Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) Production and Utilisation Potential from Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) in India

authored by: Dirk Weichgrebe, Christopher Josef Speier, Moni Mohan Mondal, Shivali Sugandh
Abstract: India had the second largest population in the world in 2017 with 1.34 billion inhabitants, and its population-specific CO2 emissions rose from 0.98 in 2000 to 1.73 tons per capita in 2014 . Indian urban areas generated 62 million tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) in 2011. While 50 to 90 wt.-% of MSW are collected, in average almost 87 wt.-% is disposed on landfills without further processing or treatment. A review of urban MSW in India shows that approx. 51 wt.-% are comprised of organic materials, whereas plastics and papers contributed in average 6.7 and 7.7 wt.-% respectively. For many urban local bodies (ULBs) in India, the collection, transport, treatment and disposal of MSW remains a challenge. Solid Waste Management (SWM) still causes adverse impacts on the environment and public health not at least from the identified 2230 open dumpsites in India. However, MSWin India also offers potential for material, energy and nutrient recovery. The aim of future SWM infrastructure development in India must therefore be to exploit this potential in order to improve public life and health, and the environment. The Indian Integrated Solid Waste Management (ISWM) hierarchy gives emphasis to prevention, reduction, reuse, recycling, recovery and disposal, with prevention
being the most preferred option and the disposal at the landfill being the least. Thereby material recycling of non-biodegradable waste stream and composting of separately collected organic waste is preferable to energy recovery from waste (material recovery is not possible) by incineration, pyrolysis, bio-methanisation or co-combustion of refuse derived fuel (RDF) in waste to energy plants (WtE), cement kilns or other industries. India has taken several policy initiatives to promote WtE technologies like incineration, RDF based power plants or co-incineration of RDF in various sectors (such as cement, coal, steel, etc.). For instance, grants and capital subsidies upto 30 million INR per megawatt is provided for installing waste to energy plants by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. The SWM rules 2016 also enforce compulsory purchase of power generated from waste to energy plants at a preferential tariff of 7.04 INR for MSW and 7.90 INR for RDF power plants. However, these political efforts have so far been less successful. In order to avoid the disposal of the non-recyclable combustible fraction of MSW in landfills (e.g. contaminated paper, cloth and plastics, multilayer and packaging materials, leather, rubber, and tyre pieces), it may be utilized as an alternative fuel in the cement industry. This is in line with India’s Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC), where cement industry (2nd largest greenhouse gas (GHG) contributor after electricity) has a potential to reduce its carbon footprint by thermal substitution of 20% or more of conventional fuel by 2022. Currently the cement industry in India is co-processing different types of waste including biomass, hazardous and non-hazardous waste with a Thermal Substitution Rate (TSR) of approx. 2.5%.
Organisation(s): Institute of Sanitary Engineering and Waste Management
Type: Contribution to book/anthology
Pages: 67-95
No. of pages: 29
Publication date: 2022
Publication status: Published
ASJC Scopus subject areas: Engineering(all), Environmental Science(all)
Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities, SDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production
Electronic version(s): https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29643-8_4 (Access: Closed)