A largest MSW gasification facility (Thermoselect, located in Germany) recently closed after only a few years of operation with chronic technical problems and losses of $500 million.
Incineration is disposal to air
Although the volume of garbage appears to be greatly reduced by gasification and incineration, no technology can make anything actually disappear. Mass can neither be created nor destroyed, only changed.* The gas, smoke, and liquid and solid wastes that leave a facility will have the same mass as the solid materials entering the facility. Masses of gas and particulates will go up the stack, toxic ashes and solid wastes will need to go to landfill, and liquid wastes will also need to be managed.
Escape the “bury or burn” trap. Please join us in moving towards Zero Waste.
Through implementing zero waste practices both upstream (including reducing consumption, product redesign, clean industrial production and processes, reducing packaging waste, encouraging refillable containers, and toxics use reduction) and downstream (including reuse, composting, recycling, and materials recovery), many countries, cities and businesses are making significant progress towards zero waste.
Proven approaches that work: prevent waste and increase recycling and composting
• Zero Waste creates jobs and is good for the economy. For example, U.S. recycling and reuse
establishments employ 1.1 million people and gross $236 billion in annual revenues. Designing more recyclable, reusable and repairable products means more jobs for a vital industry.
• Zero Waste saves natural resources by reducing consumption and making new items from recycled materials. Ruining materials through thermal and combustion processes means more materials need to be extracted from the earth to replace those resources.
• Zero Waste conserves energy through reducing demand for extraction and processing of raw materials, which is energy intensive. EPA analysis shows that recycling is more energy efficient than combustion.