Impact of Recycling Targets on the Calorific Value of Residual Waste Stream in Scotland

Abstract

The UK's waste management had greatly changed due to the influence of the European Union (EU) waste hierarchy that gives preference to waste recycling and thus keeps Energy from Waste (EfW) next to recycling. In addition, the European Commission (EC) demanded its member states to comply with its framework targets associated with waste recycling and landfills with waste. Responding to the EC requirements, the UK increased its recycling rate over the past years through potentially improved recycling regimes. This had resulted in significant changes in the feedstock to EfW plant characterized by its Calorific Value (CV). This research focused on developing a model to test the impact of recycling on the Calorific Value (CV) of residual waste for energy recovery. The Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) composition and the Zero Waste Plan in Scotland was used as case study under various recycling scenarios such as 50% recycling of food waste, paper/cardboard, plastics and glass. Results indicated that increase in the recycling targets resulted to a significant impact on the CV of the residual MSW. Recycling food wastes and glass did improved the CV of residual waste to 9.93 MJ/Kg and 8.20 MJ/Kg respectively with corresponding recycling rates of 48% and 61% respectively. Further, outcomes did indicated that plastic and paper material recycling gave a negative impact on the CV and revealed that such negative effect of plastic and paper recycling could be compensated by increased food and glass recycling strategies.