Institute for Sanitary Engineering, Water Quality and Solid Waste ...

Solid Waste Management SIA
methodologies used in industrialized countries for the
characterization and quantification of municipal solid
wastes have been taken as a basis, and have been
adapted and synthesized into a solid waste analysis
procedure appropriate for considering the restrictions
and local conditions.
Since working conditions during waste collection and
sorting were not comparable with the European situation,
occupational safety and health standards for the
respective activities had to be adapted as well by using
the locally procurable means. Efficient and inexpensive
solutions on a low technical level were developed and
integrated into the solid waste analysis procedure.
As a result of the methodological development and validation,
an applicable waste sorting analysis procedure
was achieved, while finding a compromise between
data quality, workers safety and health and available
resources. Furthermore, since standard sample survey
techniques have been taken into consideration, sampling
errors and uncertainty levels have been accounted
for, thus guaranteeing the collection of statistically
representative data.
Financing institution:
Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung -
BMBF
Project partner:
Universität Stuttgart, Lehrstuhl für Abfallwirtschaft
und Abluft; Verband zur Förderung angepasster,
sozial- und umweltverträglicher Technologien e.V.
(AT-Verband); Bundesanstalt für Arbeitsschutz und
Arbeitsmedizin (BAUA); Institut für Zukunftsenergiesysteme
(IZES); Environmental Development
Action in the Third World (ENDA); Addis Abeba
Universität, Faculty of Technology; Addis Abeba
Universität, Institute of Regional and Local Development
Studies; Addis Abeba Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA)
Duration:
June2008 - June 2013;
Project evalution autumn 2010
Contact:
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Martin Kranert
Dipl.-Geogr. Agata Rymkiewicz
M.Sc. Nicolas Escalante
Internet:
www.p-42.de/ignis
Economic and environmental evaluation of the
separate collection of recyclable waste from
households.
According to the currently discussed collection systems
in Germany, different scenarios were modelled for the
ecological assessment. The priority was to optimize
the collection rate and the common collection of nonpackaging
materials. Alternatively, a scenario was modelled
for the common collection of residual household
waste and lightweight packaging materials with and
without recycling of the lightweight packaging. As reference,
scenarios are shown for urban, for densely rural
districts and for sparsely populated rural districts. For
urban and densely rural districts a collection system
for light packaging has been modelled; for rural areas
a bring-system to recycling-centres was modelled
among others. Thermal waste treatment in waste incineration
plants and the pre-treatment in mechanicalbiological
treatment plants (MBT) were considered for
residual household waste and residues from optional
treatments. For the MBT, the utilization of refusederivate
fuel (RDF) in cement plants was modelled.
Relevant process steps for collection, processing and
recycling of lightweight packaging and non-packaging
were modelled for the ecological assessment. The assessment
of the waste management scenarios was based
on the method of LCA according to the ISO 14040
ff. The impact categories evaluated primarily the impact
of greenhouse gases (CO 2
-equivalents). In order
to take into account shifts in other environmental compartments,
the analysis considered the impact categories
acidification (SO 2
-equivalents) and eutrophication
(PO 4
-equivalents).
The separate collection and recycling of lightweight packaging
has environmental benefits, such as savings of
climate-related CO 2
-equivalents, and the minimization
of the acidification and eutrophication potential. Therefore
a common collection and the recovery of lightweight
packaging and non- packaging must be sought
for. For the common collection of light packaging together
with residual waste, the separation in a anaerobic
mechanical-biological treatment plant with biogas
recovery and utilization of the energy-rich fraction in
cement kilns, with substitution of coal provides advantages
in terms of CO 2
- balancing in comparison to the
direct thermal treatment in waste incineration plants,
considering the current approach of the average efficiencies
of these plants in Germany. The MBA scenarios
with cement kiln show in comparison to waste incineration
plants worse results in terms of the acidification
and eutrophication potential. If the energy efficiency
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