Comparison of Potential Environmental Impacts and Waste-to-Energy Efficiency for Kitchen Waste Treatment Scenarios in Central Taiwan

• Published in: Processes 2021-04, Vol.9 (4), p.696
• Main Authors: Shih, Meng-Fen, Lin, Chiu-Yue, Lay, Chyi-How
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agricultural wastes; Alternative energy sources; Anaerobic digestion; Anaerobic treatment; Biomass energy; Composting; Electricity; Electricity consumption; Emissions; Energy methods; Energy recovery; Environmental impact; Environmental management; Fossil fuels; Kitchens; Life cycle analysis; Life cycle assessment; Life cycles; Waste to energy; Waste treatment
• ISSN: 2227-9717; 2227-9717
• DOI: 10.3390/pr9040696

Taiwan has a sound solid waste recycling system, and waste-to-energy is attractive under the encouragement policy and economic feasibility, especially in central and southern regions with vast agricultural wastes. The four scenarios evaluated in this study relating to current use or under consideration for kitchen waste treatment strategy in Taiwan were incineration, landfill, composting, and anaerobic digestion. These scenarios were compared through life cycle assessment to obtain the most preferable treatment solution. The analysis was based on a functional unit, i.e., 1 metric ton of kitchen waste treated, and considered all impact categories through the CML_IA baseline 2000 method. It has shown that energy recovery had enormous effects on all scenarios with the anaerobic digestion having the highest environmental performance change. A comparison between actual electricity consumption and estimated electricity generation by kitchen waste treatment through anaerobic digestion indicates that decentralized electricity generation was suitable for central Taiwan and could be considered as the energy solution in a short-term context. This study provides an experience in selecting a proper waste-to-energy method with the most negligible environmental impact.