SA is facing a great challenges for waste management due to the fast demographic and industrial growth, which left the country with accumulative amount of generated waste that needs to be managed in the most cost-effective, sustainable and green.

1. Integrated green technologies for MSW
Prof. Dr. Mamdouh Abdel-Sabour
Head of Environmental consultancy
(IIESC)
Some technical and strategic solutions for a green-
environmental-friendly waste management in SA

2. Solid waste management problems
1. SA is facing a great challenges for waste management due to the
fast demographic and industrial growth, which left the country
with accumulative amount of generated waste that needs to be
managed in the most cost-effective, sustainable and green.
“Today, SA accounts
for 4.5 hector of
ecological footprint
per person, or roughly
twice the world
average,” (Al Fadl
2010).
Traditional MSW management became
more expensive and less convenient.

3. Solid waste management problems
3. MSW management Strategy should emphases largely on
sustainable life cycle development.
2. The conventional waste handling method:
 Causes people inconvenience of handling waste,
 Unpleasant odor,
 Harmful pests and diseases,
 Disagreeable from the surroundings
 Negative environmental impacts
Potential worries
 Dust and Odor emmission
 Litter
 Noise
 Visual Impacts
The objective is :
 To reduce generated waste,
 Improve its management,
 Increase recycling,
 Achieve energy recovery and
 Reduce landfilling (Zero landfill
approach).

4. The crucial need to improve MSW collection systems
Most of the generated MSW are disposed in landfill
 Wasting a recyclables resources,
 losses of its energy content,
 Increasing adverse impact on the environment
 Ground water pollution and
 Gaseous emissions which cause the global warming problem.
 High cost for the municipalities/Inefficient consequence
RECOMMENDED APPROACHES TO WASTE MANAGEMENT
Processing / Treatment should be :
 Technically sound
 Financially viable
 Environmental friendly
 Easy to operate & maintain by local community
 Long term sustainability

6. 1) Transfer Station
 It helps to reduce collection costs. Costs should be less than
transportation to landfill directly
 Collection vehicles spend less time driving to/from disposal site and more
time on route
 Transfer station become feasible when the travel distance to
the landfill is 20-30 miles or more (one way).
 It Can provide processing point for recyclables or other
materials
Transfer station should meets one of the following criteria:
 Municipality with population < 50,000 or Locality with population <
85,000
 Facility that transfer < 125 tons per day
The primary reason for using a transfer station is to reduce the
cost of transporting waste to disposal facilities.

7. Transfer station could be categorized as:

8. New green design
Vertical waste transfer station
Factors affecting the design of the
transfer station site include:
 Waste stream demands
 Material types accepted
 Customer types
 Traffic flow within the transfer
station
The silos are made of durable material
and are able to withstand heavy
compacting force, also due to their
round shape. The silos are equipped
with a leachate drainage system.

9. Cost Savings:
A report about Vertical operating Waste Transfer Station compared to direct
transfer by Collection Trucks ( 500 ton/day-Transfer Station located 35km
from collection points
Direct haul to landfill vs. long haul via transfer station

11. 2) MSW characterization.
Component of generated MSW

12. Mixed waste is very difficult to manage and process.
Hazardous waste & medical waste in SA
The private sector of widely varying sizes and
capabilities can supplement the knowledge and
capacity of the local authority to implement
advanced recycling, recovery, and disposal
technologies.

13. For new town and commercial area
3) Under ground vacuum MSW collection system
Urban cities continue to expand to areas with difficult
accessibility, posing a challenge for efficient waste collection.

18. Benefit of Recycling

21. MRF and Waste to energy

22. Thermal treatment Types
• Incineration (complete oxidation)
 Mass Burn
 Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF)
• Pyrolysis
• Gasification
• Plasma arc (advanced thermal
conversion)
What is the waste advanced thermal technologies?

24. A Waste-to-Energy Incinerator with Pollution Controls
One tonne of waste creates 3.5 MW of energy during incineration
(eq. to 300 kg of fuel oil) powers 70 homes

25. Air Pollution Control
• Remove certain waste components
• Good Combustion Practices
• Emission Control Devices
Electrostatic Precipitator
Bag-houses
Acid Gas Scrubbers
Wet scrubber
Dry scrubber
Chemicals added in slurry to neutralize acids
Activated Carbon
Selective Non-catalytic Reduction

26. Schematic Presentation of Bottom Ash Treatment
1. Construction fill
2. Road construction
3. Landfill daily cover
4. Cement block production
5. Treatment of acid mine drainage
Ash Reuse OptionsBottom Ash – recovered from combustion chamber
Heat Recovery Ash – collected in the heat recovery
system (boiler, economizer, superheater)
Fly Ash – Particulate matter removed prior to
sorbents
Air Pollution Control Residues – usually combined
with fly ash

27. Pyrolysis
Thermal degradation of carbonaceous materials
Lower temperature than gasification (750 – 1500oF)
Absence or limited oxygen
Products are oils and gas, solid char
Pyrolysis oil used for (after post-treatment):
liquid fuels,
chemicals,
adhesives, and other products.
Pyrolysis has proved capabilities to transform biomass and waste material of
low-energy density into bio-oil of high-energy density and recover higher value
chemicals.
Paper cups used as coffee or cold drinks cups are accumulating as wastes on the
earth surface at a rapid rate.
Considering only America, 14.4 million disposable paper cups are used for drinking
coffee each year. Placed end-to end, these cups would wrap around Earth 55 times
and weigh around 900 million pounds.

28. Pyrolysis for Ethanol
Example: Ethanol plant
Construction on Fulcrum Bio-energy municipal solid waste to ethanol plant, Sierra Bio-
Fuels, started in 2008. Located in the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center, in the City of
McCarran, Storey County, Nevada, the plant convert 90,000 tons of MSW into 10.5 million
gallons of ethanol per year.

29. (http://www.thermoselect.com/index.cfm)
 Recovers a synthesis gas,
utilizable glass-like
minerals, metals rich in iron
and sulfur from municipal
solid waste, commercial
waste, industrial waste and
hazardous waste
 High temperature
gasification of the organic
waste constituents and
direct fusion of the
inorganic components.
 Water, salt and zinc
concentrate are produced
as usable raw materials
during the process water
treatment.
 No ashes, slag or filter
dusts
 100,000 tpd plant in Japan
operating since 1999
Gasification and Pyrolysis

30. Gasification

31.  Utilizes Thermal Energy developed by Plasma Torches
at Temperatures ≤5,500 Degrees Celsius. All Organic
Material is Gasified to form a Synthetic Gas
(“Syngas”).
 Multiple Feedstock
Advanced Thermal Gasification System

32.  All Inorganic Materials is Vitrified into Inert “High
Grade Aggregate Slag”
 Calorific Energy and Sensible Heat from the Syngas is
Recovered and transformed into Electrical Energy
Advanced Thermal Gasification System

33. Flexibility of Gasification

34. Landfill closing and Energy generation

36. Landfill closing and Energy generation
The main component of landfill
gas are methane and carbon
dioxide. Both components
contribute significantly to the
greenhouse effect and are chiefly
responsible for global
temperature rise.
Municipal solid waste management and wastewater contribute about 3% to current
global greenhouse gas emissions, about half of which is methane from landfills. One
forecast suggests that without mitigation, this could double by 2020 and quadruple
by 2050.
Mitigation needs to be a mix of the ‘technical fix’ approach, such as landfill gas
collection and utilization, and upstream measures, particularly reduction, reuse,
recycling and composting

37. 1. Vertical gas collection wells
2. Horizontal gas collection systems
3. Gas collection header lines
4. Blower
5. Condensate collection system
6. Gas treatment system
Gas collection system

38. Power Generation

39. Conclusions
 Landfill should be used as the final destination of the refuse
that cannot be further recycled or recovered in any other way.
 Combustion remains predominant thermal technology for MSW
conversion with realized improvements in emissions
 Gasification and Pyrolysis systems now in commercial scale
operation but industry still emerging
 Advanced Thermal Gasification System is Clean Development
Mechanism under Kyoto Protocol.
 Comprehensive environmental or life cycle assessments should
be completed.
 Private sector companies should be encouraged and supported
for investment in these green technology

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