Waste Management xxx (2014) xxx–xxx

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Waste Management
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/wasman

Waste to energy – key element for sustainable waste management

Paul H. Brunner ⇑, Helmut Rechberger
Vienna University of Technology, Institute for Water Quality, Resource and Waste Management, Austria

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Human activities inevitably result in wastes. The higher the material turnover, and the more complex and
Available online xxxx divers the materials produced, the more challenging it is for waste management to reach the goals of
‘‘protection of men and environment’’ and ‘‘resource conservation’’. Waste incineration, introduced
Keywords: originally for volume reduction and hygienic reasons, went through a long and intense development.
Waste to energy Together with prevention and recycling measures, waste to energy (WTE) facilities contribute signifi-
Air pollution control cantly to reaching the goals of waste management. Sophisticated air pollution control (APC) devices
Metal recovery
ensure that emissions are environmentally safe. Incinerators are crucial and unique for the complete
Bottom ash
Waste analysis
destruction of hazardous organic materials, to reduce risks due to pathogenic microorganisms and
Biogenic carbon viruses, and for concentrating valuable as well as toxic metals in certain fractions. Bottom ash and APC
Hazardous substances residues have become new sources of secondary metals, hence incineration has become a materials
recycling facility, too. WTE plants are supporting decisions about waste and environmental management:
They can routinely and cost effectively supply information about chemical waste composition as well as
about the ratio of biogenic to fossil carbon in MSW and off-gas.
Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction first step, the total turnover of materials in modern societies is

summarized, because this anthropogenic metabolism determines
Waste management practices have evolved over many centu- the wastes that have to be taken into account by any waste man-
ries. While in the beginning, hygienic considerations were on top agement system. Next, the goals of waste management, which
of the priority list, the rapidly rising amount and complexity of are crucial for the design of management strategies, are discussed.
wastes became main issues of waste management in today’s The question is addressed how these goals can be reached, and
affluent societies. In parallel to the economic development, waste which contributions processes such as WTE can provide. Emphasis
management went through several stages to reach the high is laid on the following topics: energy, materials, costs, and social
technological level that is observed today. Sophisticated collection acceptance. The capacity of WTE to contribute to a recycling soci-
systems, paired with efficient separation processes, allow high ety is investigated by assessing the potential to supply energy and
recovery and recycling rates. Additionally, a large fraction of secondary materials from wastes.
municipal solid waste (MSW) is treated in waste to energy (WTE) A unique characteristic of this paper is the material balance
plants, and most toxic organic wastes are destroyed in hazardous approach: Waste management and all corresponding treatment
waste incinerators. In view of high and increasing recycling rates processes are considered as input–output systems that have to
and of growing investments into prevention measures, the observe the requirement of the law about the conservation of
question arises, what the main function of thermal processes in matter. This ensures a holistic view, affirming that valuable as well
modern waste management is. Is incineration still necessary and as hazardous substances and energy are taken into account, from
appropriate to fulfill waste management goals, or are other and entering waste management until disposal in final sinks. Also,
better means available? additional features of WTE are taken up such as the application
The objective of this introductory paper is to investigate the role of incinerators for analytical purposes (waste composition, fraction
thermal processes play for sustainable waste management. In a of biogenic carbon in waste input). Finally, reasons are summarized
why WTE is an indispensable part of every sustainable waste
management system.
⇑ Corresponding author. Address: Institute for Water Quality, Resource and
This introduction focuses mainly on MSW incinerators (grate
Waste Management, Vienna University of Technology, Karlsplatz 13/226, A-1040
Vienna, Austria. Tel.: +43 1 58801 226 41; fax: +43 1 58801 9 226 41. furnaces and fluidized bed combustion) and does not cover all
E-mail address: paul.h.brunner@tuwien.ac.at (P.H. Brunner). available thermal waste treatment processes. Technologies such
URL: http://iwr.tuwien.ac.at/en (P.H. Brunner). as gasification (cf. Arena, 2012), pyrolysis (Malkow, 2004) and

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2014.02.003
0956-053X/Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Please cite this article in press as: Brunner, P.H., Rechberger, H. Waste to energy – key element for sustainable waste management. Waste Management
(2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2014.02.003
2 P.H. Brunner, H. Rechberger / Waste Management xxx (2014) xxx–xxx

plasma arc (Pourali, 2010) treatment are discussed in other papers For waste management, the stock is important because it repre-
of this special issue on thermal waste treatment. However, most sents the future waste. Materials in the stock cannot be prevented,
aspects that are considered in the following paragraphs are they already exist and will eventually become obsolete. Thus, the
independent of the type of thermal treatment, and the conclusions understanding of stock dynamics is important for early recognition
hold true for a wide array of thermal treatment technologies. of waste amounts and compositions. Fast growing economies such
as some Asian countries still have a comparatively small material
stock which is now rapidly filled up. For these countries, input into
2. Waste as a product of the metabolism of the anthroposphere the economy is much larger than the output, thus to establish a recy-
cling market for long living materials is difficult due to the lack of
The sphere where human activities take place – the anthropo- wastes for recycling. It will take several decades until the large
sphere – can be looked at as a living organism with inputs, stocks amounts of steel and construction materials come to their end of life
and outputs. To operate this metabolism, materials are imported status and enter waste management and recycling. In contrast, ma-
from the earth’s crust or synthesized from precursors, and are uti- ture societies with a highly developed infrastructure and lower
lized over a certain time. Like any living organism, the anthropo- growth rates are more likely to have a waste output that can be com-
sphere sets off materials. These are on one hand emissions to pared to the primary supply input. For these countries, recycling can
water, air and soil, and on the other hand waste products gener- provide a major part of the commodities needed in the market.
ated by the use of consumer products and the replacement of For both types of metabolism – fast growing or mature – it is a
investment goods. Hence, waste management controls a large frac- fact that all materials that are brought into the system at one point
tion of the output of the anthropogenic metabolism. In order to in time will turn into waste. The only exceptions are dissipative
design and plan waste management systems, the metabolism of emissions during the life time of the material (e.g. CO2, or products
the anthroposphere must be known. Without this knowledge, of weathering, corrosion, and erosion), and certain materials of very
neither future amounts of wastes nor its compositions can be high cultural value that are preserved ‘‘forever’’. Thus, it is impor-
anticipated. In particular the stock of materials in long living goods tant not only to know the mass of the stock, but also its composition.
is of primordial importance, because this stock comprises the The content of materials in the anthropogenic stock changes
largest amounts of bulk materials, and of hazardous materials, too. constantly and is as dynamic as the mass of the stock. While most
The evolution of civilization goes hand in hand with a growing materials are inorganic and potentially well suited for recycling,
per capita turnover of materials. During prehistoric times, many organic substances are also contained in the stock. These or-
primitive men had a total throughput of about 6 t/capita and year, ganic materials comprise degradable substances such as cellulose
consisting mostly of food, air, and water, and a few kilograms for (wood) as well as refractory compounds such as PVC (polyvinyl-
tools and clothing. In contrast, a modern citizen requires about chloride). The bulk of these substances, in particular polymers such
86 tons per capita and year just for the activities in his private as PET (polyethylene terephthalate) or PP (polypropylene), are of
home and for transportation (cf. Table 1). no health concern, but some are hazardous and are regulated as
If larger system boundaries are taken into account, considering so called POPs (persistent organic pollutants) by the Stockholm
all materials that are required to sustain urban life in a city (public convention. Today’s anthropogenic stock contains substances that
and private infrastructure such as buildings for administration, are out phased by the Stockholm convention, and thus are highly
education, sports, culture and leisure; roads, public transport; restricted in their use; due to their hazardous properties, they can-
industry, service industry, trade, and commerce), the material not be put on the market today as recycling products. Alternative
turnover increases to about 200 tons per capita and year. An actu- solutions are required.
ally larger amount of material flows results if the total turnover is The stock of hazardous organic materials is large, and amounts
regarded, including mining and production processes and their globally to millions of tons. Because products often contain POPs,
respective tailings and wastes. such as the flame retardants polybrominated diphenylethers
Even more striking is the growth in material stocks: While the (PBDEs) in plastic materials, the mass flows of materials containing
per capita belongings of primitive men amounted to less than POPs are huge. This is also the case for certain heavy metals that
100 kg, the stock of his modern counterpart is about one thousand are added to polymers: in order to improve properties such as
times larger and amounts to more than 300 tons in his private resistance towards degradation by UV-light, temperature, chemi-
home (including transportation infrastructure), and even 400 tons cals, and microorganisms, heavy metals like lead, zinc, tin,
if the total urban metabolism is considered. The bulk of this stock antimony and others are used as additives for plastic materials.
consists mainly of mixtures of sand, gravel, and stones (concrete, The stock of PVC for instance holds large amounts of cadmium that
bricks, other building materials), metals (iron, aluminum, zinc, – in the past – has been used as a stabilizer in the range of 1–10 g
copper), plastics, and wood. In addition, many metal compounds Cd per kg of PVC.
and thousands of organic substances are comprised in the stock Although there is abundant data about the individual produc-
to ensure certain functions. tion and consumption of goods and substances, there is no compre-

Table 1
Per capita material flows through private households in affluent societies (based on data from Baccini and Brunner, 2012).

Activity Input [t/c.y] Output [t/c.y] Stock [t/c]

Total Water fraction Solid waste Sewage Off gas
To nourisha 5.7 1.0 0.1 0.9 4.7 <0.1
To clean 60 60 0.02 60 0 0.10
To reside 10 0 1.0 0 7.6 120 + 1b
To transport 10 0 1.6 0 6.0 280 + 2b
Total 86 61 2.7 61 19 300 + 3b
a
Including air for breathing.
b
Change in stock [t/c.y].

Please cite this article in press as: Brunner, P.H., Rechberger, H. Waste to energy – key element for sustainable waste management. Waste Management
(2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2014.02.003
 P.H. Brunner, H. Rechberger / Waste Management xxx (2014) xxx–xxx 3

hensive, systematic, transparent, and readily available knowledge men and environment: If wastes are recycled and secondary mate-
base about materials in anthropogenic flows and stocks. Data sets rials are used, less primary materials must be produced and taken
are punctual, are difficult to cross check, and include large and from the ground. Because mining requires more energy, water,
often unknown uncertainties. It is thus possible but not easy to land, and materials, and causes by far more environmental pollu-
derive waste generation and waste composition data from anthro- tion and workplace accidents, the recycling of goods represents a
pogenic metabolism data. If input (supply) data and output (waste) large and significant contribution to protecting men and the
data are combined and used for material balances, cross checking environment.
allows decreasing uncertainties to a certain degree. It must be A second motivation for recycling, and today the main reason
kept in mind, that waste analyses are – mostly due to sampling for the focus on resource conservation, is the high volatility of re-
problems – associated with large errors that often are not detected source prices, the corresponding temporarily reduced resource
because of a lack of cross checking methodologies. If in future, availability, and sometimes also geopolitical resource consider-
economic data from statistical offices, market research data, and ations. Rises in resource prices are a repeated phenomenon during
waste management data are organized in a mass balance oriented, economic history, with recent peaks e.g. in the 1970ies and 2010s
compatible and transparent way, a knowledge base of high value and appertaining recycling booms in the waste world. Also, the
could be established for waste management. issue of geological resource scarcity is at times put forward. It is of-
To summarize, wastes are the result of the anthropogenic ten discussed controversially because of the large uncertainties
metabolism. Because of the very high throughput and stock of regarding (i) reserves and resources, (ii) future resource needs,
materials in the anthroposphere, waste management has to cope and (iii) technologies available in distant times that are not yet
with large and increasing amounts of wastes. The composition of known and that can potentially expand the resource base consider-
the material flows and stocks is highly diverse, and contains all pos- ably (cf. fracking).
sible substances, hence waste management must be able to control In order to reach the goals stated above, waste management
a very large array of beneficial and hazardous materials. Matters are may only yield three kinds of products: recycling goods to replace
further aggravated by the fact that uncertainties about waste primary materials, residues well suited for landfilling with little
amounts and composition are high and sometimes unknown. after care, and residual emissions that are small enough not to
harm the environment. This requires high-tech, environmentally
sound, and affordable waste treatment processes. Recycling must
3. Goals of waste management yield ‘‘clean’’ cycles, separating harmful impurities from valuable
materials. Logistic systems must keep entropy low, increasing
Waste management has been established as a public service for substance concentration and thus minimizing the need for energy
at least two millennia. While in the beginning of the first dense set- input into waste management. If clean cycles are established,
tlements, hygienic considerations were on top of the priority list, recycling residues will be produced that need to be disposed of
during the last decades the rapidly rising turnover of materials be- carefully, hence ‘‘sinks’’ are required.
came the main issue of waste management. The strategies to cope There are two types of sinks: For inorganic materials, sinks are
with growing wastes were manifold, from removal of waste as fast places on the planet where materials can be safely disposed of.
as possible, to bury and forget, to filter strategies, to recycling and Such sinks are e.g. the sea sediment where calcium carbonate is
urban mining, and to today’s waste hierarchy. Although the strat- deposited, or a landfill of pre-treated bottom ash. For organic mate-
egies and means varied, the goals of waste management proved rials, sinks are transformation processes that destroy organic com-
to be resistant to change over time. They can be summarized as fol- pounds. Typical examples are biochemical or thermal processes,
lows: The objectives are the protection of men and the environ- where a substance such as cellulose or benzene is mineralized into
ment, and the conservation of resources such as materials, carbon dioxide and water. The sinks can be further classified into
energy and space. Already in the 1980ies, progressive countries natural sinks (sea, sediment, atmosphere, soil etc.) and anthropo-
started to add a third objective, namely ‘‘after care free waste man- genic (man-made) sinks. Anthropogenic sinks are usually supplied
agement – no export of waste related issues in time’’. Thus they by waste management. They comprise landfills, incinerators, and
looked for means to reduce the burden for future generations other processes that transform organic compounds into mineral-
resulting from poor landfilling and from recycling wastes loaded ized substances like water and carbon dioxide. The term ‘‘final
with hazardous substances. It is noteworthy that the third objec- sink’’ stands either for a sink where a substance has a very long res-
tive to protect future generations has been introduced before ‘‘sus- idence time of >10,000 years, or for a transformation process
tainability’’ became the predominant world view. where a substance is completely transformed into other products.
Today, it is well established that the main purpose of waste To reach the goals of waste management requires technology,
management is to protect men and the environment. In many know-how, administrative capacity, public acceptance, and first
countries, modern waste management fulfills this purpose so well of all sufficient financial resources. According to their economic
that it has faded from the public spotlight. It comes to the fore only capacity, countries spend between 0.2% and 0.4% of their GDP
when a particular crisis takes place, such as the epidemics with (gross domestic product) for waste management (Brunner and
swine fever and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or Fellner, 2007). Taking into account per capita GDP ranges from a
sewage sludge contaminated with radioactive fallout from the couple of hundred US$ to several ten thousand US$, it becomes
Chernobyl disaster. In both cases, the public as well as politicians clear that there is no uniform solution for all when attempting to
highly appreciated the reliable technologies that modern waste reach the goals of waste management. What is needed are tailor-
management offers to handle such crisis with large amounts of made, regionally adapted, and affordable concepts. They are likely
wastes. Thermal treatment in cement kilns allows coping with to be accepted by the public as solutions for their waste manage-
hygienic challenges such as BSE, and sludge incinerators can ment problems.
decrease the volume of radioactive sludge to a small volume
suitable for disposal in special storage sites. 4. The evolution of waste incineration
More in the focus of today are resource related issues:
‘‘Conservation of resources’’ appears to have surpassed the goal How can waste incineration contribute to reaching the goals of
of protection of men and the environment. A large benefit of waste management? The earliest incinerators were built around
resource conservation and recycling is again the protection of the end of the 18th century to overcome the practice of disposing

Please cite this article in press as: Brunner, P.H., Rechberger, H. Waste to energy – key element for sustainable waste management. Waste Management
(2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2014.02.003
4 P.H. Brunner, H. Rechberger / Waste Management xxx (2014) xxx–xxx

of municipal solid wastes on agricultural fields. Farmers objected >150 mg/Nm3 to <5 mg/Nm3. For specific substances such as lead
to the decreasing nutrient value of MSW, and complained about and cadmium a more than thousand fold decrease in emissions
the increasing content of glass, ceramics and other constituents resulted.
that accumulated in their fields and harmed agricultural practice. Besides off gas, incinerators produce bottom ash and air
In the following, large towns such as Hamburg and London could pollution control residues (cf. Fig. 1). Today, these residues are
neither cope with the volume of waste within their territories, treated with much more care than in the beginning of incineration
nor could they dispose of wastes in their rivers Elbe or Thames when they have been used as soil conditioner, construction mate-
for hygienic reasons. Hence, they constructed the first rather sim- rial and the like. While bottom ash is now landfilled or specially
ple incinerators, consisting of furnace and stack (de Fodor, 1911). treated for use in construction, APC residues are enriched in heavy
This practice contributed significantly to protecting the population metals and are more hazardous. They are disposed of in
from hygienic problems such as cholera and typhoid fever that underground storages. The latest development is to extract
were prevalent at the time. It also succeeded in reducing the vol- secondary resources such as iron, aluminum, copper, zinc and
ume of waste by a large fraction. In part, the resulting bottom other metals from these residues. Thus, in the future, incineration
ash was used as a raw material to produce construction materials, is likely to become a means to conserve resources by both utilizing
with unknown success. energy and recycling materials.
For the first MSW incinerators, energy recovery was not a goal,
they were built for hygienic and volume reduction reasons. Mod-
5. Objectives of modern waste to energy plants
ern WTE facilities transform the chemically bound energy of
MSW into heat and/or electricity. However, already 100 years ago
The potential of waste incineration goes way beyond fulfilling
a few incinerators produced electricity and steam, too, as de Fodor
the first goal of waste management as stated above. Modern
pointed out in 1911 in his seminal book on ‘‘Elektrizität aus
WTE plants can contribute significantly to the second and third
Kehricht’’ (‘‘Electricity from MSW’’) (de Fodor, 1911). Utilization
goals as well (resource conservation, and minimization of after-
of energy became a technical requirement when sophisticated air
care). Thus, the objectives of incineration must be newly defined.
pollution control was introduced: The flue gas had to be cooled,
The original goals of sanitation and volume reduction are still valid
and this was best done by applying first a condensation cooler,
and are becoming even more important today: Biological risks are
and later a heat exchanger. Heat was supplied if a consumer such
on the increase, and the urban sprawl prohibits the siting of new
as a paper mill or a district heating system was available. Electric-
landfills close to population centres. Additionally, environmental
ity was produced in all other cases.
protection has become a major goal for incineration. It has to be
While this first generation of incineration plants contributed to
kept in mind that the output of the metabolism of the anthropo-
the protection of men and the environment with regards to haz-
sphere contains large amounts of hazardous organic materials that
ardous microorganisms and pests, it at the same time presented
cannot be recycled. For these substances, thermal destruction by
a new chemical threat. Without any flue gas cleaning, and due to
WTE is the main path towards a sustainable solution. Without
the poor incineration conditions, emissions were high. It was not
incineration, the risks originating from these compounds could
surprising that incineration was opposed by the public due to the
not be managed. Well designed and operated incinerators are
new nuisances. However, because of the lack of knowledge in the
excellent ‘‘final sinks’’ for most hazardous organic substances such
fields of air pollution and its control, it took several decades before
as POPs. Refractory organic materials are mineralized in a con-
furnace technologies were improved and efficient filters came to
trolled way, and are converted into CO2, H2O and – depending on
the market. In the 1950ies and 60ies, the first MSW incinerators
their composition – inorganic halogen compounds.
equipped with filters were installed. Some of these incinerators
Hence, today the goals of waste management can be summa-
made use of the energy in MSW by supplying it for town heating
rized as follows:
or using it to produce electricity. Due to the increasing content of
aggressive constituents in MSW such as PVC (polyvinyl chloride)
 hygienisation,
decomposing to hydrochloric acid, the air pollution control (APC)
 volume reduction,
equipment required significant improvement before it could cope
 environmental protection,
with the beginning legislation. Still, the results of waste incinera-
 mineralization and immobilization of hazardous substances,
tion were an environmental disaster (Brunner and Zobrist, 1983).
 resource conservation,
It took a new generation of science, technology, and legislation
 affordable costs and public acceptance.
to perform the quantum leap that was necessary to improve incin-
eration to the point that it became a valuable means to reach the
goals of waste management. The initial trigger was public opposi- 5.1. Hygienisation
tion, which made it impossible to install new waste incinerators.
Investigations into the surroundings of waste incinerators showed One of the main advantages of thermal treatment is the
high accumulations first of heavy metals, later also of chlorinated complete destruction of any living organisms due to the off-gas
aromatic compounds such as dioxins and furans. Hence, legislators temperature of >850 °C at a residence time of >2 s. In contrast to
included additional parameters in their emission regulations, such other waste treatment processes such as composting or mechani-
as volatile heavy metals and dioxins. In particular, the limitation of cal treatment, all bacteria, viruses, prions and the like are reliably
mercury and dioxins proved to be a quantum leap, because it destroyed by incineration. This is of particular importance in case
required completely new technologies to remove these constitu- of epidemics, when large amounts of infectious materials may have
ents from the off-gas. The old filter technologies that were based to be disposed of. Also, in order to cope with the problem of inva-
on cyclones and sometimes on one-chamber electrostatic precipi- sive plants and pests, thermal treatment is a dependable means for
tators were superseded by modern multi-stage filter systems. disposal.
These wet and dry systems did not only eliminate the bulk of the
fly ash as the previous filters, but they also were capable of remov- 5.2. Volume reduction
ing fine particulates. This is especially important because these fine
particles are carriers of heavy metals and POPs. As a consequence, The mass reduction by incineration is displayed in Fig. 1:
the fly ash content of flue gas was continuously reduced from Depending on the composition of MSW and the specific

Please cite this article in press as: Brunner, P.H., Rechberger, H. Waste to energy – key element for sustainable waste management. Waste Management
(2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2014.02.003
 P.H. Brunner, H. Rechberger / Waste Management xxx (2014) xxx–xxx 5

Fig. 1. Typical mass flows through a waste to energy facility equipped with dry (ESP) and wet air pollution control systems, in kg per kg of MSW. In addition to the flows
presented in this figure, about 5 kg of air are required for combustion, increasing the amount of flue gas by the same extent.

combustion and APC technology, the mass ratio of MSW to bottom facilities with advanced air pollution control. There is no correla-
ash is about 4:1, and of bottom ash to APC residue about 10:1. tion between heating value and grade of contamination (cf.
Thus, about three fourth of the mass of MSW are released by the Fig. 2). Hence it is necessary to chemically characterize wastes
off-gas. In terms of volume, the reduction from MSW to solid prior to combustion. Such analysis, which is often laborious and
residues is about tenfold. An exact number is difficult to present costly is not required if combustion takes place in facilities with
because of the ambiguous definition of the density of MSW, and advanced air pollution control, because such technology can han-
the point of reference. It has to be kept in mind that waste is dle also high concentrations of contaminants. It should be remem-
compacted first at the household level, then in the collection bered that waste inputs into collection systems are hard to control,
vehicle, and changes again the density when landfilled or mixed thus robust waste treatment processes are indispensable.
in the bunker of the incinerator. In any case, incineration is by The selection of an APC system is determined by legislation and
far the most powerful treatment for volume reduction, and thus cost effectiveness. It is important to include the total incinerator sys-
conservation of landfill space. tem for an assessment: For instance, wet systems discharge the salts
immediately into the receiving waters, and require a certain size of
5.3. Environmental protection dilution capacity. If a dry system is chosen, and the APC residues are
landfilled, this may result in the slow release of a large amount of
One of the main objectives of incineration is environmental pro- salts over a long time period. A third solution is to recycle the salts
tection. Wastes may contain ‘‘everything’’, hence emissions from by recovering them from brine or solid residue, which in both cases
badly controlled incinerators may also comprise a large array of is costly. Hence, for environmental assessment, it is necessary to
hazards. While in the past, incinerators have been key sources of analyze the total waste treatment system with all inputs and down-
pollutants such as dust, hydrochloric acid, carbon monoxide, poly stream processes such as disposal or reuse of filter residues, and to
aromatic hydrocarbons, and dioxins and furans, today they are follow material flows over larger hydrological scales and times.
clear sinks for all organic and many inorganic substances. Emis- Air pollution control results in filter residues. Depending on the
sions of modern WTE plants are able to clearly undercut the most APC technologies applied, these residues are liquid, solid or both. If a
stringent of present air pollution standards (see paper by XY in this dry control system is chosen, the product consists of solid filter dust,
special issue). For successful clean air management, it is crucial to enriched by a neutralization agent to remove acids from flue gas.
allocate the different wastes to appropriate combustion facilities Wet systems produce typically waste water to be purified, sludge
with adequate air pollution control. from sewage treatment, and dry material from particulate removal.
Combustible wastes comprise MSW and other waste types such Bottom ash is usually landfilled after pre-treatment (magnetic
as hazardous waste, commercial waste, industrial waste, construc- separation of iron, possibly followed by curing in water and air).
tion and demolition waste, sewage sludge from municipal and This results – besides a significant load of salts – in little emissions
industrial wastewater treatment plants. A survey in Austria because of the comparatively high pH of the produced leachate.
(Fehringer et al., 1997) reveals that typically about 1 ton of com- Depending on the quality of the oxidation process in the furnace
bustible wastes is generated per capita and year. Table 2 gives a (residence time, temperature, turbulence, air flow and oxygen con-
rough indication of the distribution of the various waste types, tent), landfilling of bottom ash may yield more or less emissions of
including their content in energy and cadmium. There are distinc- dissolved organic carbon (DOC), too. In the very long term, bottom
tive differences with respect to contamination with hazardous ash landfills may leach some metals if they turn from an anaerobic
constituents, requiring clear regulation for assigning specific waste to an aerobic state.
streams to appropriate combustion and APC technologies.
For example, there is a large fraction of comparatively clean 5.4. Mineralization and immobilization
wastes (clean wood, saw dust, uncontaminated paper) that is
appropriate to be utilized in common industrial boilers. However, The main advantage of incineration over all other waste treat-
there is also a significant fraction of highly contaminated wastes ment processes is the mineralization of organic substances that
(besides MSW these are certain mixed plastic fractions, combusti- is the conversion of CxHyOz to carbon dioxide and water. Taking
ble fractions from construction and demolition waste, hazardous into account the many million tons of refractory organic sub-
wastes) that require the treatment in specialized combustion stances that are produced each year, incineration is a key process

Please cite this article in press as: Brunner, P.H., Rechberger, H. Waste to energy – key element for sustainable waste management. Waste Management
(2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2014.02.003
6 P.H. Brunner, H. Rechberger / Waste Management xxx (2014) xxx–xxx

Table 2
The composition of combustible wastes differs from conventional fuels and ranges from harmless to hazardous; HV = lower heating value (after Fehringer et al., 1997).

C N S Cl Cd Hg Pb Zn HV
g/kg g/kg g/kg g/kg mg/kg mg/kg mg/kg mg/kg MJ/kg
All combustible wastes
Mean 450 9.1 2.3 4.3 5.7 0.8 230 520 13
Min 100 0.20 0.06 0.010 0.01 0.001 <1 1 5
Max 900 670 17 480 500 10 4000 16 000 41
Specific combustible wastes and fuels
Sawdust 470 0.3 1.0 0.60 0.8 0.02 3 30 17
Mixed plastics 640 7.9 0.70 17 73 1.3 390 550 25–35
MSW 240 7.0 4.0 8.7 11 2 810 1 100 10
Coal 850 12.0 10 1.5 1 0.5 80 85 30
Fuel oil 850 3.0 15 0.010 <1 0.01 10 20 41

5.5. Resource conservation

5.5.1. Materials
The products of incineration represent both, hazardous materi-
als and resources. By additional treatment, they can be upgraded to
valuable products separating the hazardous substances from the
rest. In principle, the additional treatment is determined by
economics: If there is a market for the products, and if there are
technologies available that can competitively upgrade residues
for this market, incineration products will be recycled. At present,
several new technologies are developed in this field.
During incineration, atmophilic metals are highly enriched in
APC residues, and lithophilic substances accumulate in bottom
ash. Incinerators can act as concentrators for many substances,
which is a prerequisite for successful material recovery. Hence,
attempts for upgrading bottom ash are manifold. As mentioned
above, since the beginning of incineration, ash was used as a pre-
cursor to produce construction materials. This practice disap-
peared and returned with increasing regularity. Unfortunately,
while many statements about the utilization of bottom ash in con-
struction can be found, the reasons for discontinuing the utilization
of bottom ash are not documented. Hence, it is not known if long
term technical failures or economic aspects are the cause for the
Fig. 2. Heating value and Cd content of combustible wastes in Austria (Fehringer
fact that still today most bottom ash is landfilled. What in contrast
et al., 1997). A: sludge, uncontaminated wood, bark, paper; B: waste oil, chipboard is known is that the relevance of bottom ash use for resource
wood, coal dust, screenings, rejects, etc.; C: bulky waste, end-of-life tires, adhesive, conservation is small: Processed bottom ash could substitute
rubber, solvents, dyes; D: MSW; E: various plastics. gravel in certain applications such as in road construction. Today’s
consumption of gravel amounts roughly to 5.000 kg per capita and
to safely dispose of these substances by mineralization, converting year. Compared to this the maximally possible generation of bot-
them into harmless end products. Based on the heterogeneity of tom ash from MSW incineration is 50–100 kg per capita and year,
MSW and wastes in general, complete mineralization is a major substituting 1–2% of primary resources. The chemical composition
challenge. In contrast to natural gas, fuel oil, and even coal, the com- of mechanically processed bottom ash differs much from the qual-
bustion of MSW requires special measures for complete mineraliza- ity of natural gravel, and it is likely that a significant load of heavy
tion. Furnace residence times must be longer, and designing the metals is introduced into the road network. This on one hand
furnace and grate is more demanding. Best MSW incinerators come potentially contaminates soil and groundwater over long time
close to the mineralization efficiency of coal fired power plants (Corg periods. On the other hand, it hampers future recycling of road
to Cmineral  99%). High mineralization efficiency is important also construction materials. Thus, when applying bottom ash for
because of the remaining organic carbon in bottom ash and APC res- construction, the goals of ‘‘protection of men and the environment’’
idues. Organic carbon is potentially degradable, producing organic and of ‘‘resource conservation’’ have to be carefully compared and
acids and finally CO2 and thus reducing the pH of ash deposits. weighted against each other.
The residues of incineration are often landfilled or disposed of A number of valuable materials such as iron, stainless steel, alu-
in underground storage sites. It is important that the interaction minum, copper, and brass are concentrated in the bottom ash.
with water does not result in emissions to the environment. Bot- Intensive characterization has shown that some metals are present
tom ash and APC residues both contain salts such as chlorides, sul- in metallic form, and not as an oxide or other compound (Skutan
phates and nitrates which are partly soluble in water. Hence, and Rechberger, 2007; Mitterbauer et al., 2009). Thus, for example,
before safe disposal, the residues have to be treated in order to Fig. 3 shows that more than 50% of the copper contained in the
ensure low chemical mobility and hydraulic permeability. bottom ash is potentially recoverable by a mechanical process;
Stabilization with cement reduces infiltration of water. Control of particles larger than 1 mm are considered to be detectable and
pH, redox conditions, and chemical speciation are important for removable by a combination of spectroscopic detection and
ensuring immobilization of both bottom ash and APC residues. pneumatic/mechanical separators. Technological development

Please cite this article in press as: Brunner, P.H., Rechberger, H. Waste to energy – key element for sustainable waste management. Waste Management
(2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2014.02.003
 P.H. Brunner, H. Rechberger / Waste Management xxx (2014) xxx–xxx 7

such as dry bottom ash withdrawal and separation of smallest par- used for district heating. The heat of condensation is not lost to
ticles from bottom ash will increase the metal recovery rate of WTE the environment but used. The total thermal efficiency of such a
facilities further (Morf et al., 2013). Today’s efforts are directed to- combination can be as high as 74%. However, for a technically
wards complete recycling of bottom ash by metal extraction and sound comparison of energy efficiencies of power plants the
upgrading the remaining fraction to a construction material. Such exergetic efficiency has to be applied. In the example of Fig. 4 this
progress allows reconsidering the current practice of separate would be:
metal collection by the consumer. It may well be that in future,
MSW ¼ 100% exergy
the optimal point of collection with respect to recovery efficiency
and costs is shifted from prior to post combustion.
Electricity ¼ 100% exergy
For APC residues, too, new concepts are developed to increase
resource efficiency: Abundant metals such as zinc, iron, lead,
Exergy of heat ¼ Flow of heatðQ Þ  Carnot efficiency ðg ¼ 1  T E =T H Þ
copper, aluminum (Table 3) are potentially recoverable from fly
ashes, either by wet-chemical (by acid and/or alkaline washing)
or thermo-chemical processes (Kuboňová et al., 2013). Such a full T E ¼ Temperature of the environment ð15  C ¼ 288 KÞ
scale plant is in operation in Switzerland recovering zinc from
APC residues by solvent-extraction and electrolysis. The commer- T H ¼ Thermodynamic medium temperature of Q
cial product contains 99,995% zinc, representing 50% of the input
of Zn via MSW. In addition, a mixture of cadmium, lead, and copper T H ¼ ðT 1  T 2 Þ= lnðT 1 =T 2 Þ
is recovered as a secondary resource, too (Schlumberger and
Bühler, 2013). It remains to be seen how economic and environ- T 1 ¼ Outgoing temperature ð150  C ¼ 423 KÞ
mentally sound these new concepts will be when implemented
in practice on a large scale. T 2 ¼ Return temperature ð50  C ¼ 323 KÞ

5.5.2. Energy T H ¼ 371 K and g ¼ 0:233

In modern countries, energy in MSW and other wastes amounts
to around 5% of the total energy demand. The effective utilization The exergetic efficiencies for Case A and B then are:
of this energy thus can reduce the demand of other energy carriers gex;A ¼ 21:2% gex;B ¼ ð6:0 þ 68:4  0:233Þ ¼ 21:3%
such as fossil fuels. MSW is a comparably heterogeneous fuel of
complex composition, and therefore difficult to process. Especially This shows that from a technical point of view both technolo-
the high contents of chlorine and sulphur in MSW result in large gies perform rather identical. Therefore, none of all possible energy
concentrations of acids in the raw gas. In order to keep boiler cor- conversion systems should be generally favored as long as the
rosion low, the steam parameters in typical WTE facilities are lim- exergetic efficiency is in the range of >20 %. The selection of an
ited to 400 °C and 40 bar. Conventional thermal power plants that optimal energy conversion system for a specific site has to be
are fired with fossil fuels realize steam parameters up to 550 °C rather based on economic and demand considerations. Efforts are
and 250 bar. The low steam parameters of WTE are responsible made to increase the steam parameters of WTE facilities to reach
for comparably low energy efficiencies. exergetic efficiencies up to 30%. Instrumental for such progress is
Fig. 4 displays energy balances for two typical cases (ÖWAV, a combination of measures such as: improved boiler design,
2013): The facility on the left hand side produces only electricity utilization of advanced materials, optimized configuration of
(Case A). Around 20% of the energy is lost via off-gas, discharge the water–steam cycle, intermediate superheating, lower conden-
of the ashes and losses by radiation, convection, and heat conduc- sation pressure, reduction of excess oxygen, and improved mainte-
tion. The largest fraction (56%) is lost via steam condensation and, nance intervals.
to a minor extent, losses in the generator. The facility itself
consumes 2.6% of the produced electricity to run fans, pumps 5.6. Affordable costs and acceptance by the public
and other aggregates. The overall efficiency for electricity produc-
tion from MSW amounts to some 21%. To reach public acceptance is particularly difficult for waste
On the right hand side of Fig. 4 (Case B), the steam is not fully treatment systems that had a difficult and controversial past, and
expanded in the turbine resulting in a lower electricity production that are expensive. The high costs of incineration plants are mainly
but a higher steam temperature after the turbine (150–200 °C due to the sophisticated air pollution control systems that require
instead of 30–40 °C on the left side). Such a heat stream can be additional measures such as a waste water treatment, APC residue
treatment and disposal. Also, energy supply and bottom ash treat-
ment and disposal are additional cost factors. For environmentally
sound MSW incineration, a minimum standard of APC and residue
treatment is mandatory, hence cutting incineration costs is limited
by emission regulations. As mentioned before, cost optimizations
have to be performed taking the total system including long-term
costs arising from disposal of residues into account. Such optimiza-
tions will be based on regional aspects, too (availability of
receiving waters for effluents, frequency and intensity of inversion
layers, other sources of pollution). In any case, if incineration is not
cost competitive, market penetration will be difficult. This is the
challenge for emerging economies that can hardly afford waste
to energy plants due to the high costs. Since the willingness to
pay for waste management ranges between 0.2% and 0.4% of GDP
(Brunner and Fellner, 2007), and incineration costs are around
Fig. 3. Occurrence of selected metals in different fractions of MSW bottom ash after 100 US$ per ton of MSW, WTE it is out of the reach of countries
magnetic separation of iron (Skutan and Rechberger, 2007). with a per capita GDP of 300–3000 US$. Even if incineration costs

Please cite this article in press as: Brunner, P.H., Rechberger, H. Waste to energy – key element for sustainable waste management. Waste Management
(2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2014.02.003
8 P.H. Brunner, H. Rechberger / Waste Management xxx (2014) xxx–xxx

Table 3
Metal content in fly ashes from Swiss WTE facilities (Schlumberger and Bühler 2013).

Substance Concentration [mg/kg DS] Substance Concentration [mg/kg DS]

Min Max Min Max
Aluminum 25,000 45,000 Copper 1500 5000
Antimony 700 5000 Magnesium 6000 18,000
Arsenic 20 120 Manganese 400 900
Barium 50 200 Sodium 25,000 70,000
Lead 7000 25,000 Nickel 60 300
Cadmium 150 1000 Mercury 0 3
Calcium 100,000 250,000 Silver 30 60
Chrome 100 500 Silicon 50,000 100,000
Cobalt 20 100 Titan 2500 5000
Iron 18,000 55,000 Zinc 20,000 120,000
Potassium 30,000 60,000 Tin 800 3000

Fig. 4. Typical energy balances of WTE facilities. Case A: maximum electricity production; Case B: heat-power coupling (ÖWAV, 2013).

are reduced by half, this situation does not change much for low heterogeneous wastes into comparatively homogeneous residues,
income countries. they are well suited for accurate and cost-effective monitoring of
Public acceptance of WTE plants has improved during the past MSW composition (Brunner and Mönch, 1986; Brunner and Ernst,
decades. Fundamental opposition has become rare because avail- 1986). The principle consists of a first elaborate mass balance of
able, transparent and independent information about the pros the incinerator including error propagation, followed by routine
and cons of incineration allows drawing objective conclusions measurements of a reduced amount of samples of the incineration
about this technology. In particular, it has been shown by residues (Morf et al., 2013; Bauer, 1995). Based on the initial mass
numerous environmental impact statements that MSW incinera- balance, MSW can be characterized by analyzing a single incinera-
tion can be performed in an environmentally sound manner. While tion product such as fly ash only (Morf and Brunner, 1998). An
this information alone does not guarantee public acceptance, the example is given in Table 4, demonstrating how temporal trends
open, transparent, and trustful involvement of the public in the of changes in MSW composition can be detected, and how the
decision process has most often improved community approval results can be used for evaluating the effectiveness of waste related
for incineration. regulations about hazardous materials (e.g. Hg in batteries,
thermometers, small WEEE) (Morf et al., 2005). The case study
illustrates that only Cadmium shows a significant trend during
6. Additional benefits of thermal waste treatment for waste the period from 2000 to 2004, which is likely due to the ban of
management Cd in plastic additives, and the continuous replacement of Cd by
Lithium in rechargeable accumulators.
Reliable analysis of MSW and other wastes is a necessary but A similar approach has been developed to determine (i) the
time consuming and costly operation. Particularly, if waste compo- emissions of fossil and biogenic carbon dioxide from WTE facilities,
sition is to be followed over longer time periods, financial and (ii) the fossil and biogenic fractions of the heating value of the
constraints usually demand that sample size and frequency remain waste incinerated. These values are relevant for greenhouse gas
small, and thus uncertainty is high. Incinerators are highly useful inventories, for emission trading schemes ETS (e.g. in Sweden
tools for monitoring waste composition and waste-born substance and Denmark where WTE is included in the ETS), or for the
flows over longer time periods. Since WTE facilities transform determination of the ‘‘green’’ fraction of electricity or heat

Please cite this article in press as: Brunner, P.H., Rechberger, H. Waste to energy – key element for sustainable waste management. Waste Management
(2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2014.02.003
 P.H. Brunner, H. Rechberger / Waste Management xxx (2014) xxx–xxx 9

Table 4
Trends in MSW composition, as measured by balancing incineration products in Vienna during 2000–2004, in (g/kg MSW) (Morf et al. 2005).

Element 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 MW (00–04) Trend 2000–2004 Significance
C 195 ± 21 198 ± 10 184 ± 10 190 ± 12 185 ± 9 190 ± 5 –
Cl 4.8 ± 0.7 4.9 ± 1 4.6 ± 0.2 4.5 ± 0.2 5.5 ± 0.5 4.9 ± 0.3 not sign.
Fe 28 ± 2 28 ± 2 27 ± 2 29 ± 2 28 ± 3 28 ± 9 –
Al 10.0 ± 1.2 11.2 ± 1.8 7.5 ± 0.6 11.8 ± 2 11.6 ± 2 10.6 ± 0.8 marginal sign.
Pb 0.24 ± 0.05 0.33 ± 0.06 0.27 ± 0.03 0.26 ± 0.04 0.32 ± 0.08 0.29 ± 0.024 not sign.
Zn 0.57 ± 0.07 0.61 ± 0.06 0.60 ± 0.05 0.52 ± 0.05 0.53 ± 0.05 0.56 ± 0.025 –
Cu 0.24 ± 0.05 0.31 ± 0.07 0.27 ± 0.02 0.29 ± 0.05 0.35 ± 0.07 0.30 ± 0.024 not sign.
Cd 0.0071 ± 0.0008 0.0068 ± 0.001 0.0057 ± 0.0005 0.0049 ± 0.0004 0.0050 ± 0.0005 0.0058 ± 0.00035 sign.

Hg 0.0011 ± 0.0002 0.00084 ± 0.00011 0.00091 ± 0.0001 0.00097 ± 0.0002 0.00074 ± 0.0001 0.00089 ± 0.00007 marginal sign.

Fig. 5. Monthly and daily mean values of specific fossil CO2 emissions from a WTE plant and the resulting annual average of biogenic and fossil CO2 emissions (Obermoser
et al., 2009).

produced. The so-called balance method calculates these numbers such as wood and its derivatives, plastic materials, dyes and paints,
by solving a set of equations (Fellner et al., 2007). Data required are solvents, and pharmaceuticals are produced in increasing amounts.
available from literature (e.g. mean composition of biomass), and New products, especially in the electronic sector, contain new sub-
from operating data routinely measured in WTE plants. Thus, no stances that have never been used before in consumer goods. The
additional measurements are required. Hence the balance method use of highly compounded materials is on the rise. Thus, wastes
is easy to implement on an incinerator by installing an available are not only increasing in mass flow, but also in heterogeneity,
software (BIOMA) directly linked to the operating system of the complexity, and in the content of new and sometimes hazardous
WTE facility. The advantages are: statistically derived uncertainty substances, particularly of organic origin and of trace elements.
of the result, temporal resolution of the results from daily to Waste incineration is but one of many tools that waste manag-
annual mean values, and virtually no operational costs. Fig. 5 ers have at their disposal. Some waste constituents are well suited
provides exemplary results and proves that daily values may vary for separate collection and recycling or biological treatment. Some
considerably. Therefore measurement campaigns over a few days are not and must be safely disposed of. The main objective of waste
or even some weeks will not deliver reliable results. The uncertain- incineration is to protect men and the environment from the haz-
ties of the balance method are highest for daily values and are ards that are resulting from the modern anthropogenic metabo-
reduced to <5% relative for annual results (Obermoser et al., 2009). lism: Incineration is the key tool to destroy hazardous organic
substances and to concentrate toxic metals in relatively small
7. Summary and conclusions amounts of filter residues. Combustion conditions in modern
WTE plants guarantee the complete mineralization of organic sub-
Unprecedented technological and economic progress during the stances including refractory compounds such as POPs. Pathogens
last centuries resulted in a very large and still growing production and other microorganisms are reliably destroyed. Waste volume
and consumption of materials. Today‘s human activities depend on is decreased by one order of magnitude. Because of sophisticated
high and sophisticated material flows and stocks. Inevitably, this APC, the resulting emissions are way below emission standards.
large growth rate at the input side of the anthropogenic metabo- Technologies are available to immobilize incineration residues be-
lism entails a similar increase at the output side. Because the fore disposal. Innovative attempts to recover metals from these
largest flow of solid materials consists of long living construction residues are successful and are supporting the recycling paradigm
materials, the amount of wastes that eventually must be treated of waste management, opening up new possibilities for alternative
will be much bigger than todaýs waste flows. collection schemes for several waste constituents. Hence, WTE is
In parallel to the phenomenon of growth, the material turnover on the way of becoming an important tool for material recycling
also changed in composition. A large range of organic substances and resource conservation, too.

Please cite this article in press as: Brunner, P.H., Rechberger, H. Waste to energy – key element for sustainable waste management. Waste Management
(2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2014.02.003
10 P.H. Brunner, H. Rechberger / Waste Management xxx (2014) xxx–xxx

First priority of waste incineration is the protection of the Brunner, P.H., Ernst, W., 1986. Alternative methods for the analysis of municipal
solid wastes. Waste Manage. Res. 4, 147–160.
environment: There is no other means in waste management to
Brunner, P.H., Fellner, J., 2007. Setting priorities for waste management strategies in
prevent hazardous organic wastes from entering the environment developing countries. Waste Manage. Res. 25, 234–240.
and to concentrate heavy metals in small amounts of residues. Brunner, P.H., Mönch, H., 1986. The flux of metals through municipal solid waste
Nevertheless, to recover energy from waste is also of relevance, incinerators. Waste Manage. Res. 4, 105–119.
Brunner, P.H., Zobrist, J., 1983. Die Müllverbrennung als Quelle vonMetallen in der
even if all wastes produced cannot satisfy more than a few Umwelt [Solid Waste Incineration as a Source of Metals in the Environment].
percentages of a national energy demand. On a regional level, Müll und Abfall 9, 221–227.
and embedded in a smart energy grid, MSW incineration contrib- de Fodor, E., 1911. Elektrizität aus Kehricht. Reprinted by MABEG, Budapest.
Fehringer, R., Rechberger, H., Pesonen, H.-L., Brunner, P.H., 1997. Auswirkungen
utes positively to a low carbon energy supply, reducing the unterschiedlicher Szenarien der thermischen Verwertung von Abfällen in
emissions of greenhouse gases. Österreich. Vienna University of Technology, Institute for Water Quality,
Incinerators have a considerable potential as an analytical tool Resource and Waste Management, Vienna, Austria.
Fellner, J., Cencic, O., Rechberger, H., 2007. A new method to determine the ratio of
to support waste management. They can supply reliable and electricity production from fossil and biogenic sources in waste-to-energy
comparatively inexpensive information about waste composition, plants. Environ. Sci. Technol. 41, 2579–2586.
about trends in composition, and about the biogenic fraction in Kuboňová, L., Langová, Š., Nowak, B., Winter, F., 2013. Thermal and
hydrometallurgical recovery methods of heavy metals from municipal solid
MSW and other wastes. Because incinerators have been in the waste fly ash. Waste Manage. 33, 2322–2327.
focus of public attention for a long time, they are very well inves- Malkow, T., 2004. Novel and innovative pyrolysis and gasification technologies for
tigated facilities with little unknowns. This is of great value for energy efficient and environmentally sound MSW disposal. Waste Manage. 24
(1), 53–79.
decision makers because they have proven and reliable informa-
Mitterbauer, G., Skutan, S., Rechberger, H., 2009. Charakterisierung der Rostasche
tion at hand. When comparing new and alternative scenarios, or der MVA Dürnrohr im Hinblick auf die Rückgewinnung von Metallen, Institute
when performing environmental impact statements, transfer coef- for Water Quality, Resource and Waste Management, Vienna University of
ficients of thermal processes allow rigid and impartial comparison Technology, unpublished.
Morf, L.S., Brunner, P.H., 1998. The MSW incinerator as a monitoring tool for waste
based on proven, hard facts. management. Environ. Sci. Technol. 32, 1825–1831.
To conclude, modern incineration has gone a long way of Morf, L.S., Brunner, P.H., Ritter, E., 2005. Online-Messung der Stoffbilanz auf der
intense development towards an environmentally sound practice MVA Spittelau, Endbericht – Synthese der Resultate 2000–2004, im Auftrag der
Magistratsabteilungen 22 und 48 der Stadt Wien und der Fernwärme Wien
of waste management. No other waste treatment process was so GmbH.
much in the focus of public debates and regulation. This publicity Morf, L.S., Gloor, R., Haag, O., Haupt, M., Skutan, S., Di Lorenzo, F., Böni, D., 2013.
was a very strong motivation for improving incineration technol- Precious metals and rare earth elements in municipal solid waste – sources and
fate in a Swiss incineration plant. Waste Manage. 33, 634–644.
ogy to today’s state, where total emissions of WTE plants are at a Obermoser, M., Fellner, J., Rechberger, H., 2009. Determination of reliable CO2
scale that does not impact the environment anymore. It is safe to emission factors for waste-to-energy plants. Waste Manage. Res. 27, 907–913.
say that, thanks to the highly developed combustion and air pollu- ÖWAV – Österreichischer Wasser- und Abfallwirtschaftsverband, 2013.
Energetische Wirkungsgrade von Abfallverbrennungsanlagen, ÖWAV-
tion technology, state of the art waste incineration reaches the first Regelblatt 519. Austrian Standards plus Publishing, 1020 Vienna, Heinestraße 2.
goal of waste management ’’protection of men and the environ- Pourali, M., 2010. Application of Plasma Gasification Technology in Waste to
ment’’, and is also on the verge of becoming a relevant player for Energy—Challenges and Opportunities. IEEE Trans. Sustainable Energy 1 (3),
125–130.
resource conservation and materials recovery, the second goal of
Schlumberger, S., Bühler, J., 2013. Metallrückgewinnung aus Filterstäuben der
waste management. thermischen Abfallbehandlung nach dem FLUREC-Verfahren. In: Thomé-
Kozmiensky (Ed.), Aschen – Schlacken – Stäube aus Abfallverbennung und
References Metallurgie. TK Verlag Karl Thomé-Kozmiensky, Neuruppin, Germany, pp. 377–
396.
Skutan, S., Rechberger, H., 2007. Bestimmung von Stoffbilanzen und
Arena, U., 2012. Process and technological aspects of municipal solid waste Transferkoeffizienten für die Linie II der MVA Wels. Final Report, Institute for
gasification. A review. Waste Manage. 32 (4), 625–639. Water Quality, Resource and Waste Management, Vienna University of
Baccini, P., Brunner, P.H., 2012. Metabolism of the Anthroposphere – Analysis, Technology.
Evaluation and Design, second ed. The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
Bauer, G., 1995. Die Stoffflußanalyse von Prozessen der Abfallwirtschaft unter
Berücksichtigung der Unsicherheit. PhD Thesis, Vienna University of
Technology.

Please cite this article in press as: Brunner, P.H., Rechberger, H. Waste to energy – key element for sustainable waste management. Waste Management
(2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2014.02.003