Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Thermal Treatment of Waste: Key Element for Sustainable Waste Management

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
Renewable Energy Systems

  • 4692 Accesses

Definition of the Subject and Its Importance

Thermal treatment of waste is not an isolated process: It is part of waste management, energy supply, resource management, and environmental protection. It is linked to economic activities and requires financial, material, and human resources. Without thermal waste treatment, waste management cannot reach its goals. In fact, waste-to-energy (or incineration as it is called commonly in Europe) reduces significantly environmental pollution by persistent organic substances and, also, by some inorganic elements such as heavy metals. Hence, it is important to point out the contribution of waste incineration to sustainable waste management, and to show the potential and limitations of this technology in a broader view. This is even more relevant since the material turnover of modern societies has...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 849.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 549.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Abbreviations

Atmophilic:

Characterizing an element that concentrates in the atmosphere.

Dioxin:

Short for di-benzo-dioxine, often substituted with various chlorine atoms such as 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD).

Di-benzo-furan:

Dioxin with one of the two oxygen atoms replaced by a carbon–carbon bond.

PVC:

Polyvinylchloride

Transfer coefficient kXi:

Coefficient describing the partitioning of an element X among “i” products of incineration.

SEA:

Statistical entropy analysis (see Waste-to Energy (WTE): Decreasing the Entropy of Solid Wastes and Increasing Metal Recovery in this volume).

MSW:

Municipal solid waste, representing mixed waste that is collected by a given collection system. Since, in addition, other collection systems for recycling might be present too (paper, glass, metals etc.), MSW from different regions with different collection systems might vary even if consumption patterns are identical.

Bibliography

  1. Baccini P, Brunner PH (in press) Metabolism of the anthroposphere – analysis, evaluation and design. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  2. Brunner PH (2004) Material flow analysis and the ultimate sink. J Ind Ecol 8(3):4–7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Tarr AJ (1997) The search for the ultimate sink – urban pollution in historical perspective. The University of Akron Press, Akron

    Google Scholar 

  4. Belevi H, Baccini P (1989) Long-term behavior of municipal solid waste landfills. Waste Manage Res 7(1):43–56

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Basel Convention (1992) Retrieved 27 Jan 2011from http://www.basel.int/

  6. Brunner PH, Fellner J (2007) Setting priorities for waste management strategies in developing countries. Waste Manage Res 25:234–240

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. van Zomerena A, Comans RNJ (2009) Carbon speciation in municipal solid waste incinerator (MSWI) bottom ash in relation to facilitated metal leaching. Waste Manage 29(7):2059–2064

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Johnson CA, Brandenberger S, Baccini P (1995) Acid neutralizing capacity of municipal waste incinerator bottom ash. Environ Sci Technol 29(1):142–147

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Greenberg RR, Zoller WH, Gordon GE (1978) Composition and size distribution of particles released in refuse incineration. Environ Sci Technol 12:566–573

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Greenberg RR, Gordon GE, Zoller WH, Jacho RB, Neundorf DW, Yost KJ (1978) Composition of particles emitted from the Nicosia municipal incinerator. Environ Sci Technol 12:1329–1332

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Orthofer R, Vesely A (1990) Abschätzung von toxischen Emissionen (PCDD, PCDF, PAH, BaP) aus Verbrennungsprozessen in Österreich (Estimation of toxic emissions (PCDD, PCDF, PAH, BaP) from combustion processes in Austria), Seibersdorf Research Report OEFZS 4554

    Google Scholar 

  12. Wintermeyer D, Rotard W (1994) Dioxin Emissionen in der BRD – Versuch einer Bilanzierung. Staub Reinhaltung Luft 54:81–86

    Google Scholar 

  13. Fellner J, Cencic O, Rechberger H (2007) A new method to determine the ratio of electricity production from fossil and biogenic sources in waste-to-energy plants. Environ Sci Technol 41(7):2579–2586

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Morf L, Brunner PH (1998) The MSW Incinerator as a monitoring tool for waste management. Environ Sci Technol 32(12):1825–1831

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. ZAR (2011) Stiftung zentrum für nachhaltige ressourcen- und abfallnutzung. Retrieved 31 Jan 2011 from http://www.zar-ch.ch/

  16. Bunge R (2008) Metalle aus Abfall: geld stinkt nicht, Innovationsworkshop IPEK 02/2008 University of Applied Sciences Rapperswil, Switzerland

    Google Scholar 

  17. Rechberger H, Brunner PH (2002) A new, entropy based method to support waste and resource management decisions. Environ Sci Technol 34(4):809–816

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Döberl G, Brunner PH (2004) Substances and their final sinks – a new indicator for monitoring sustainability. Symposium indicators for evaluating sustainable development – the ecological dimension, Berlin, Germany, 1–2 Nov 2004

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Water Quality, Resource and Waste Management, Vienna University of Technology, Karlsplatz 13/226, 1040, Vienna, Austria

    Paul H. Brunner

Authors
  1. Paul H. Brunner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paul H. Brunner .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. German Biomass Research Centre, Leipzig, Germany

    Martin Kaltschmitt

  2. Institute of Environmental Technology and Energy Economics, Hamburg University of Technology, Hamburg, Germany

    Martin Kaltschmitt

  3. Earth Engineering Center, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Nickolas J. Themelis

  4. Ormat Technologies, Inc., Reno, NV, USA

    Lucien Y. Bronicki

  5. Royal Institute of Technology, Electric Power Systems, Stockholm, Sweden

    Lennart Söder

  6. Hawaii Natural Energy Institute, School of Ocean And Earth Science And Technology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, USA

    Luis A. Vega

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this entry

Cite this entry

Brunner, P.H. (2013). Thermal Treatment of Waste: Key Element for Sustainable Waste Management. In: Kaltschmitt, M., Themelis, N.J., Bronicki, L.Y., Söder, L., Vega, L.A. (eds) Renewable Energy Systems. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5820-3_408

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation