Potential of increased sorting efficiency for combustiblesin Sweden- Environmental and economic implications

"In Sweden a large share of municipal solid waste goes to incineration with electricity production and heat recovery. However many scientific studies suggest that some of the materials which are combusted could be recycled or reused instead. Most of these studies have focused on the waste from bins and bags collected from the households while little attention has been on the significant amount of bulky wastes which are collected at recycling centres in the Swedish municipalities. An analysis of the combustibles fraction from recycling centres in a Swedish municipality has been performed. Fractions which should or could be recycled reused or needs special treatment such as hazardous waste was collected from 15.4 tonnes of combustible waste collected at 3 different recycling centres. These results are then extrapolated together with known material fractions in municipal solid waste from bins and bags to study the environmental and economic potential of a better sorting of combustibles in Sweden. An analysis of the positive and negative effects of increased sorting for the incineration process is performed. These effects include lower ash quantities less stress on the filter systems a more homogenous fuel but also a decreased amount of combustibles. These effects together with a higher material recovery rate are used in the environmental and economic analyses which are based on a life cycle perspective."