Municipal refuse characteristics

Gonzalez-Vila, F. J., and Martin, F. (1985). Cehmical structural characteristics of humic acids extracted from composted municipal refuse. Agric. Ecosyst Environ. 14, 267-278. 

The program involved leaching selected industrial chemical process residuals with leachate derived from municipal refuse in a pilot-scale field facility measuring the concentration of the compounds which leached from the wastes and comparing these field concentrations to those in the EP and other candidate leaching tests. The Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure or TCLP, is the outgrowth of these studies. 

Characteristics of Municipal Refuse (MR) and Sewage Sludge (SSL) in Japan... 

The test results applying the gasifier to the processing of municipal refuse and scrap tires with solid waste are presented. The fundamental characteristics of this plant such as installation space, capital cost and operating cost are discussed. 

Table 2 shows typical values of mechanical properties of the recycled melt-mixed plastics waste obtained from municipal refuse. The main characteristic of these blends is low value of the tensile and impact strength, as well as of the elongation at break. The latter being much lower than corresponding values of the virgin homopolymers. 

The geosphere receives many kinds and large amounts of wastes. Its ability to cope with such wastes with minimal damage is one of its most important characteristics and is dependent upon the kinds of wastes disposed on it. A variety of wastes, ranging from large quantities of relatively innocuous municipal refuse to much smaller quantities of potentially lethal radioactive wastes, are deposited on land or in landfills. These are addressed briefly in this section. 

The Clean Air Act of 1990 has made trace metal content in fuels and wastes the final ash-related compositional characteristic of significance. Considerable attention is paid (ca 1993) to emissions of such metals as arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury, silver, and zinc. The concentration of these metals in both grate ash and flyash is of significance as a result of federal and state requirements of particular importance is the mobility of metals. This mobility, and the consequent toxicity of the ash product, is determined by the Toxic Characteristic Leaching Procedure (tclp) test. Tables 8—10 present trace metal contents for wood wastes and agricultural wastes, municipal waste, and refuse-derived fuel, respectively. In Table 8, the specific concentration of various components in the RDF governs the expected average concentration of trace metals. 

There are basically two types of municipal waste that offer opportunities for combined waste disposal and energy recovery—municipal solid waste (MSW, urban refuse, garbage) and biosolids (sewage, sludge). Each has its own distinctive set of characteristics as a biomass energy resource. 

The pneumatic conveyors are suitable for refuse-derived fuel, dense and light plastics, granulated paper, milled glass, and chip wood/timber. They are not suitable for mixed municipal solid waste due to the variable characteristics of the components, organics/putrescibles due to odors, and material deposition in the rotary valves, and metal objects, except shredded aluminum. 

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