Incineration costs compared with recycling

This is a vital problem for liquefaction and has failed in the advanced German trials. In Japan, liquefaction has first to defeat incineration, the technique that has prevailed in most municipahties. The rate of incineration in municipalities has reached 80% or so and 40 million tons of garbage are incinerated every year. From this point of view, the reduction of collection and baling costs as described above is an easy way to achieve this. Second is the question of how to reduce the liquefaction cost compared with those for the other feedstock recycling methods, such as application in the iron and steel industry and gasification for ammonia synthesis. These methods have the merits discussed above. On the other hand, liquefaction has many weak points, it is small in scale, complicated with a mixed raw material for fine technology, and has a low degree of operation, 50% or so. 

In a new process proposed by Kellogg the oxidation of HCI makes use of nitrosyl-sulfuric acid (HNSOs) at 4 bar and 260-320 °C [9], The amount of byproducts diminishes drastically raising the overall yield over 98%. The gaseous emissions are reduced practically to zero. Chlorinated waste from other processes may be incinerated to HCI, and in this way recycled to the manufacturing of VCM. The process is safer because the contact of hydrocarbon mixtures with oxygen is eliminated. A capital cost reduction of 15% may be estimated compared with the oxy-chlorination process. 

Estimated processing costs were deemed acceptable at 6 to 10/kWh of batteries based on a 5,000 (metric) ton per year plant size. This compares favorably to the 40 to 60/kWh incineration cost. The relatively low value of the recovered materials prevents this recycling process from being completely self-supporting. Other more valuable forms of sulfur could be recovered with a modified process, but markets for them may... 

The LCA analysis included an eco-efflciency portfolio for each plastic part compared with a cost analysis. Plastics can be recovered as recycled plastics, used for energy source in a furnace, or sent to the landfills. The end-of-life scenarios included landfill, municipal incineration, cement kiln, blast fiimace, syngas production, and mechanical recycling. 

Waste carpet typically contains large quantities of Nylon 6, which can be converted back into caprolactam. Recycling processes are described in U.S. 7,115,671, U.S. 6,111,099 (both to DSM B.V.), and U.S. 5,359,062 (to BASF). Determine the economics of recovering caprolactam from carpet waste if the waste is available at a cost of -30/metric ton (i.e., you are paid 30/ton to accept it). How does this compare to burning the waste carpet in an incinerator with a steam turbine cogeneration plant ... 

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