Energy to Waste

This briefing note discusses the concept of waste-to-energy and its significance in waste management. It covers topics such as legislative background, landfill design, waste settlements, biodegradation, and the impacts of landfills on the environment. The note also explores the role of landfills in climate change and provides recommendations for better waste management practices.

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ENERGY TO WASTE
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BRIEFING NOTE
BRITISH PARLIAMENT

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INTRODUCTION
The idea of making energy from waste to many might seem absurd but in this current
generation if one is to put into consideration better ways of conserving the environment then
waste management is key. All of us dump our trash daily, but rather than pilling them on
dumpsites a better way to manage waste is therefore required. A man has discovered that
trash is ‘gold' in a way if it is harnessed properly.
Waste-to-energy involves producing energy in the form of electrical or heat energy by using
waste as a source of fuel. In the recent past waste was a substance that had no value and
therefore unwanted. Not so long ago the UK saw it fit to broaden the scope in waste
legislation in order to blanket waste management practices.
KEY ISSUES
LEGISLATIVE BACKGROUND
 Historically, landfills as a form of waste disposal were the most employed. Currently,
the government has set a policy named the waste strategy that gives a boost to the
landfill culture.
 Also, there was the 1992 Earth Summit agreement that involved the UK and other
countries. The agreement had a requirement for the current generation to manage all

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the waste that it continues producing and avoid setting it aside for future generations
to handle.
 In the UK, recently landfill has changed in order to meet the specifications based on
the European Landfill Directive and Regulations. Thus, there is a landfill tax that is
imposed on biodegradable waste that dumped into landfills.
 The UK national controls on waste are as a result of the Control of Pollution Act 1974
and were also given a major boost by introducing the Environmental Protection Act
1990. The laws then only majored on waste disposal. The current laws have control
on areas of waste management sector that includes registration, monitoring, licensing,
storage, and the keeping of records. There is also controls that is imposed on some
waste materials like clinical and hazardous wastes.
The key components of European waste legislation comprise the following;
 Firstly, there should be framework legislation that defines waste and permits certain
requirements.
 Secondly, waste facilities should meet technical standards that ensure in totality the
environment is protected.
 Lastly, there should be standards set for certain waste streams that allow recycling of
waste that allows the reduction of the same.
LANDFILL DESIGN
A landfill is a well-modified structure that is constructed either above or into the ground and
used in isolating trash from the surrounding environment.
All landfills are usually made using the composite liner and leachate collection systems
(Baptista, 2014). Normally, the leachate collection system collects the wastewater that is
produced by the overlying waste.

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The primary liner is synthetic in nature and is made up of 60-mil-thick high-density
polyethene (HDPE). There is a 2-foot permeable soil below the primary liner. These two
components prevent the contamination of the surrounding area.
The leachate system is made up of geo-composite that is synthetic in nature. The geo-
composite has channels that are high-density polyethene and transport liquids like leachate. It
has an equivalence of 1 foot of material that allows granular drainage. A non-woven sieve
(filter) is then attached that prevents soil from passing that may lead to clogging of the
geocomposite. Base grades are then channelled to a middle collection sump which is
modified in leachate removal that is put in an on-site storage tank.
There is total protection of all the liner system areas using 1.5 feet thick layer of soil that is
usually key in preventing the penetration of overlying waste and reduce damage to the liner
system.
There is control of open refuse that is limited by the building of daily work sections that are
measured to handle the capacity for only a day’s quantity of waste. Such areas must be
covered daily using soil.

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WASTE SETTLEMENTS IN LANDFILLS
The multiphase media of waste include solid, liquid and gas.
Thus, waste settlement in landfills is
mainly described using the following
mechanisms (Viessman, 2008);
 Mechanical that involves mainly
crushing, bending and distortion
of waste.
 Ravelling of waste that comprises of fine sifting and erosion.
 Physical and chemical processes that involve oxidation, combustion and corrosion.
 Aerobic and anaerobic processes as a result of fermentation.
 How the four mechanisms interact in the landfill.
BIODEGRADATION IN A LANDFILL
Understanding the anaerobic processes involved are key for one to know how waste
biodegrades in a landfill. The main components in wastes that are biodegradable include the
hemicellulose (H) and cellulose (C) that usually is around 60% of the waste and has a 90%
potential of producing methane. The other component is lignin, but normally has a slower
decomposition rate (Cromell, 2010).
Waste decomposition in a landfill is mainly dependent on microbes and occurs in the
following phases;
 Hydrolysis

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All polymers that are fats, proteins and carbohydrates are hydrolysed to produce
glucose (C6H12O6), glycerol, carboxylic acids and amino acids.
C6H10O4 + 2H2O = C6 H12O6 + 2H2
 Fermentation
The by-products in hydrolysis are transformed using acidogenic bacteria to form
carbon dioxide, alcohol, hydrogen, ketones and volatile acids to produce methanol
(CH3OH), ethanol (C2H5OH), lactic acid (C3H6O3), formic acid (HCOOH), acetic acid
(CH3COOH), butyric acid (C3H7COOH) and propionic acid (CH3CH2COOH).
C6H12O6 = 2CH3CH2OH + 2CO2
C6H12O6 + 2H2 = 2CH3CH2COOH + 2H2O
C6H12O6 = 3CH3COOH
 Acetogenesis

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The by-products in the fermentation process are converted into bacteria that oxidise
fatty acids to form acetic acid, carbon dioxide and hydrogen.
CH3CH2COO- + 3H2O = CH3COO- + H+ + HCO3- + 3H2O
C6H12O6 + 2H2O = 2CH3COOH + 2CO2 + 4H2
CH3CH2OH + 2H2O = CH3COO- + 2H2 + H+
 Methanogenesis
This stage with the aid of microorganisms mainly involves the conversion of all the
acetic acid and hydrogen formed in acetogenesis into methane and carbon dioxide
gases.
CO2 + 4H2 = CH4 + 2H2O
2C2H5OH + CO2 = CH4 + 2CH3COOH
CH3COOH = CH4 + CO2
Normally landfill gas is a cocktail of a variety of gases that are created when
microorganisms act on trash (Humes, 2013). There are three processes that are
involved in the making of landfill gases, that is, the evaporation of solvents, action of
microbes, and chemical action produced by the different types of trash.

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Evaporation and chemical action mainly rely on one key waste factor that is its nature.
The championing process that is key in many if not all landfills are the microbial
action. This mainly involves anaerobic bacteria producing biogas as a result of
breaking down organic waste (Jenkins, 2005). The gas produced in this case has
carbon IV oxide and methane. Based on a kinetic pattern, the production of CH4 and
CO2 gases have to wait for a minimum of six months after depositing of the trash in
the landfill. The waste will continue to produce the gases for over 20 years and then
start declining bit by bit.
LANDFILL GAS RECOVERY CASE STUDY
Clarke Energy has been involved in installation and commissioning of over 550 megawatts of
landfill generation equipment worldwide and is a key partner in this sector. Worldwide
Jenbacher units are employed in approximately 1400 landfill gas systems that has an output
of over 1400 megawatts. Annually, these plants produce a whopping 11 million MW of
electrical power that caters for roughly2.7 million homes in Europe.
IMPACTS OF LANDFILLS ON THE ENVIRONMENT
On the part of gas production, the landfill can be termed as a saint, but is that truly the case
on its overall impact on the environment?

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 Firstly, landfills cause massive air
pollution. Landfill waste normally
has a 60% biodegradable organic
content be it from homes,
industries and even businesses. The
decomposition of organic matter
usually emits methane which is a
greenhouse gas that much further
causes global warming by trapping
heat in the atmosphere. Also, the
decaying matter is normally
accompanied by a foul smell that is
sometimes unbreathable.
 Secondly, landfills can cause
massive impacts on biodiversity.
Based on data provided by the
Romanian Ministry of
Environment and Forests, any
location that have landfills have
proven that there is a loss of
between 30-300 species of plants
and animals( while others like
crows and rats have cropped up).
 Thirdly, the landfill is guilty of
groundwater pollution. When there
is rain on the landfill site, toxic
chemicals are formed as a result of
the rainwater dissolving the
inorganic and organic matter that
eventually permeates into
groundwater. This leads to
contamination of groundwater and
if such water makes its way to the
lakes and rivers there is massive
loss of aquatic life (Viessman,
2008).
 Furthermore, the fertility of the soil
is affected as a result of landfills. In
such landfills, there is a
combination of hazardous
substances and decomposing
organic matter that can affect the
quality of soil around the landfill.
This can lead to permanent loss of
crops and vegetation.
 Lastly, landfills normally have a
negative impact on visual and
human health. The land that hosts a
landfill normally loses its aesthetic
value by causing massive impacts

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on the landscape. In such places
also there will be a rise in the
vermin population that is normally
associated with negative health
effects like respiratory diseases,
birth defects, and even cancer.
LANDFILLS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Landfills are naughty of producing greenhouse gases, namely methane and carbon dioxide.
Methane has a shelf life of 12 years in the atmosphere in comparison to carbon dioxide that
has a shelf life of 100 – 300 years. In 2010 alone, there were a massive 880 metric tonnes of
methane that was emitted by landfills all over the world (Green, 2005). These gases are the
main contributors to global warming that mainly has an effect on basically every living thing.
From receding glaciers, drought and famines, and even hurricanes hence as a generation we
should fear climate change. If we destroy the earth now, what will be there for our children to
inherit?
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
It is near impossible for one not to have waste. But is there any other way of managing waste
better than putting them into landfills? Everyone has a great responsibility of taking care of
the Earth and it can only start by simple gestures like Reduce, Re-use and Recycle. Let the
governments implement tighter regulations to manage wastes from the industries and
businesses while the masses manage the waste from households.
It might take a while to implement some laws pertaining to better waste management. But for
the time being, landfills are key in managing such wastes. In the UK, landfills generate
electricity that is enough to meet the annual demands of over one million households.

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Also, since landfill gas occurs in a most natural process of decomposition of waste, thereby it
is seen as green energy. It is also cheap and renewable as a source of energy.
The current society has also changed its mentality on waste and it no longer has the name
‘unwanted substance’ but is now called the ‘untapped resource’.
Bibliography
Baptista, J., 2014. The Regulation of Water and Waste Services. Hague: IWA Publishing.
Connett, P., 2013. The Zero Waste Solution. London: Chelsea Green Publishing.
Cromwell, C., 2010. Composting for Dummies. New York: For Dummies.
Emmett, R., 2017. The Environmental Humanities. Massachussetts: MIT Press.
Green, J., 2005. Why Should I Recycle?. London: B.E.S Publishers.
Humes, E., 2013. Garbology. New York: Avery.
Jenkins, J., 2005. The Humanure Handbook. Pennsylvania: Joseph Jenkin Inc.
Johnson, B., 2013. Zero Waste Home. New York: Scribner.
Lindeburg, M., 2019. Environmental Review. Prague: Kaplan Press.
Nathanson, J., 2014. Best Environmental Technology. 6 ed. London: Pearson.
Pichtel, J., 2014. Waste Management Practices. 2 ed. Florida: CRC Press.
Strasser, S., 2000. Waste and Want. London: Picador.

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Terry, B., 2015. Plastic Free. New York: Skyhorse.
Viessman, W., 2008. Water Supply and Pollution Control. 8 ed. London: Pearson.