A potential new energy source - Assessment of energy recovery from municipal solid waste

The state-of-the-art of recovering resources from the 135 million tons of household, industrial, and commercial wastes generated each year in the United States is discussed. Some of the hazards attendant upon the preliminary shredding of solid wastes at resource recovery plants are described with reference made to the impetus for resource recovery arising from legislation and to the difficulty in finding markets for refuse-derived fuel. Economic factors militating against resource recovery are enumerated, including the unviability of mass-burning systems to generate process or heating steam and/or electrical energy. It is also shown that the cost per ton of incoming waste has been underestimated and that the revenues to be derived from recovered resources have been overestimated. A new system in which separation, that is, classification, of incoming waste is the first step is proposed. This system would avoid the hazards of shredding and would make the recovery of resources less costly. It is shown that the cellulose contained in solid waste could be converted into ethanol.