1. Internal Research Program
Data-driven analysis to guide sustainable solid waste management
Using Municipal Solid Waste as a Biofuel Feedstock
August 2015

2. About EREF
The mission of the Environmental Research & Education Foundation (EREF) is to fund and
direct scientific research and educational initiatives for waste management practices to benefit
industry participants and the communities they serve.
EREF Internal Research Program
EREF’s Internal Research Program (IRP) was developed as part of the foundation’s effort to
expand its mission to advance knowledge and education for sustainable solid waste
management. The primary objective of the IRP is to aggregate and analyze solid waste data.
The program also provides valuable experience to undergraduate and graduate students who
assist in data gathering and analysis. Fees charged for this report are used to provide
internships to college students who assist in data gathering and analysis efforts for the Internal
Research Program.
IRP@erefdn.org
Web: www.erefdn.org

3. CONTENTS

4. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

5. While promising, there are many considerations and challenges in implementing what is still a
relatively new technology in terms of its application to MSW. As development of the technology
continues, energy requirements must be a consideration. As determined by the LCA, power
consumption can be two orders of magnitude higher than comparable existing technologies used to
make electricity from MSW. This is further increased by the use of MSW as a feedstock, which
requires substantial pre-processing to obtain consistent particle sizing, ensure a low moisture
content, and remove components that cannot be converted to biofuel or that may detrimentally
affect biofuel production. While this study does not address cost-benefit factors, an economic
analysis of biofuel production from MSW would be a critical next step to demonstrate feasibility of
converting MSW to pipeline-ready fuel at-scale.
SUMMARY

6. BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES

7. OVERVIEW OF WASTE CONVERSION TECHNOLOGIES

8. Figure 1. Schematic of a Typical Waste-to-Energy
(Incineration with Energy Recovery) Process

9. Figure 2. Example of Syngas Composition Using
(a) Air and (b) Steam as Gasifying Agents

10. Figure 3. Schematic of Pyrolysis and Gasification Processes

11. Figure 4. Representative Industrial Feedstocks and
Products That Can Be Produced From Syngas

12. LIFE–CYCLE ASSESSMENT OF WASTE CONVERSION

13. Figure 5. Cases and MSW Process Scenarios
Examined in This Study

14. Table 1. Net Global Warming Potential
by Scenario1

15. Table 2. Electricity Consumption and
Production per Ton of MSW
Table 3. Products From the Gasification /
Fischer-Tropsch (GFT) Process1

16. Table 4. Key Results Summary for
GWP and Energy Production

18. MSW MANAGEMENT IN NORTH CAROLINA AS
A CASE STUDY FOR WASTE CONVERSION

19. Table 5. List of Wastesheds in N.C.
and Representative Population

20. Table 6. Estimated Number of Solid Waste
Management Facilities in N.C.1

21. Table 7. Statewide Annual MSW Generation
by Type of Facility1
Table 8. Estimated Annual Waste Generation (tons)
by Wasteshed and Type of Facility

22. Table 9. Estimated MSW Composition in N.C.
by Waste Component (%)

23. Figure 6. Composition of Recyclable Materials
Based on Type of Recycling Facility

24. Table 10. Percentage of Generated Waste
in N.C. That Can Be Converted to
Biofuels by Facility Type1

25. SITING AND SOURCE FEEDSTOCK OBSERVATIONS

26. Table 11. Estimated Number of Potential MSW to
Biofuels Conversion Facilities by Wasteshed1

27. Table 12. Commodity Pricing, Tonnage and
Estimated Value from Recyclables

28. Table 13. Estimated Biofuel Production
from MSW (in millions of gallons)1

29. CONCLUSIONS

31. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

32. REFERENCES

35. Appendix A:
Methodology & LCA Modeling Approach
APPENDICES

38. Figure A1. Cases and MSW Process Scenarios Examined in this Study.
In Case 1, all MSW is Collected in One Curbside Bin While in
Case 2 Recyclables and Residual Waste are Handled Separately.

40. Table A1. Separation Efficiency for
Material Recovery Facility (%)1

41. Figure A3. RDF Process Flow Diagram.
During the production of RDF, materials undesirable for
gasification are removed via mechanical sorting.
Figure A2. Conceptual Diagram of RDF Processing.
RDF is created by mechanically removing wet organics, metals,
and chlorinated plastics, before shredding and pelletizing the
remaining material, composed primarily of paper and plastic.

43. Table A2. Separation Efficiency for Two Pieces of
Equipment within the RDF Facility (%)1
Waste Categories Waste Component Trommel Air Separator
Yard Waste
Leaves 70
Grass 70 90
Food Waste
Vegetable 70 90
Non-Vegetable 70 90
Recyclable Metals
Ferrous Cans 90
Aluminum Cans 90
Glass
Brown 100
Green 100
Clear 100
Other
Rubber/Leather 90
Wood 90
Misc, Inorganic 100

44. Table A3. Equipment Electricity Usage per Mg of Throughput
Table A4. Inter-facility Transport Distance in km

46. Table A5. Material Properties Used in the LCA Model

47. Table A6. Separation Efficiency
for Materials from WTE Ash1

48. Table A7. Required Gasifier Input Parameters

49. Table A8. Key Assumptions Used in the ASPEN Plus
Simulations of the Gasifier

50. Table A9. Difference Between Spreadsheet Model and ASPEN Plus Yield
Estimates with 0% CH4

51. Table A10. Difference Between Spreadsheet Model and ASPEN Plus
Yield Estimates with 3% CH4

52. Table A11. Carbon Chain Length Ranges
for Unrefined FT Products1
(Equation A1)

54. Appendix B1:
Landfills and WTE Plants

55. Appendix B1 (continued):
Landfills and WTE Plants

56. Appendix B2:
Composting Operations

57. Appendix B3:
Recycling MRFs1
1
Tonnage data was obtained for MRFs via surveys and is partially complete. As a
result, tonnage data on a per facility basis is not provided.
Facility Name County
American Recycling of WNC Buncombe
Butler Paper Recycling (VA) Out-of-state
Curbside Management Buncombe
Davidson County MRF Davidson
ECVC - Eastern Carolina Vocational Center Pitt
Foothills Sanitation & Recycling Wilkes
GDS Conover MRF Catawba
High Point MRF Guilford
Iredell Recycling, LLC Iredell
Kemp Recyclers Wayne
North Davidson Garbage Service, Inc Davidson
Person Industries Person
Pratt Industries (Fayetteville Recycling) Cumberland
Recommunity Recycling Charlotte Mecklenburg
Recommunity Recycling Greensboro Guilford
RockTenn (TN) Out-of-state
Sonoco Recycling (Charlotte) Mecklenburg
Sonoco Recycling (Raleigh) Wake
Sonoco Recycling (Onslow) Onslow
Sonoco Recycling (SC) Out-of-state
TFC Recycling - Chesapeake (VA) Out-of-state
The Recycling Group, LLC Burke
Uwharrie Environmental, Inc Montgomery
Wagram Paper Stock Scotland
WM Recycle America - Raleigh Wake
WM Recycle America - Winston Salem Forsyth

58. Appendix B4:
Recycling Non-MRFs1
Facility Name County
Asheboro Recycling Center Randolph
Asheville Waste Paper Co., Inc. Buncombe
Best Disposal, Inc. Davidson
Cape Fear Recyclers, Inc. New Hanover
Caraustar (Carolina Recycling) Mecklenburg
Carolina Fibre Corporation Guilford
Carolina Shredding Authority Alamance
Confidential Shredding Guilford
Danny's Dumpster Buncombe
EarthWay Global, LLC Caldwell
Engineered Plastics Inc Lee
Federal Waste Recycling Alamance
Fortress Metals Durham
Futura Ventures Inc Pasquotank
GDS, Inc. - Forest City Rutherford
GDS, Inc. - New Bern Craven
Go Green - Edwin Russ Recycling Columbus
Green Coast Recycling, LLC New Hanover
Green Pieces Recycling Stanly
Haywood County MRF Haywood
Integrated Container Corporation Lenoir
International Paper Mecklenburg
Iron Mountain Confidential Destruction Mecklenburg
Iron Mountain Confidential Destruction Wake
L&S Enterprises Guilford
Leisure Time Recycling Davidson
Martin Enterprises Martin
Maslo Company Mecklenburg
Matangira Curbside Recycling Rowan
Material Matters Inc. Randolph
Morrison's Recycling Surry
Nelson & Nelson Recycling Robeson
News and Observer Recycling Wake
OCS Waste Lenoir
Omni Resource Recovery, Inc. Forsyth
Orange Recycling Services, Inc. Durham
Philco Services Durham
Piedmont Disposal and Recycling Forsyth
Piedmont Paper Stock Guilford
Plyler Paper Stock Company, Inc. Mecklenburg

59. Pratt Industries Wake
PRO Pallet South, Inc. Montgomery
Recycling Management Resources, LLC Wake
Republic Services Forsyth
Republic Services Raleigh Recyclery Wake
Rutherford Sales and Recovery Company Rutherford
S.T.A.T. Industrial Recycling LLC Caldwell
Salvage America, Inc Guilford
Appendix B4 (continued):
Recycling Non-MRFs1

60. Appendix C:
North Carolina MSW Management Facilities (Map)