if we move fast and reduce the current human-made methane emission sources quickly.

Now is the Time to Act – Wait and It Will Be Too Late!

So, the policy is being formed which focuses on the next 25 years. Climate change experts are asking how can we achieve rapid methane emissions reductions and keep them down?

This has been studied and reported on ahead of the COP26 “last chance” Climate Change Meeting in Scotland later this month. Obviously, methods will vary between countries and regions, but the study shows that the largest reduction potential in Europe lies within the waste sector.

The conclusion is far from revolutionary but important nonetheless. The independent panel on climate change (IPCC) reported that:

We need to landfill less and minimise waste creation, reuse and recycle more.

That may mean more incinerators for example, but the point here is that whether it be increased anaerobic digestion or more incinerators these all fall within the scope of waste management.

IPCC Study Report Identified the Methane Priority/ Waste to Energy Low Hanging Fruit

The study predicts that if the industry was to cut methane emissions by 30% in 10 years, that would mean a global warming estimate reduction of 0.3°C. That would prevent 255,000 premature deaths per year and 26 million tonnes of crop waste annually as of 2040.

It would make a very tough challenge, but the study also shows it possible to do this by first concentrating on the so-called “low-hanging fruit” we get back to sane measures which are achievable.

In fact, for many making the investment will make good business sense through taking a long term perspective. The study goes on to suggest that a 45% reduction would be possible, over the same time scale, but with more effort and finance needed.

COP26 Global Methane Pledge

The findings of that report have been built into a “Global Methane Pledge” which hopefully will be signed by all governments before the end of the COP26 summit. So, by the beginning of November, the pledge will have been made and the signing countries will begin their progress toward the target of 30% in the next 10 years.

In the European Union, the United States and the United Kingdom the nations will have signed this pledge, plus we hope, many more.

We can nevertheless say right now that it is already clear that this pledge will have a great effect in raising the ambition of all for methane emission reduction.

“climate change knows no borders”

In particular, as climate change knows no borders, the need has always been for all countries to take their part in these reductions. Much of Europe and the UK have regulated their landfill industries to require landfill gas collection and flaring of the biogas as a minimum.

Other nations now must step up their regulatory enforcement of similar measures.

Indeed, the use has been moving in this direction at the state government level for a number of years now. It is hoped that all states will very soon require all landfills to be equipped with landfill gas collection and flaring in order to grant them permission to operate.

All Nations Should Regulate to Require All Landfills Provide for LFG Collection

Once a landfill operator has spent the money needed to collect landfill gas the decision to use it as an energy source or upgrade it and sell it as a premium renewable energy product is a no-brainer.

So far the manner in which individual governments have been left to set their own climate change goals has led to a ring-fenced non-inclusive patchwork of measures.

Landfill emissions from landfills have been identified as the largest single source of methane emissions in Europe. It’s important to target reduction here.

All available waste to energy plants should be used to their full capacity

The first way in which this can be done is by ensuring that all available waste to energy plants are used to their full capacity right across Europe. Currently, there are almost 100 million tonnes per annum of Waste to Energy (WtE) capacity in plants currently installed in Europe. But, it is not all spread evenly across the continent. Some countries have more capacity than is necessary to process all their national waste, while other nations don’t have enough.

On average a quarter of all the waste in Europe is still being sent to landfills, and creating a lot of methane emissions.

WtE Capacity and Policy in the Netherlands

Taking the Netherlands as an example, they have a waste import tax and a carbon dioxide tax. To charge taxes on imported waste in this way makes little sense. It really fails to recognize that WtE plants create renewable energy which benefits the Dutch population and reduces overall methane emissions.

It needs a policy change in which European states cooperate to process their waste through WtE plants as soon as possible while building more facilities in all EU member states.

In the short term, countries need to get together and there is really no reason why properly regulated inter-state was transfer should not occur in the interest of fighting climate change.

When Will Waste Transport CO₂ Emissions Exceed Methane Reduction Benefits

At this point, you might object on the basis that transporting waste large distances using diesel trucks to take the waste to a WtE plant. It would surely negate all the emissions benefits. Not so. the emission of methane is truly awful. Just remember that factor of at least 30 times worse than CO₂ and you can burn a lot of fuel before they emit anything like even 30 times the CO₂.

In addition, do bear in mind that according to the Landfill Directive and the requirements of the Waste Hierarchy applied in all EU countries the waste sent to WtE facilities will have previously been pretreated to remove all recyclable materials.

Next, consider how positive WtE is from a climate change/ decarbonising enabling technology. WtE in the Netherlands for example contributes 9% of all their renewable energy and yet they have many wind turbines and solar panels.

The point here is that municipal waste contains a lot of energy which is released during incineration. The power is produced in cities, meaning that there are not large distances of power cable between the power station and the user and hence transmission efficiencies are high.

WtE Combines with District Heating CHP for Higher Decarbonisation

The fact that WtE energy is produced in or near centres of high-population also means that district heating schemes using the CHP heat which would otherwise be wasted can be, and nowadays usually are, piped to homes and factories. This reduces fossil fuel used for heating and saves yet more CO₂ emissions.

For many years many in the waste industry held off giving their full support to WtE (incineration) hoping that at least one of the more advanced energy recovery technologies, which would convert waste directly into a “process gas”, would be successful.

On many occasions, forward-thinking municipal authorities have built prototypes of waste gasification and pyrolysis plants to do just that. But so far none have proved sufficiently reliable or cost-effective to be universally adopted.

Sadly, it is now too late for those more advanced techniques to become the workhorse of methane emissions reduction and to complete man’s move away from landfills.

Waste Diversion from Landfill Other Than By Municipal/ Commercial WtE Plants

Apart from incineration on-site at the waste facility, municipalities may instead choose to process the waste and create Waste/ Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF). RDF can be sold to industrial users as a fuel and is again renewable, cutting fossil fuel emissions. RDF also counts as a decarbonisation technology.

We mentioned previously that the (black bag/ mixed MSW) waste sent to WtE/ incineration should be being pre-sorted to remove all recyclable materials be before it goes to energy recovery in a WtE facility.

So, now let us consider how high calorific value plastic waste removed from this waste stream can be used to add to the decarbonisation potential of WtE, this time in a very different guise.

Benefits of Integrating Plastic Polymer Recycling Plants

In the Netherlands, and now elsewhere in Europe, plastic waste from what is sometimes called “Dirty MRFs” is being treated at plastic polymer recycling plants. These include packaging wastes film wraps etc. and high tech automatic separation techniques are used to sort different polymers out.

An example of this is ballistic separation. The result is a separate waste packaging stream which is then sent to an adjacent pre-sorting plant by conveyor as one of several separate streams of different polymer types. The biggest of these waste polymer streams is plastic film.

Some Dutch plants have equipment that can now wash and separate the film into different polymer types. When this is done next to the WtE incinerator the waste heat from the incinerator is used to heat the hot washing water.

Granulated Plastic is Sent to be Reused in New Product Packaging

The film is finally granulated into new plastic materials. The granules are sold as recycled plastics available for re-use as a percentage of the content of single-use plastic packaging. In a short time, this plastic is back on the supermarket shelves.

Taking the plastics out results in a final waste bound for the incinerator which is mostly organic (biogenic) material which, if sent to landfill, would have a very high methane production potential.

This addition of polymer plastics removal has a highly beneficial effect by ensuring that the re-use of plastics is maximised.

Carbon Capture Technology – Fitted to WtE Facility Gas Flue

Finally, what will in the future swing the balance of advantages of WtE over landfill away from ever continuing to landfill other than inert residual materials is the addition of carbon capture technology to WtE facility gas flue designs.

Experts have been advising for some time that the best place to carry out carbon capture will be from the flue gases in facilities such as WtE plants. Doing that would make WtE plants carbon negative, meaning that they would be able to take out more carbon overall than they emit.

This will be particularly valuable for cities that are targeting net-zero CO₂ emissions which will want the negative CO₂ from their WtE plants to offset their “hard to decarbonise discharges”.

Conclusion – Why Waste to Energy (WtE) and Methane Hold the Key to Climate Change Reduction

There can be no doubt that the big push now must be to reduce methane emissions globally, for the maximum restraint on global warming in the next 10 to 20 years.

To recap. This article has covered various ways to tackle methane emissions and rapidly reduce them throughout the world. We provided European examples, while on the way also explaining how we will be moving toward a more generally decarbonising world.

In Europe working together to tackle methane emissions first and foremost and the aim should be to:

• redouble efforts to avoid landfills as soon as possible by building much more WtE capacity
• make full use of all available WtE facilities in countries where spare capacity exists
• legislate to ensure that all landfills are provided with landfill gas collection wells, extraction pipework and pipe systems to deliver the landfill gas to one location where a flare is fitted. In which case most landfill operators will also invest in landfill gas utilisation such as to create electricity with it, or better, to upgrade the biogas quality to pure biomethane.

The time is now to start, and for all leaders to pledge at the COP26 Climate Change Summit in Glasgow to cut their methane emissions as a No. 1 priority for action.

As time progresses the waste industry will rise to the challenge of building many more WtE waste facilities, with a short-term acceleration in WtE capacity globally.

Original link is below:

https://www.hwhenvironmental.com/facts-and-statistics-about-waste/

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