Extracting Energy from Waste
Waste has been burnt for hundreds of years, predominantly as a way to reduce the size and amount of rubbish sent to landfill.
The first waste incineration plant was built back in the Victorian era, when the UK was in the middle of the industrial revolution. Its purpose was simply to dispose of waste. There was a lot of it, and – as always – space in landfills was limited.
The Early Days of Burning Waste
There was no thought given to the churning out of dirty smoke and chemicals – this was the industrial era.
Waste incineration carried on like this for much of the 20th century, with the main aim being to reduce waste in size as much as possible, and then send to landfill.
Harnessing its energy wasn’t given much thought
But in the 1990s, we started to see a shift in thinking and a change in government policies moving forward. The goal became to reduce landfill, recycle more and generate low carbon energy sources.
What do you need to build a Waste to Energy Plant?
To generate energy from waste effectively, you need:
- An efficient incinerator – they vary in size from small and portable to large, industrial scale. We have a range of options to suit small businesses.
- Sorted waste – any waste streams should be organised efficiently, removing any metals and stones that can’t be combusted, and sorting materials that can be recycled.
- Shredded waste – another way to increase efficiencies is to reduce waste in size prior to incineration.
- Biodegradable components – adding renewable materials like wood, food and paper to a waste stream can maximise energy output.
- Low moisture waste – the drier the waste stream is, the less heat is required for combustion.
Being a global leader comes with great responsibility, we value feedback as we continue daily to educate our people to ensure they give the most authoritative and educational information to our clients, which is why we employ highly skilled technicians and thermal treatment experts to support all of our client requirements in the decision making process in sourcing environmentally friendly quality products from Inciner8.