Waste to Energy

Waste-to-energy (WTE) is the process of creating energy in the form of electricity or heat from the incineration of waste source. WTE is a form of energy recovery. Most WTE processes produce electricity directly through combustion, or produce a combustible fuel commodity, such as methane, methanol, ethanol or synthetic fuels.

With the garbage landfills worldwide nearing capacity, and exploding populations consuming precious available land, new approaches to Solid Waste Disposal and Alternative Energy Generation Sources have emerged to assist municipalities and governments in dealing with these problems. Waste to Energy Facilities (WTEFs) on Land or Barge based have emerged as the choice solution to the Solid Waste problem faced by cities around the globe.Through the combustion of everyday household trash in facilities with state-of-the-art environmental controls, WTEF’s provide viable solutions to communities that would otherwise have no alternative but to buy power from conventional power plants and dispose of their trash in landfills.

It is a known fact that for every ton of waste processed in a WTEF, almost one ton of Greenhouse Gas is kept out of our atmosphere. While contributing to resource recovery and the reduction of solid waste going into landfills, a major benefit of the WTEF’s revolutionary technology is the production of Electricity and Potable Water (optional on some systems) as a by-product of the Solid Waste Reduction process. Unlike wind or solar power, Waste-to-Energy facilities can operate 24/7, making them the most continuously reliable source of renewable power generation.

Sharif International is actively pursuing three WTE projects along with project investment based on Incineration given its multiple environmental and financial benefits to all stake holders. Incineration, the combustion of organic material such as waste, with energy recovery is the most common WTE implementation. Incineration may also be implemented without energy and materials recovery, however this is increasingly being banned in OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries. Furthermore, all new WTE plants in OECD countries must meet strict emission standards. Hence, our modern incineration plants with European and Japanese technology are vastly different from the old types, some of which neither recovered energy nor materials. Our modern incinerators reduce the volume of the original waste by 95-96%, depending upon composition and degree of recovery of materials such as metals from the ash for recycling.

Some of our main plants come from none other than Mitsubishi, Martin and Stoker.

Flue gas cleaning systems enable our customers to reduce air pollution from NOx, SO2, dust, fluorides, hydrochloric compounds, dioxins and furans. Thanks to the know-how of our principals, users of our systems make a substantial contribution to keeping our environment clean. The WTE handling consortium has 20+ years´ experience gained from the completion of over 90 projects for NOx removal from flue gases (all types of fossil fuel and industrial processes) and over 60 projects for ammonia processing plants. ENVIRGY supplies both individual systems and complete plants.

Our hallmark is the arrangement of appropriate WTE project funding for suitable sites. Appropriate sites include locations where the daily available quantum of municipal waste (MSW) is in excess of 1000 tonnes per day. Smaller plants of 500 tonnes per day are also possible but less financially viable. Generally speaking with appropriate quality MSW in the range of 1200 – 2000 tonnes per day about 18 – 20 MW of electricity can be generated. Of this capacity 2 MW is utilised by the plant itself and the rest can be sold off to the utility companies.

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Interesting Facts about Waste to Energy – Waste to Energy in brief…
(Courtesy ESWET Website)

• Essential part of a sustainable Waste Management chain.
• 100% complementary to recycling.
• Produces valuable and renewable energy.
• Has a lower carbon footprint by avoiding Methane emissions from landfill and  offsetting the use of fossil fuels for energy production.
• Removes all toxic substances from residual waste streams.
• Up to 95% Landfill diversion rate.
• Helps diversify energy sources.
• Reliable European technology.
• Untapped Energy Source.
• Today, the energy produced from waste in Europe is enough to supply the equivalent of Ireland or Slovakia with electricity.
• Carefully collected and sorted residual waste contains on average 10,000kJ/kg of energy. Therefore, each kilogram of waste could power a 12W eco-bulb (~60W) for 75 hours.
• Waste to Energy has the lowest emission limits of all Industrial Sectors.
• The European Commission keeps track of pollutants emitted by a wide range of punctual sources. These data can be found on their site.
• Waste to Energy’s Dioxin Emissions are not an issue.  Since 2005, the German Environment Ministry, then headed by Mr. Trittin from the Green Party, has acknowledged that Waste to Energy does not contribute significantly to Dioxins emissions. The document by the German Environment Ministry stating this can be found online.

Please contact us for further details.