subject: From Waste to Energy [print this page] From Waste to Energy From Waste to Energy
There are now several companies offering waste incineration in the UK, usually with the generation of electricity. One of the major companies for recycling and resource management' SITA, offers both incineration of waste to create electricity in various plants. They also generate electricity from the collection and burning of landfill gas.
Waste which has been incinerated residual household waste', means that the likes of glass and paper have been removed. All of the plants are fitted with a gas cleaning system; this system uses a combination of lime and carbon to extract any undesirable elements.
Waste incineration is of course not without its critics, and one recent criticism has of course been the visual impact these plants have to the rest of us. One response to this has been therefore to make the plants as visible as possible-making them somewhat landmarks and a leisure facility in their own right. Something to certainly think about...
An example of the above is a waste management site in Copenhagen, deisgned by the Danish company BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group.
This is an exemply model of a waste management site, which is also intended to be a landmark. It is a beacon and a leisure facility in its own right. It features an artificial ski slope and whenever one tonne of CO2 has been released, the plant will emit a giant smoke ring which will be lit up at night.
The entire project has been described as 'hedonistic sustainability'.
The only project of this kind in the Uk is that of the Thomas Heatherwick's BEI-Teeside plant which will generate electricity and also heat for the Quintain's housing development at Middlehaven.
Like the Copenhagen plant this is set for a flat landscape.
Heatwick was appointed for the project after being heard on the radio saying 'Art galleries have been done to death, but power stations have not had the same level of attention'
How much wast do we produce?
It is estimated that about 36 million tonnes of muncipal waste was produced in 2004-5, and 30 tonnes of this was collected from domestic households. This averages at half a tonne a person. Although this is less than 10% of the total waste produced in this country, it is amongst the most troublesome, particularly because of the organic content which produces methane gas when is degrades.
