Municipal solid waste processing methods: Technical-economic comparison

This paper points out the advantages and disadvantages of municipal solid waste processing methods incorporating different energy and/or materials recovery techniques, i.e., those involving composting or incineration and those with a mix of composting and incineration. The various technologies employed are compared especially with regard to process reliability, flexibility, modularity, pollution control efficiency and cost effectiveness. For that which regards composting, biodigestors are examined, while for incineration, the paper analyzes systems using combustion with complete recovery of vapour, combustion with total recovery of available electric energy, and combustion with cogeneration. Each of the processing methods examined includes an iron recovery cycle