Urban Waste Industrial Waste Biomass Waste: More On The Types of Wastes From Here
Urban Waste Industrial Waste Biomass Waste: More On The Types of Wastes From Here
Urban Waste Industrial Waste Biomass Waste: More On The Types of Wastes From Here
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Every year, about 55 million tonnes of municipal solid waste (MSW) and 38 billion liters of
sewage are generated in the urban areas of India. In addition, large quantities of solid and liquid
wastes are generated by industries. Waste generation in India is expected to increase rapidly in
the future. As more people migrate to urban areas and as incomes increase, consumption levels
are likely to rise, as are rates of waste generation. It is estimated that the amount of waste
generated in India will increase at a per capita rate of approximately 1-1.33% annually. This has
significant impacts on the amount of land that is and will be needed for disposal, economic costs
of collecting and transporting waste, and the environmental consequences of increased MSW
generation levels.
Types of Waste
i. Urban Waste
ii. Industrial Waste
iii. Biomass Waste
iv. Biomedical Waste
Urban waste includes Municipal Solid Waste, Sewage and Fecal Sludge, whereas industrial
waste could be classified as Hazardous industrial waste and Non-hazardous industrial waste.
Most wastes that are generated, find their way into land and water bodies without proper
treatment, causing severe water pollution. They also emit greenhouse gases like methane and
carbon dioxide, and add to air pollution. Any organic waste from urban and rural areas and
industries is a resource due to its ability to get degraded, resulting in energy generation.
The problems caused by solid and liquid wastes can be significantly mitigated through the
adoption of environment-friendly waste-to-energy technologies that will allow treatment and
processing of wastes before their disposal. These measures would reduce the quantity of wastes,
generate a substantial quantity of energy from them, and greatly reduce environmental pollution.
India’s growing energy deficit is making the government central and state governments become
keen on alternative and renewable energy sources. Waste to energy is one of these, and it is
garnering increasing attention from both the central and state governments.
While the Indian Government’s own figures would suggest that the cost of waste to energy is
somewhat higher than other renewable sources, it is still an attractive option, as it serves a dual
role of waste disposal and energy production.
According to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), there exists a potential of
about 1700 MW from urban waste (1500 from MSW and 225 MW from sewage) and about 1300
MW from industrial waste. The ministry is also actively promoting the generation of energy
from waste, by providing subsidies and incentives for the projects. Indian Renewable Energy
Development Agency (IREDA) estimates indicate that India has so far realized only about 2% of
its waste-to-energy potential. A market analysis from Frost and Sullivan predicts that the Indian
municipal solid waste to energy market could be growing at a compound annual growth rate of
9.7% by 2013.
Energy can be recovered from the organic fraction of waste (biodegradable as well as non-
biodegradable) through thermal, thermo-chemical, biochemical and electrochemical methods.
(i) Thermal Conversion: The process involves thermal degradation of waste under high
temperature. In this complete oxidation of the waste occurs under high temperature. The major
technological option under this category is incineration. But incineration has been losing
attention these days because of its emission characteristics.
(ii) Thermo-chemical conversion: This process entails high temperature driven decomposition
of organic matter to produce either heat energy or fuel oil or gas. They are useful for wastes
containing high percentage of organic non-biodegradable matter and low moisture content. The
main technological options under this category include Pyrolysis and Gasification. The
products of these processes (producer gas, exhaust gases etc) can be used purely as heat energy
or further processed chemically, to produce a range of end products.
The Indian Government has recognized waste to energy as a renewable technology and supports
it through various subsidies and incentives. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is
actively promoting all the technology options available for energy recovery from urban and
industrial wastes. MNRE is also promoting the research on waste to energy by providing
financial support for R&D projects on cost sharing basis in accordance with the R&D Policy of
the MNRE. In addition to that, MNRE also provides financial support for projects involving
applied R&D and studies on resource assessment, technology up-gradation and performance
evaluation.
Specific data on the government support for waste to energy projects can be obtained from
here.
A number of key statistics, such as the value of recyclables, the amount of environmental
pollution from waste sources, and the quantity of industrial waste generated, need to be
computed to gain a better understanding of this sector. In terms of research related to waste to
energy, detailed analysis of costs and available funding is needed.
http://www.eai.in/ref/ae/wte/concepts.html
Introduction
The high volatility in fuel prices in the recent past and the resulting turbulence in energy markets
has compelled many countries to look for alternate sources of energy, for both economic and
environmental reasons.
With growing public awareness about sanitation, and with increasing pressure on the government
and urban local bodies to manage waste more efficiently, the Indian waste to energy sector is
poised to grow at a rapid pace in the years to come. The dual pressing needs of waste
management and reliable renewable energy source are creating attractive opportunities for
investors and project developers in the waste to energy sector.
Most wastes that are generated find their way into land and water bodies without proper
treatment, causing severe water and air pollution. The problems caused by solid and liquid
wastes can be significantly mitigated through the adoption of environment-friendly waste to
energy technologies that will allow treatment and processing of wastes before their disposal.
These measures would reduce the quantity of wastes, generate a substantial quantity of energy
from them, and greatly reduce pollution of water and air, thereby offering a number of social and
economic benefits that cannot easily be quantified.
In addition to energy generation, waste-to-energy can fetch significant monetary benefits. Some
of the strategic and financial benefits from waste-to-energy business are:
Profitability - If the right technology is employed with optimal processes and all
components of waste are used to derive value, waste to energy could be a profitable
business. When government incentives are factored in, the attractiveness of the business
increases further.
Government Incentives - The government of India already provides significant
incentives for waste to energy projects, in the form of capital subsidies and feed in tariffs.
With concerns on climate change, waste management and sanitation on the increase (a
result of this increasing concern is the newly formed ministry exclusively for Drinking
Water and Sanitation), the government incentives for this sector is only set to increase in
future.
According to MNRE estimates, there exists a potential of about 1460 MW from MSW and 226
MW from sewage.
*Liquid wastes in this case refers to total sewage sludge viz., sewage sludge generated at STPs
and untreated sewage.
According to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, there is a potential to recover 1,300
MW of power from industrial wastes, which is projected to increase to 2,000 megawatt by 2017.
Projects of over 135 megawatt have been installed so far in distilleries, pulp and paper mills, and
food processing and starch industries. (2011)
http://www.indiablooms.com/NewsDetailsPage/2011/newsDetails141111g.php
From the above section one can infer that there exists an estimated potential of about 225 MW
from all sewage (taking the conservative estimate from MNRE) and about 1460 MW of power
from the MSW generated in India, thus a total of close to 1700 MW of power.
Of this, only about 24 MW have been exploited, according to MNRE. Thus, less than 1.5% of
the total potential has been achieved.
GRID-INTERACTIVE POWER
Contribution
(CAPACITIES IN MW)
(%)
Waste to Power
Urban 20.20 27.4
Industrial 53.46 72.6
Total 73.66
OFF-GRID/ CAPTIVE (CAPACITIES IN Contribution
POWER
MWEq*) (%)
Waste to Energy
Urban 3.50 4.6
Industrial 72.30 95.4
Total 75.8
The growth of this sector has been affected on account of the following limitations/ constraints:
Growth of population, increasing urbanization and rising standards of living have contributed to
an increase both in the quantity and variety of wastes generated by various activities. Broadly,
waste can be classified as urban waste, industrial waste, biomass waste and biomedical waste.
Classification of Waste
Other Waste
Urban Waste Industrial Waste
Biomass Waste Biomedical Waste
Classification of Waste
Urban Waste
Sewage
Fecal Sludge
Industrial Waste
http://www.eai.in/ref/ae/wte/typ/clas/msw.html
MSW includes commercial and residential wastes generated in municipal or notified areas in
either solid or semi-solid form excluding industrial hazardous wastes but including treated bio-
medical wastes. It consists of household waste, wastes from hotels and restaurants, construction
and demolition debris, sanitation residue, and waste from streets.
As per estimates more than 55 million tons of MSW is generated in India per year; the yearly
increase is estimated to be about 5%. It is estimated that solid waste generated in small, medium
and large cities and towns in India is about 0.1 kg, 0.3 – 0.4 kg and 0.5 kg per capita per day
respectively. The estimated annual increase in per capita waste generation is about 1.33 % per
year.
In India, the biodegradable portion dominates the bulk of MSW. This is mainly due to food and
yard waste. With rising urbanization and change in lifestyle and food habits, the amount of
municipal solid waste has been increasing rapidly and its composition has been changing.
In most of the Indian cities, the MSW collection, segregation, transportation, processing and
disposal is carried out by the respective municipal corporations and the state governments
enforce regulatory policies.
Note: In most of the Indian cities open dumping is the common practice which is adversely
affecting on environment and public health.
The major stakeholders in the management of Municipal Solid Waste include: (a) Ministry of
Environment and Forests (MoEF) (b) Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) (c) Central and
State Pollution Control Boards (d) Department of Urban Development (e) State Level Nodal
Agency (f) Urban Local Bodies (g) Private Formal and informal Sector.
In some cities like Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad garbage
disposal is done by Public Private Partnerships (PPPs). The private sector has been involved in
door-to-door collection of solid waste, street sweeping (in a limited way), secondary storage and
transportation and for treatment and disposal of waste.
Urban Local Bodies spend around Rs.500 to Rs.1500 per ton on solid waste management of
which, 60-70% of the amount is on collection alone, 20% - 30% on transportation, but hardly
any fund is spent on treatment and disposal of waste
The total estimated potential for power from all MSW across India is about 1457 MW (2002).
MNRE estimates the energy recovery potential from municipal solid wastes to be about 1500
MW and this could go up to 5,200 MW by 2017. These trends have made many state
governments keen on tapping this source of energy.
Energy can be recovered from the organic fraction of waste (biodegradable as well as non-
biodegradable) through thermo-chemical and biochemical methods.
To know more about the technological processes of energy generation from waste, Click Here
http://www.eai.in/ref/ae/wte/typ/clas/india_urban_wastes.html
The proliferation of urban waste has direct impacts on sanitation in India. With crowded cities
and significant poverty, millions of people in Indian cities are directly exposed to the harmful
effects of all urban waste, especially from fecal and sewage sludge from rivers and lakes. The
economic costs of these harmful effects are indeed dire.
Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) is more commonly known as trash or garbage. MSW includes
commercial and residential wastes generated in municipal or notified areas in either solid or
semi-solid form excluding industrial hazardous wastes but including treated bio-medical wastes.
It consists of household waste, wastes from hotels and restaurants, construction and demolition
debris, sanitation residue, and waste from streets.
Sewage is defined as untreated municipal liquid waste requiring treatment in a sewage treatment
plant. Sewage contains about 99.9% of water, while the remaining content may be organic or
inorganic. Sewage denotes both black water and grey water at the household level, where black
water refers to waste water generated in toilets and grey water to the waste water generated in
kitchen, bathroom and laundry.
Sewage sludge is the semi-solid precipitate produced in wastewater treatment plants. Such
sludge can also occur in untreated sewage disposed off into lakes and other water bodies.
Sewage sludge generation in India is increasing at a faster rate as more and more sewage
treatment plants (STP) are being developed. Sewage sludge and effluents from these STPs are
frequently disposed off on agricultural lands for irrigation/manure purposes.
Fecal Sludge
Sludge of variable consistency collected from so-called on-site sanitation systems, such as
latrines, non-sewered public toilets, septic tanks and aqua privies is denoted as fecal sludge. The
fecal sludge comprises varying concentrations of settleable or settled solids as well as of other,
non-fecal matter. Fecal sludge from septic tanks which consists of settled solids, scum and liquid
is termed as Septage.
http://www.eai.in/ref/ae/wte/pro/process.html
Energy can be recovered from the organic fraction of waste (biodegradable as well as non-
biodegradable) through thermal, thermo-chemical and biochemical methods.
A brief description of the commonly applied technologies for energy generation from waste is as
follows
Anaerobic Digestion/Biomethanation
In this process, the organic fraction of the waste is segregated and fed into a closed container
(biogas digester). In the digester, the segregated waste undergoes biodegradation in presence of
methanogenic bacteria and under anaerobic conditions, producing methane-rich biogas and
effluent. The biogas can be used either for cooking/heating applications, or for generating motive
power or electricity through dual-fuel or gas engines, low-pressure gas turbines, or steam
turbines. The sludge from anaerobic digestion, after stabilization, can be used as a soil
conditioner. It can even be sold as manure depending upon its composition, which is determined
mainly by the composition of the input waste.
Combustion/Incineration
In this process, wastes are directly burned in presence of excess air (oxygen) at high
temperatures (about 800°C), liberating heat energy, inert gases, and ash. Combustion results in
transfer of 65%–80% of heat content of the organic matter to hot air, steam, and hot water. The
steam generated, in turn, can be used in steam turbines to generate power.
Pyrolysis/Gasification
Pyrolysis is a process of chemical decomposition of organic matter brought about by heat. In this
process, the organic material is heated in absence of air until the molecules thermally break down
to become a gas comprising smaller molecules (known collectively as syngas).
Gasification can also take place as a result of partial combustion of organic matter in presence of
a restricted quantity of oxygen or air. The gas so produced is known as producer gas. The gases
produced by pyrolysis mainly comprise carbon monoxide (25%), hydrogen and hydrocarbons
(15%), and carbon dioxide and nitrogen (60%). The next step is to ‘clean’ the syngas or producer
gas. Thereafter, the gas is burned in internal combustion (IC) engine generator sets or turbines to
produce electricity.
The waste dumped in a landfill becomes subjected, over a period of time, to anaerobic
conditions. As a result, its organic fraction slowly volatilizes and decomposes, leading to
production of ‘landfill gas’, which contains a high percentage of methane (about 50%). It can be
used as a source of energy either for direct heating/cooking applications or to generate power
through IC engines or turbines.
The pathways illustrating the primary MSW to energy technologies are highlighted below:
MNRE has promoted the national programme for the recovery of energy from industrial and
urban wastes. Since this programme seeks to promote setting up of waste-to-energy plants,
various financial incentives and other eligibility criteria have been proposed by the MNRE to
encourage the participation in waste-to-energy projects.