Co-recycling of sludge and municipal solid waste: A cost-benefit analysis

This study examines the potential economic and environmental advantages of materials recovery with particular reference to the putrescible fraction of household waste. By weight, a third or more of domestic refuse comprises biowaste. With regard to haulage alone, dear financial benefits could be realised by diverting it to an appropriate waste treatment facility which is :proximal to source. A cost-benefit model is presented to compare anaerobic co-digestion at sewage treatment works with incineration and composting, as alternatives to landfill. Composting is considered to be a biowaste recycling process, incineration a disposal option with potential for electricity generation, and anaerobic digestion combines biowaste recycling with electricity generation Compartmentalisation of waste enables it to be treated by the best appropriate technology, and has the potential to reduce total cost. Taken in isolation it could account for recovery of a third or more of the municipal wastestream, and integrated with recovery of other secondary raw materials, local authorities have the potential to recycle more than half of the municipal wastestream.