Dataset Information

Determining the amount of waste plastics in the feed of Austrian waste-to-energy facilities.

ABSTRACT: Although thermal recovery of waste plastics is widely practiced in many European countries, reliable information on the amount of waste plastics in the feed of waste-to-energy plants is rare. In most cases the amount of plastics present in commingled waste, such as municipal solid waste, commercial, or industrial waste, is estimated based on a few waste sorting campaigns, which are of limited significance with regard to the characterisation of plastic flows. In the present study, an alternative approach, the so-called Balance Method, is used to determine the total amount of plastics thermally recovered in Austria's waste incineration facilities in 2014. The results indicate that the plastics content in the waste feed may vary considerably among different plants but also over time. Monthly averages determined range between 8 and 26?wt% of waste plastics. The study reveals an average waste plastics content in the feed of Austria's waste-to-energy plants of 16.5?wt%, which is considerably above findings from sorting campaigns conducted in Austria. In total, about 385?kt of waste plastics were thermally recovered in all Austrian waste-to-energy plants in 2014, which equals to 45?kg?plastics cap^-1. In addition, the amount of plastics co-combusted in industrial plants yields a total thermal utilisation rate of 70?kg?cap^-1?a^-1 for Austria. This is significantly above published rates, for example, in Germany reported rates for 2013 are in the range of only 40?kg of waste plastics combusted per capita.

SUBMITTER: Schwarzbock T

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5367575 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Determining the amount of waste plastics in the feed of Austrian waste-to-energy facilities.

Schwarzböck Therese T Van Eygen Emile E Rechberger Helmut H Fellner Johann J

Waste management & research : the journal of the International Solid Wastes and Public Cleansing Association, ISWA 20160729 2

Although thermal recovery of waste plastics is widely practiced in many European countries, reliable information on the amount of waste plastics in the feed of waste-to-energy plants is rare. In most cases the amount of plastics present in commingled waste, such as municipal solid waste, commercial, or industrial waste, is estimated based on a few waste sorting campaigns, which are of limited significance with regard to the characterisation of plastic flows. In the present study, an alternative ...[more]

PMID: 27474393

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Project description:Inspirational concepts, and the transfer of analogs from natural biology to science and engineering, has produced many excellent technologies to date, spanning vaccines to modern architectural feats. This review highlights that answers to the pressing global petroleum-based plastic waste challenges, can be found within the mechanics and mechanisms natural ecosystems. Here, a suite of technological and engineering approaches, which can be implemented to operate in tandem with nature's prescription for regenerative material circularity, is presented as a route to plastics sustainability. A number of mechanical/green chemical (pre)treatment methodologies, which simulate natural weathering and arthropodal dismantling activities are reviewed, including: mechanical milling, reactive extrusion, ultrasonic-, UV- and degradation using supercritical CO2. Akin to natural mechanical degradation, the purpose of the pretreatments is to render the plastic materials more amenable to microbial and biocatalytic activities, to yield effective depolymerization and (re)valorization. While biotechnological based degradation and depolymerization of both recalcitrant and bioplastics are at a relatively early stage of development, the potential for acceleration and expedition of valuable output monomers and oligomers yields is considerable. To date a limited number of independent mechano-green chemical approaches and a considerable and growing number of standalone enzymatic and microbial degradation studies have been reported. A convergent strategy, one which forges mechano-green chemical treatments together with the enzymatic and microbial actions, is largely lacking at this time. An overview of the reported microbial and enzymatic degradations of petroleum-based synthetic polymer plastics, specifically: low-density polyethylene (LDPE), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polystyrene (PS), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyurethanes (PU) and polycaprolactone (PCL) and selected prevalent bio-based or bio-polymers [polylactic acid (PLA), polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) and polybutylene succinate (PBS)], is detailed. The harvesting of depolymerization products to produce new materials and higher-value products is also a key endeavor in effectively completing the circle for plastics. Our challenge is now to effectively combine and conjugate the requisite cross disciplinary approaches and progress the essential science and engineering technologies to categorically complete the life-cycle for plastics.

Dataset Information

Determining the amount of waste plastics in the feed of Austrian waste-to-energy facilities.

Publications

Determining the amount of waste plastics in the feed of Austrian waste-to-energy facilities.

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