mbt of residual waste and use of rdf in europe.pdf

CONFERENCE THE FUTURE OF RESIDUAL WASTE MANAGEMENT IN EUROPE 2005 Status of Mechanical-Biological Treatment of Residual Waste and Utilization of Refuse-Derived Fuels in Europe

Mr. Martin Steiner

STATUS OF MECHANICAL-BIOLOGICAL TREATMENT OF RESIDUAL WASTE AND UTILIZATION OF REFUSE-DERIVED FUELS IN EUROPE

Martin Steiner

TBU Environmental Engineering Consultants, Defreggerstrasse 18, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria.

1.ABSTRACT In the countries of Central and Northern Europe with their highly developed waste management concepts, MB technologies have either become firmly established as a residual waste treatment option (eg. Germany, Austria) or do not really play a role beside thermal treatment (as eg. in Switzerland, and Scandinavia). In all other Western Euro-pean countries, mechanical-biological treatment will become increasingly promoted, partly by transforming existing capacities of product-oriented MBT technologies (composting, fermentation). In the countries of Eastern and South Eastern Europe, which still have a backlog in the eco-friendly handling of municipal solid waste, less sophisticated MBT systems may prove successful methods in the medium and long term for accomplishing mandatory standards set in the in European legal framework.

2.INTRODUCTION In this article, the term mechanical-biological waste treatment/MBT basically relates to systems for the treatment of municipal solid waste. This means that a treatment facility for any type of separately collected organic wastes is not an MBT facility (which as a rule corresponds to the German - technical - terminology). Mechanical treatment plants/MT are included under MBT if the waste materials are subsequently processed by a material-flow-specific treatment method (e.g. thermal treatment of fractions with a high calorific value, here generally referred to as refuse-derived fuel/RDF). The term Europe has a geographical connotation, excluding the successor states of the former Soviet Union.

3.GENERAL SITUATION OF MBT IN EUROPE In Europe, the share of mechanical-biological waste treatment systems in waste treatment on the whole is (in some countries more, in others less) determined by two factors: from a retrospective point of view, by the historical development of (waste) composting

and - to a lesser extent - fermentation as waste treatment methods; and by European legislation, which through the Landfill Directive1 being recognised as

a central legal document in national waste management policies, restricts the proportion of the biodegradable fraction of municipal solid waste intended to go to landfill.

1 Council Directive 1999/31/EC of 26 April 1999 on the Landfill of Waste


Mr. Martin Steiner

4.SITUATION OF MBT BY REGIONS In this section, situation will be described by looking at individual countries; institutional/legal details, alternative treatment methods (such as the status of conventional incineration), and the individual situation of separate collection and recovery of organic waste will largely be neglected. Individual countries pertaining to interconnected regions, where the developmental situation of waste management is comparable, are gathered in groups.

4.1 Switzerland, Austria and Germany In Switzerland, the construction of the waste composting plant at Schaffhausen (whose inter-national recognition was proportional to its lack of acknowledgement in Switzerland proper) set the trend in the material-flow-specific treatment of residual waste already back in the early nine-ties. This technique consisted in shredding the waste and sieving off the fraction with a high calorific value for intermediate storage; in winter, this fraction was used as a fuel in some of the adjacent MSW incinerators for the production of district heat. The fraction with a low calorific value was mixed with sewage sludge and composted; after separating insignificant quantities for use in landscape design, it was eventually landfilled. Except for this one-off achievement, Switzerland has remained a blank space on the European MBT map (illustrated in F). On account of a 2000 national ban on the landfilling of municipal solid waste (as well as sewage sludge and other combustible wastes which cannot be recovered), residual waste is without exception thermally processed. We begin our survey of the situation in individual countries with the European Union, and here specifically with Austria. Austria remains far below the upper time horizons established by Euro-pean legislation regarding the reduction of bio-degradable waste fractions, and besides, the land-filled residues must comply with relatively stringent quality standards. After a decade-long debate on technologies and mandatory limits, a comprehensive set of rules for MBT facilities has now been available since 20022. A maximum calorific value, which was vehemently defended at federal government level as a determining factor for the landfill of mechanically-biologically processed wastes, was defused slightly by provisions regarding an exceeding of limits and associated biological parameters in the latest version of the Landfill Ordinance. What meanwhile also needs to be defused is criticism concerning the suitability of a parameter which inade-quately describes the superordinate (EU) criterion bio-degradability (example: plastics, wood); the mandatory limit for mechanically-biologically processed waste materials going to Austrian landfills at least partly comprises the similarly superordinate target of energy recovery from renewable raw materials postulated in the Kyoto Protocol.

2 Guidance on the mechanical-biological treatment of waste, published by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry,

Environment and Water Management, Vienna, 1 March 2002


Mr. Martin Steiner

Figure 1 Figure 1 Estimated percentage of MBT system users in the population in the respective countries of assessment

Since 1 January 2004, the Landfill Ordinance has contained a ban on the landfilling of untreated wastes; three federal provinces have been granted a extension of the time limit of five years: Vorarlberg and Tyrol (both located in the west), where it was argued that the late creation of landfill capacities might result in the risk of stranded investments, and Vienna (for reasons which are not related to the required pre-treatment). Figure 2 illustrates the distribution of MBT systems in Austria, including the mandatory thermal recovery of high calorific fractions with the respective vital facilities and waste incineration as an alternative treatment method. Currently 15 MBT facilities are either in operation or in the pipe-line. Exclusively aerobic systems are in use. The primary biological treatment stage of newly erected plants is primarily equipped with composting tunnels. In flue gas treatment, the bio-filter is the method of choice. Thermal processing of extremely polluted flue gases from the thermo-philic stage, recommended in the national guidance on treatment technologies, is currently only performed in one facility.


Mr. Martin Steiner

Mechanical Treatment Mechanical - Biological Treatment

Wels DrnrohrWien-FltzersteigWien-SpittelauArnoldsteinLenzingNiklasdorfWSO4

Innsbruck (intended)KufsteinLavantSalzburgZell am SeeLinzGraz (MT) / Frohnleiten (BT)OberpullendorfSt. Plten

after 2006

or

Biological Treatment< 50.000 t/a

> 50.000 t/a > 50.000 t/a

< 50.000 t/a

> 50.000 t/a

Incineration plant (grate firing)

< 100.000 t/a

> 100.000 t/a

Utilization of the high-calorific fraction (fluidized bed incineration)

< 100.000 t/a > 100.000 t/a

Carinthia

Styria

Lower Austria

Tyrol Salzburg

Upper Austria

Figure 2 Residual waste treatment in Austria geographical overview The federal provinces of Carinthia, Upper Austria and Lower Austria are primarily using waste incineration as a treatment method. In Salzburg, Styria and Burgenland (bordering Hungary), where in the eighties household waste composting was very popular, MBT systems have been introduced throughout the regions, using the existing facility sites and partly also plant infra-structure and equipment. The biggest Austrian cities beside Vienna where MBT systems have been, or will be, introduced are Graz, Linz, Salzburg and Innsbruck (planned), comprising in all some 700,000 residents. Vienna operates a demand-based material flow control concept similar to the above described model plant in Schaffhausen/Switzerland for about one fifth of its residual waste. The residual waste is split up in two main streams in a large mechanical processing plant3; the high calorific fraction is compressed in bales for intermediate storage and thermally recovered in a fluidised bed furnace when more district heat is needed.

3 Wiener Restmllsplitting", a method applied in Viennas council-run waste treatment plant. Yearly amount processed in 2004:

135,000 t, capacity: 250,000 t. The main streams are a high calorific fraction (250 - 50 mm, roughly 60 % by weight) and a < 50 mm fraction.


Mr. Martin Steiner

A similar method is practiced in Vorarlberg: the residual waste is first dried using waste heat from the combustion of biomass (wood, old edible fats) from energy recovery - a bare necessity considering that Austria has the highest national landfill charge for contaminated land clean-up worldwide (currently 65 Euro/t, increasing to 87 /t in 2006). The high calorific fraction amoun-ting to one third by weight is then "just in time" delivered to five Swiss waste incineration plants (at a distance of < 50 km). The low calorific fraction is presently landfilled, a decision on how shall be processed in the future - MBT or combustion in Switzerland - has not made yet. Table 1 shows that the residual waste produced three of Austria' s eight million inhabitants is, or will soon be, processed by using MBT with integrated biological digestion (this ratio is not expected to become significantly smaller over the next 10 to 15 years, even though regions such as North Tyrol may come up with a "surprising" development).

The 9 Austrian Provinces and their disposal systems / directions for MSW

1 classical incineration

2 combined (including MBT)

Vienna 1.550.000 1.240.000 310.000 In off-heating period disposal via MT plant in Fluidized Bed Incinerator (assumed: 20 %)

Lower Austria 1.546.000 1.459.000 87.000 Incinerator at Drnrohr. Individual solutions for St. Plten and Wiener Neustadt (small MBT plants)

Upper Austria 1.377.000 1.033.000 344.000Incinerator at Wels. Ca. 1/3 of population connected to MBT (including Linz = province capital). Western districts connected to Salzburg (MBT).

Salzburg 515.000 515.000 2 MBT plants (former MSW compost plants Salzburg and Zell am See)

Tyrol 674.000 26.000 648.000Final set-up of capacities still unclear (2 - 4 MBT plants). Parts of Reutte district connected to incinerator Kempten (Germany)

Vorarlberg 351.000 351.000 After 2009: MBT (Export of high calorific fraction to conventional incinerators in Switzerland/Germany)

Carinthia 559.000 519.000 40.000 Western part joint MBT with Eastern Tyrol

Styria 1.183.000 1.183.000 Several MBT plants (partly former MSW compost plants)

Burgenland 278.000 278.000 One MBT plant

Austria total 8.033.000 4.277.000 3.756.000

100% 53,2% 46,8%

Province Population Commentsconnected to

In Germany MBT plants represent a total treatment capacity of about 5 million tonnes (for com-parison: incineration capacity is about 3 times a much). Details on Germany will not be presented in this paper as a special contribution will be given to the present conference4.

4 Susanne Hempen, Federal Ministry of Environment


Mr. Martin Steiner

4.2 South and South-West Europe

Also Italy will be dealt with in this paper only in an overall view5. From a general point of view Italy has, contrary to most expectations, a long tradition of mechanical-biological waste treatment and is currently the European country with the largest treatment capacities. Throughout the past three decades, some 20 municipal solid waste composting plants (mostly with integrated produc-tion of refuse derived fuels) have been constructed mainly in alpine regions and also in the south of the Italian 'boot"; two thirds of these plants, however, were only in operation for a very short period. The causes therefore are to be found in the partly bold technical concepts, often associa-ted with a lack of acceptance (odour emission). A prominent example of this first generation of plants is the plant of Bolzano / Bozen, which was completed in 1992 (annual nominal capacity: 100,000 tonnes of MSW, 40,000 tonnes of sewage sludge). From a contemporary point of view, this plant certainly had an interesting basic concept, except for the attempt to process the low calorific fraction into compost; sewage sludge was not even added any more: the high calorific fraction was to be processed in a waste-to-energy plant (located at the same site). What followed was a second generation of plants, the primary concept of which was nor recovery but a volume reduction and the improvement of the landfill properties of waste. In 1996, much attention was paid to the concept of a four-component plant in Milan ("Ex-Maserati") with a daily treatment capacity of 2,000 t; the latter served to bridge a "waste treatment bottleneck" and was shut down after five years of operation as meanwhile extended incineration capacities have become available. Successful operation of this plant at a highly sensitive site eventually led to a developmental thrust in flue gas management and emission monitoring and also resulted in increased acceptance of mechanical-biological waste treatment as a whole. At the same time, national legislation ("Decreto Ronchi") has promoted and newly defined the production of refuse-derived fuel/RDF6. Today, RDF is an established term with specific quality standards. There are ample opportunities for recovery in the cement industry and in plants specially designed for the thermal recovery of fractions with a high calorific value. In the wake of EU legislation, meanwhile also technical mandatory targets for reducing the organic fraction in waste to be landfilled7 have been introduced and are also observed (i.e. they are increasingly incorporated in system development). In 1999, a special type of mechanical-biological treatment plant for the production of a "dry stabilate" (System HerHof) started operation near Venice. An Italian supplier (EcoDeco) has developed a similar concept and erected several facilities in the north of the country, now seeking to also gain a share in other European markets. Currently, about 100 plants with an actual throughput of about 8 million tonnes are in operation in Italy. Capacities have also been created in the less economically developed Central and Southern regions of the country; yet in the south due to the local situation it tends to take years until projects are completed. Venice, Florence, Rome and Naples are the most prominent cities using mechanical-biological waste treatment systems. The waste treatment concept of Malta is largely influenced by Italian standards. A compost plant (rotary drum technology) built in the eighties has meanwhile ceased operation due to problems

5 a special contribution will be given by Dr David Newman, CIC Consorzio Italiano Compostatori 6 CDR Combustibile da Rifiuto (= RDF Refuse Derived Fuel, = BRAM Brennstoff aus Mll) 7 Limit parameter is the "dynamic breathing activity" at a level which compared to Germany and Austria is below the mandatory standards in these countries


Mr. Martin Steiner

with odour emission. After long-standing debates about whether to favour thermal or biological treatment technologies, a MBT plant (anaerobic digestion) is being constructed at the same site. On the Iberian Peninsula, where mechanical biological waste treatment is firmly established, an exclusively product-based concept (still) exists. For Spain, another country that will be presented herein only in an overall view8 it should be noted that - in comparison to other countries - the anaerobic option (digestion) is widely spread; more than a dozen fermentation plants for MSW are either in operation or under construction. Most of the installed capacity was financed by the EU's structural funding programmes (this also goes for Portugal). The waste stream that is mechanically sorted out prior to biological treatment is (also in the aerobic digestion systems) as a rule split up in recyclable fractions, while thermal recovery (waste-to-energy) is of no impor-tance. A shift in thinking has meanwhile been set in motion in terms of the contaminant load of waste compost. A definition is presently drafted for a special "bio-waste compost" category. Criteria for the landfilling of mechanically-biologically pretreated waste materials do not exist. Portugal has four modern, state-of-the-art MSW composting plants (the largest facility with 400 t/d capacity is located in Cascais). The quality of compost plays a more prominent role in Portugal than in Spain. A forthcoming law on its use envisages three quality classes, with the low-end category "waste compost" being permitted for use in agriculture only until 2008; after that date, it may only be used for recultivation purposes. This marks the transition from a recove-ry-based concept (composting) to MBT as a treatment method.

4.3 Luxembourg, Belgium, Netherlands, and France The status of MBT in France and the Benelux countries will be described on the present con-ference in particular contributions9.

4.4 British Isles The British Isles hold a special place among Western European countries in the fact that a "tra-dition" of MSW composting is practically non-existent. In particular over the last couple of years, however, MBT has moved into the limelight as a treatment method for residual waste. Much of this was triggered by the EU Landfill Directive requiring the reduction of organic materials in residual waste, which has resulted in a plethora of waste management activities and programmes both in Great Britain and Ireland (both "slow" nations in accordance with figure 3). These activities and programmes are taking shape in all areas and on all institutional levels. In the United Kingdom10, responsibility for waste management and disposal is vested in the Counties. They decide which residual waste treatment method shall be adopted, and they are also in charge of accomplishing the mandatory targets of the EU Landfill Directive - in which Great Britain drastically differs from the other 24 EU member states, where national legislation is paramount. As a result, in Great Britain a landfill allowance trading scheme similar to the concept of "carbon trading" is developing. Currently, there is an ongoing discussion about adequate landfill para-meters and the pertaining mandatory limits for MBT-conditioned materials. Irrespective of the

8 Special contribution on Spain by Dr Dieter Korz, Ros Roca International 9 Mr. Philippe Robert (Agency for Environment and Energy Management) for France, Mr. Roel Vaes (Public Waste Agency for Flanders) for Belgium, Mr. Gijs van Bezooijen (Association for Refuse and Cleansing Management) for the Netherlands and Mr. Robert Schmit (Environment Agency) for Luxembourg 10 in detail described in the proceedings by Mr. Terry Coleman, Environmental Agency or England an Wales


Mr. Martin Steiner

outcome of this debate, at least some (mostly high-grade) MBT systems shall be put to use in England and Wales. Much importance is attached to the aspect of hygiene, a circumstance which was mainly triggered by the country's problems with BSE (with regulations regarding the handling of solid waste streams but not of waste air, as provided for eg. in the German and Austrian laws). With respect to larger projects, some ten facilities are currently in the planning and tendering phase. In Ireland, the decision to build the first waste incinerator for waste conditioning was made in 2003. The use of MBT as an alternative treatment method is not as much debated as in England.

4.5 Scandinavia In Denmark, similar to Switzerland, the landfilling of combustible wastes has been prohibited since 2003. MBT systems are currently not an issue and will not be an issue in the future. Nearly 100 percent of the country's residual waste stream is processed in one of roughly 30 WTE incineration plants. In Sweden, several (only few and small-sized) MSW composting plants for the production of RDF were built in the eighties of the last century. A MSW composting facility located near Stockholm (70 t/d; core biological technology: rotary drum) dates back to the year 2000. There is also evidence of some minor research and development projects in Helsingborg and Stockholm. Norway has two facilities that may be classified as MBT systems: one is used for the production of RDF, while in the second merely material for landfill cultivation is produced. Finland possesses several smaller waste composting facilities, all of which are equipped with rotary drums of domestic origin. There are no clear trends in residual waste treatment. The one thing we know about Iceland is that in its capital, Reykjavik, a waste composting facility using the "Dano" system (rotary drum compost technology) was built in 1956. Yet nothing is known about the current situation of mechanical-biological waste treatment.

4.6 Eastern Europe In the three Baltic States, there is no past or current evidence of any mechanical-biological waste treatment or any other type of treatment. Like the other ten EU acceding states, these countries are currently preoccupied with "internalising" the entire EU (environmental) legislation; national waste management plans (which must give account of how the mandatory targets concerning the reduction of organic materials in residual waste are to be accomplished) are being drafted.


Mr. Martin Steiner

0%

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(Germany, Austria, Benelux, Poland...)

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(Majority of the 10 newcomers, England, Spain...)

Figure 3 The EU Landfill Directive and its implementation in the national waste management plans of individual member states

The example of Poland shall illustrate in greater detail how the relevant EU Landfill Directive takes effect. What needs to be noted first is that among all former Eastern Bloc countries, Poland has traditionally been the country where mechanical-biological treatment - in the form of classi-cal MSW composting - was most widely used. By comparison with Western European standards, Poland would equate Italy in terms of MBT popularity. At present, roughly ten percent of all municipal solid wastes are processed in twenty facilities using a variety of different technologies and equipment (also fermentation plants for the treatment of MSW fractions are documented). These plants were partly built in the eighties of the last century (Warsaw Radiowo and Katowice, equipped with rotary drums manufactured by MUT, Austria). The second Warsaw plant of Italian origin was built together with an incineration plant, where the high calorific fraction is processed. Figure 4 gives an account of the situation in April 2005; a tendering procedure is currently under way for several larger plants (all of them financially supported with EU funds).


Mr. Martin Steiner

Poland: Composting & fermentation plants for MSW / MSW fractions in operation

Location CapacityDetails on feedstock (ss ... sewage sludge, gw ...

green waste)Core technology

Warzawa Radiowo 145.000 t/y Rotary drumKatowice 60.000 t/y Rotary drumWarzawa ZUSOK 55.000 t/y In line vesselsMachnacz k/Wloclawka 50.000 t/y tlw. KS, GA BoxesZielonej Gory / Racula k 25.000 t/y VesselsGrudziadz 25.000 t/y WindrowsBialystok 24.000 t/y tlw. KS, GA ContainerGrodzisk Maz. 22.500 t/y Rotary drumKolobrzeg 22.500 t/y Rotary drumSuwalki 22.500 t/y Rotary drumPulawy 22.500 t/y tlw. KS, GA Anaerobic digestionZgorzelec 10.000 t/y tlw. KS, GA Anaerobic digestionBraniewo 6.000 t/y WindrowsLadek Zdroj 5.000 t/y VesselsEiblag k.A. WindrowsGorzow k.A. WindrowsKobierniki k. Plocka k.A. tlw. KS, GA Rotary drumInowroclaw k.A. tlw. KS, GA ContainerSwietochlowice k.A. tlw. KS, GA ContainerPolice k/Szczecina k.A. tlw. GA WindrowsTotal about 500.000 t/a


Mr. Martin Steiner

0

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2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Mio

. t p

er y

ear

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Separately collectedpaper & cardboard

necessary amount ofBMW to be treated

Allowed amount ofBMW to be landfilled

Figure 4 Poland: Mandatory limits for the landfilling of biodegradable wastes set out in the EU Landfill Directive and the resulting need for treatment capacities ("Optimierung der Kompostwerke

Polens", ICU Wiegel & Partner, et.al.). The diagram shows that existing capacities more or less match the 2006 mandatory treatment capacity target set out in the National Waste Management Plan, yet would need

to quadruple by 2013. BMW = Biodegradable Municipal Solid Waste In the Czech Republic, MBT also has a certain tradition. There is a compost landfill located in Prague, which was built back in the seventies, and another plant (core biological technology: rotating drum) constructed in Ostrava in 1985. The latter was subsequently upgraded, yet in the wake of rising costs for the disposal of the high calorific fraction (waste incinerator Brno) has meanwhile also been closed down. Although reference to MBT systems is made in the National Waste Management Plan, currently no concrete activities taking shape, except for a project in West Bohemia being under debate (with plans to utilise the resulting high calorific fraction in a new to-build facility in Plen). In short, waste in the CR is regarded as a replacement fuel for brown coal, the country' s traditional energy source. This explains why decision-makers basically opt for the conventional type of thermal treatment capacities. The further development, however, seems to heavily depend on the outcome of declaratory proceedings awaited in this year, defining incineration either a as a recovery or a disposal method. If the second definition is adopted (in the author's opinion more likely) MBT (occasionally only in combination with the production of RDF) will be gaining ground; all the more so as in the CR incineration projects are not granted financial backing, which will make MBT/RDF combinations more cost-advantageous. As far as Slovakia is concerned, it must be noted that the existing separate collection schemes and treatment systems (one waste incinerator in Bratislava, one in Kosice) in this country are simply inadequate to meet the exceptionally ambitious goals of the National Waste Management Plan (reduction of biodegradable waste fraction by 30 percent until 2006). Information campaigns are presently being launched which point out the potential benefits of MBT.


Mr. Martin Steiner

In Hungary, the first MBT facility started operation in 2004 (Fels-Baska on Lake Balaton, which is about to double its capacity to 20,000 tonnes p.a.). Other plants are yet to follow.

4.7 South Eastern Europe In Slovenia landfill capacities have been fully exploited, and the responsible authorities are under great pressure to take immediate action and create waste conditioning capacities for the future; it seems to be likely that only high-grade MBT systems will be taken into consideration. In Croatia, the first MBT project is be launched in the costal town of Zadar. In the framework of an invitation to tender for the construction of an aerobic decomposition facility with 60,000 t annual capacity, a bidder implementing Italian process technology has won the contract. Further plans (not yet tendered) exist for several medium-sized towns, such as Split and Rijeka. In the capital of Zagreb, where experts argued about waste incineration versus MB treatment already ten years ago, a conventional waste incinerator is going to be implemented shortly. Waste authorities in the other Yugoslavian successor states use the scarce resources that exist to (re)establish nationwide collection systems and take the first organisational steps towards the construction of sanitary landfills. Waste treatment in South Eastern Europe is generally a task for the future, with simple MBT systems having a real perspective in the long term. This goes for Albania, Cyprus and the new EU candidates, Romania and Bulgaria, as well as Greece, which entered the EU already in 1981. A large mechanical processing plant in the proximity of Athens was temporarily in operation (from 2000); but the Commission, after urging the Greek authorities to speed up the development and implementation of a sound landfill programme (in Greece more than 40 percent of municipal solid waste is deposited on illegal dumps !), also imposed sanctions on the country. Turkey has a combined sorting/composting facility (Wendelin composting system) located in Istanbul, which started operation in 1999. The plant is part of a comprehensive environmental program, which was initiated by the city`s former mayor, Recep Tayyip Erdogan (today Prime Minister of Turkey). The plant has a daily treatment capacity of 1,000 tonnes, which equates about one sixth of all municipal solid waste generated on the European side of the Bosporus.

5.PERSPECTIVES In the Central and Northern European countries with their highly developed waste management structure, mechanical-biological treatment as a sound MSW conditioning method prior to landfilling is either largely established (this goes for Germany, Austria and - to a lesser extent - the

Benelux Nations) or does not play a role on account of the national legislation and/or because priority is given

to a (well established) thermal treatment/WTE incineration option (Switzerland, Scandi-navia).


Mr. Martin Steiner

The future role of mechanical-biological treatment in the remaining EU member states (Figure 1) will, notwithstanding their individual waste management situation and system cost development, depend on the outcome of an ongoing discussion about the mandatory limits of waste material authorised for landfilling. In the Eastern and South Eastern European states with a backlog demand for environmentally sound MSW management, simple MBT systems may prove a vital contribution to accomplishing the standards and targets set out by a future Europe-wide Framework Directive in the medium an long term. If the choice of a system is grounded on technical facts, MBT will most likely be recognised for its relative cost advantage (in particular lower capital cost compared to thermal treatment) as well as its flexibility. Moreover, the system has further advantages such as: applicability also in smaller catchment areas,

flexibility and adaptability to meet increasing demands (such as further conditioning of

high calorific fractions), controllability of material flows,

combinability with waste treatment technologies.

6.ABOUT THE AUTHOR Martin Steiner, Dipl.-Ing. Environmental Technology (Technical University Berlin), specializa-tion waste management. Since 1989 General Manager of TBU, an Austria based consultancy firm exclusively (and mainly internationally) engaged in solid waste related projects. Project manage-ment in the old EU member states (predominantly Italy, Austria, Germany) as well as the new members (eg. Slovenia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland), and those aiming at a membership (like Croatia, Serbia & Montenegro, Bulgaria, and Turkey). Martins personal core professional activity focuses on treatment (predominantly mechanical-biological) of domestic waste: Referen-ces comprise design, start-up and optimization projects eg. in the MBT facilities of Milan (Ex-Maserati), Vienna, Istanbul, and Sydney. 10 years experience with intl development programs (The World Bank, various EU related funds). Contact: TBU GmbH, www.tbu-austria.com


Mr. Martin Steiner

Figure 1: Estimate on the future development of MBT systems in Europe

7.LIST OF REFERENCES Hauer W., Young T., Steiner M. (2004). EU-PHARE-Twinning Project CZ02/IB/EN-04: Financing Tools to Imple-

ment Acquis in the Environment Sector Partl, H., Steiner, M. (2002). Economic Aspects of the Biological Treatment of Waste, contribution to the EU Work-

shop Biological Treatment of Biodegradable Waste, Brussels Steiner, M. (2004). How to make a national waste management system fit for EU - a practical guidance for EU

accession countries, contribution to the VIIIth Waste Management Conference Zagreb Steiner, M. (2001). Ersatzbrennstofferzeugung und -verwertung in Italien (Production and utilization of RDF in

Italy), contribution to the VDI-Seminar Abluftreinigung an MBA nach der 30. BImSchV, Kufstein

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