LCA of Thermal Waste Management Options in Northrhine- Westfalia

But the capacity of municipal solid waste incineration is not sufficient to treat all the waste that has been still landfilled. Even today waste has to be stored temporarily. A reasonable strategy seems to be introducing these waste streams as secondary fuel to power plants or cement works. These plants are assumed to recover energy in a very efficient way. But on the other hand their flue gas systems are not designed to cope with fuels containing pollutants in a high and a diverse way. “Classical” waste incinerators (MSWI) are presumed to be highly efficient concerning abatement but not so concerning energy.