Wind, water & waste –Opportunities for energy

Waste Management and Waste to Energy

Björn H. Halldórsson

CEO, SORPA bs.

SORPA• SORPA is a non-profit organization owned

by six communities in the Reykjavík Capital Area.

• SORPA started operation in 1991 and provides waste services to 75% of the nation.

• Operates drop-off centres, recycling centres, a receiving and sorting plant and the largest landfill in the country.

• Household waste collection is the responsibility of each community.

• Turnover approx. 4 billion ISK, 110 full time positions

• Building GAJA – a biogas- and composting plant.

Iceland – background information

• Iceland 103.000 km2 ~ 360.000 inhabitants.

• Part of EEA → EU waste legislation applicable.

• Abundance of Environmentally Friendly Energy.

➢93% of housing heated with geothermal energy.

➢99% of electricity is hydro-/geothermal power.

• Landfilling is the predominant form of waste disposal.

Waste Management in Iceland

• Reuse – Good Shepheard a shop for used household goods accepts 0,6% of all waste handled by SORPA.

• Recycling• Small scale in Iceland; unpainted timber, some composting,

candle wax, glass, porcelain, tires.….• Exporting for recycling: paper, paper products, corrugated

paper, plastic packaging, PET bottles, agricultural plastic, scrap metal, electrical waste, hazardous waste, textiles…..

• Meat meal factory• Sewage sludge usage (small scale)• Small composting facilities (biggest in Akureyri 1.800 ton/year)• Incineration

• One small incinerator, 12.800 t/year in Suðurnes – no energy recovery

• Landfilling

110 Employees

Over 2500 attend

SORPA´s education

programme yearly

Turnover 4 billion isk

Yearly methane production equals

to approx. 2 million liters of petrol

Volume of waste

Waste flow 2018

Waste Management (2011)

Use \ Area Sweden Denmark ReykjavíkCaptial

Area(s. SORPA)

Material Recycling 35,4% 31,7% 35,2%

Organic recycling 13,8% 18,7% 25,0% *

Energy recovery 48,4% 36,3% 0,0%

Landfilling 1,4% 0,4% 38,6%

MBT 0,0% 10,4% 0,0%

Hazardous Waste 1,0% 2,4% 1,2%

Rapport U2011:15 „Avfallshantering i några europeiska länder. En jämförande studie“, Avfall Sverige-utveckling.

New goals – EU legislation

• Less than 10% og total waste generated landfilled in year 2035

• Recycling targets for different materials – household waste, glass, textiles, paper, plastics, etc., etc.

• According to CEWEB, there will be an unsolved stack of waste amounting to 140 million tons per year in 2035 even if all recycling targets set by EU are met! Current incineration capacity in Europe is 90 million tons/year.

Icelandic situation in 2035

• If CEWEB methodology is applied to Iceland, there will be an unsolved stack of waste in 2035 amounting to 100.000 tons/year.

• Approximately 70% is capital area so there will be a need to manage ca. 70.000 tons/year in that area

• Only technical solution viable today is incineration with energy recovery. However, the situation becomes complicated if the energy can not compete with other sources of energy, neither in monetary or environmental terms.

Comparison

• 36.000 ton/year• AD/Biogas plant - ca. 4,5 billion ISK

• Incinerator – ca. 10 -15 billion ISK

• It is common for operators of Incinerators in EU to receive 50% of income through selling energy.

• It has been estimated that an operator in Iceland would receive 2 – 3% of operating cost by selling energy.

Live Cycle Assessment

• A LCA was conducted by WSP in Sweden on different methods of waste handling in the capital area:

..however

• An incinerator is needed, if Iceland is to achieve the goals set by EU but also in order to safely handle and destruct certain materials:

• Hospital/Clinical waste

• Hazardous waste

• Category 1 slaughterhouse waste

• Waste from international flights

• Drugs

• Coarse waste from wastewater treatment

• Non-recyclables (burnable)

Waste flow 2018 if GAJA

The future

What governs volume of waste?

Waste Hierarchy

•REDUCE

•REUSE

•RECYCLE

REDUCE

REUSE

RECYCLE

RECOVER