The world is unarguably becoming urbanized, and the trend will only intensify moving into the future. Interestingly, the rate of generation of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) is higher than the rate of urbanization. Hoornweg & Bhada-Tata (2012) cite that 0.64kg of MSW was generated per individual per day by approximately 2.9 billion urban dwellers ten years ago. The authors argue that as at 2012, 1.2kg of MSW was generated daily per person by the 3 billion urban residents. They further projected that this figure would rise to 4.3 billion city dwellers, producing up to 1.42 kg of MSW per person per day. Globally, the annual solid waste management costs are expected to reach $ 375.5 million in 2025 (Hoornweg & Bhada-Tata, 2012). The increase in costs will be felt more severely in the low-income and lower-middle-income nations. The impacts of the increased solid waste are unprecedented. For instance, the waste harbours methane, which is a notorious greenhouse gas (GHG). Thus, increased garbage generation contributes significantly to global warming and climate change ( Bhada-Tata & Hoornweg, 2016 ). Likewise, if uncollected, solid waste results in air pollution, flooding, respiratory diseases, dengue fever, and in some cases diarrhea. Driven by the growing generation of waste, the recycling industry has continued to grow at all levels.
Bhada-Tata & Hoornweg ( 2016) argue that approximately 1.3 billion tonnes of waste are generated in the United States (U.S). Currently, a negative attitude thrives with regard to the collection and disposal of garbage (Chowdhury, 2016) . However, the said garbage is a source of vital raw materials. For instance, globally, there is an inadequate supply of clean and green sources of electricity. The proposed waste-to-energy innovative project will, therefore, address two problems facing the U.S citizenry. Firstly, it will ensure proper garbage collection and its disposal in an environmentally friendly manner. Secondly, it will use the garbage collected in the generation of electricity, which will then be supplied to the local community at subsidized prices. Therefore, the project will turn the first challenge into a solution for the second problem. It will leverage innovation and technology to achieve this. Household garbage comprises of such materials as food waste, packaging, glassware, paper, plastics, grass clippings, furniture as well as electronic waste such as computers and refrigerators among others. The project will, therefore, seek to sort the garbage. This is in a bid to identify the materials that can be recycled and reused. The sorting will also be carried out to determine the components that can be used as raw materials for various processes, through extraction and reprocessing ( Demirbas, 2011). The possible recycling options include composting, combusting as well as the recovery of mechanical equipment, newspaper, yard trimmings and metals. In this case, only the waste components that cannot be recycled or reused will end up in landfills. Through this approach, the project will ensure that only a small portion of the waste generated ends up in landfills, hence reducing its negative impact on the environment and human health ( Bhada-Tata & Hoornweg, 2016; Chowdhury, 2016; Hoornweg & Bhada-Tata, 2012; Demirbas, 2011). The primary focus of this innovative project will be the conversion of the waste’s heat into electricity. Incineration is a high-temperature treatment of waste that is also referred to as a thermal waste treatment (Demirbas, 2011). In this case, the collected waste will be treated via burning at high temperatures. Likewise, the process will recover the heat energy produced by the combustion process. The project will be conducted at the local level and will be used in disposing liquid, solid as well as gaseous waste. The garbage will be deposited at the drop-off point, after which it will be grabbed and dumped into the incinerator. The incineration process will subsequently entail burning the waste at high temperatures of 900 – 1200 0 C to enable thermal decomposition through oxidation. The waste is mixed at temperatures as high as 2000 0 Fahrenheit. In the process, the heat is converted to steam which is used to run a turbine, producing electricity in the process ( Havukainen et al., 2017; Maya et al., 2016). Besides reducing the weight and volume of waste as well as managing hazardous materials, incineration will generate much-needed electricity. The project will embrace the waste hierarchy of reducing, reusing, recycling and recovery. This innovative approach will ensure that energy is recovered from the waste following its reduction, reuse and recycling. Various high-tech innovative approaches will be used to control pollution so as to ensure that the energy generated is clean ( Tabata & Tsai, 2016; Havukainen et al., 2017 ). These include a baghouse for capturing particulate matter like mercury. Likewise, carbon injections will be used to absorb dioxins, heavy metals, and furans, while lime will be employed in neutralizing the acidic gases. Moreover, the pollutant levels will be monitored closely via computer systems to ensure that they remain low. These measures will be vital in addressing the controversy related to incineration. To ensure a sustainable supply of raw materials for the incineration process the project will contract neighborhoods, various authorities, and institutions to provide garbage to the incineration plant (Sinha & Bhatia, 2016). The unburnt metals will be separated for use in different processes while the ash generated will be deposited in the landfills. Incineration will also play a crucial role in reducing methane emissions from landfills by ensuring that a small portion of the waste generated ends up in landfills. Thus, carbon savings are made by offsetting possible methane emissions. Generating electricity from garbage through incineration is a sustainable approach to managing household waste not only in the U.S. but also globally. The Incineration plant will supply clean electricity on a daily and yearly basis. This will be vital in powering the households from whom the garbage used in the process is generated. The project will also entail the construction of high-voltage wires from the incineration plant to the local authority’s main grid. This is aimed at ensuring that the targeted households enjoy the clean energy generated from the incineration plant. It is also envisioned that the addition of extra power to the local grid will help reduce the cost of electricity at the household level. The project’s focus on enhancing the livelihoods of the local people makes this solution innovative and effective. This coupled with its contribution to reducing climate change makes this project eligible for an innovation competition.
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Conclusion
The rate of urbanization is currently unprecedented. Changing lifestyles and increased income levels will result in increased spending power. Consequently, increased generation of waste per individual is inevitable. On the other hand, with the increased population, the demand for electricity will rise. The proposed project will, therefore, address the challenge of inadequate environmentally friendly collection and disposal of garbage, and the shortage of power supply. This is by using garbage to produce electricity, which is then supplied to the local households. Overall, this project presents a sustainable approach to waste generation and should be replicated across the nation.
References
Bhada-Tata, P., & Hoornweg, D. (2016). Solid Waste and Climate Change. In State of the World (pp. 239-255). Island Press/Center for Resource Economics.
This article outlines an analysis of how much damage solid waste is visiting to the global environment. This contribution adds to the already precarious situation of climate change through the production of greenhouse gases that are adversely affecting the ozone layer. Among the processes highlighted herein is the landfill-based solution that releases methane into the air whose potency is several times that of carbon monoxide.
Chowdhury, M. (2016). Incentivizing Public Officials on Waste Reduction and Recycling. The Journal of Solid Waste Technology and Management, 42 (1), 5-15.
This article entails the statement of the problem and shows how communities and local authorities have been struggling with the burden of garbage collection and disposal. The erstwhile preferred methods of landfills and recycling are clearly shown to be extremely expensive and ineffective using the examples of a local community in Mississippi.
Demirbas, A. (2011). Waste management, waste resource facilities, and waste conversion processes. Energy Conversion and Management, 52 (2), 1280-1287.
The author expounds on the concepts of waste management, systems of waste management, bio-waste and biomass resources, classification of waste as well as the most common waste management approaches. The article also highlights the specific steps of sustainable waste disposal and the core waste categories. It also highlights incineration as a sustainable waste management strategy.
Havukainen, J., Zhan, M., Dong, J., Liikanen, M., Deviatkin, I., Li, X., & Horttanainen, M. (2017). Environmental impact assessment of municipal solid waste management incorporating mechanical treatment of waste and incineration in Hangzhou, China. Journal of Cleaner Production, 141, 453-461.
This article entails an inventory of the success of a project that entails the incineration of garbage to produce electricity. According to the statement, the outcomes of the project have met and exceeded the parameters anticipated by the makers of the project. Electricity output is high and the propensity for pollution if exceedingly low.
Hoornweg, D., & Bhada-Tata, P. (2012). What a waste: a global review of solid waste management.
The article first highlights the importance of solid waste management for the emerging cities. The authors argue that municipal services are requisite to other municipal services. They also highlight the varying environmental costs and impacts of solid waste management. The authors also share the annual waste generation statistics in cities and projected figures as of the year 2025. Further, it emphasizes the impacts of the waste generated on greenhouse gas levels and the resultant impact on climate change.
Maya, D. M. Y., Sarmiento, A. L. E., de Sales, C. A. V. B., Oliveira, E. E. S. L., & Andrade, R. (2016). Gasification of Municipal Solid Waste for Power Generation in Brazil, a Review of Available Technologies and Their Environmental Benefits. J. Chem, 10, 249-255.
This article is an analysis of the technology necessary to make electricity through the incineration of garbage. Over and above the basic process, the article also analyses the process relating to the management of the two byproducts of the process to wit the metal-ridden ashes as well as the chemical-ridden gases. The article also outlines the technology and equipment currently available to undertake the necessary processes in the production of electricity through garbage incineration with minimal adverse environmental impact.
Sinha, S., & Bhatia, M. R. (2016). Municipal Solid Waste Management: Proposing WTE facility in Bilaspur (Chhattisgarh ).
This article focuses on the garbage itself, which forms the raw material for the production of electricity through incineration. To be able to run a smooth electricity generation process, it is vital to understand exactly how much energy is expected to be produced from all manner of garbage. The article gives calculations on the energy outputs of different forms of garbage from vegetables produced in a residential neighborhood to plastic-laden town waste.
Tabata, T., & Tsai, P. (2016). Heat supply from municipal solid waste incineration plants in Japan: Current situation and future challenges. Waste Management & Research, 34 (2), 148-155
The incineration of garbage to produce electricity is the way of the future, and this article looks at the present and the future of this process. It evaluates the current technology and innovation as well as its limitations and how these limitations may be handled in future. The article gives hope that the process of incineration of garbage is neither short-lived nor misguided.
