International Review of Waste Management Policy - Department of ...

Table 63-18: Results with Low External Costs
1011
International Review of Waste Policy: Annexes
Climate
Climate
Change
Change
Air Air Quality Quality Total Total
Total
Landfill (50% gas capture) €66.86 €2.07 €68.94
Landfill (20% gas capture) €102.48 €2.35 €104.83
Incineration (meets WID) €21.75 €11.23 €32.98
Incineration (out-performs WID) €21.75 €3.49 €25.24
MBT aerobic biodrying / incineration €18.98 €5.33 €24.31
MBT aerobic stabilisation €15.38 €1.23 €16.61
MBT aerobic biodrying / cement kiln €7.48 €4.00 €11.48
MBT aerobic biodrying (50% gas capture) €22.07 €5.33 €27.40
MBT aerobic biodrying (out-performs WID) €18.98 €6.99 €25.97
MBT aerobic stabilisation (50% gas capture) €28.67 €1.23 €29.90
63.7 Dry Recycling
In producing virgin products (i.e. products made from non-recycled materials) it is
inevitable that raw materials will be required. These raw materials may be mined from
the ground or extracted from forests (in the case of paper/wood manufacture).
Additional resources, in the form of the energy used for the mining or paper
manufacture, for example, will also be required. This resource requirement results in
emissions to air that have consequences for climate change and for local air quality.
If a product is manufactured from recycled materials, the requirement for raw
materials is diminished. This typically reduces the energy used resulting in a reduction
in emissions during the manufacturing process. Emissions are therefore said to have
been ‘avoided’ as a result of the use of the recycled materials.
Although the concept of reduced emissions from recycling/reprocessing is well
understood, there is rather less by way of consensus as to the actual quantity of the
savings offered by recycling. In recent years, there has been focus on evidence from
life cycle assessment (LCA) studies, which have sought to estimate the entire
environmental impact of waste management systems. However, LCA studies are
sensitive to a range of issues such as starting assumptions and boundary setting,
which lead to very different results for similar systems, depending on the
methodology involved. The outcome of the analysis is dependent upon a range of
assumptions, which include:
� Energy sources used for primary and secondary production from raw materials;
� The collection system for the recovered materials;
� Energy requirements for reprocessing the recycled material;