Plastic incineration versus recycling: A comparison of energy and landfill cost savings

Recycling of municipal solid waste has been offered as an attractive alternative to traditional forms of waste disposal such as landfilling. In recent years, attention has also been focused upon recycling as an effective method of energy recovery. The focus of this article is to address these assumptions and to determine the degree of energy saving achieved through recycling, particularly in comparison to waste-to-energy conversion. The theoretical cost saving arising from the recycling or reuse of raw materials found in municipal solid waste is presented along with the theoretical energy value of converting plastic to energy by combustion. An energy cost saving from recycling is proven for many recyclable products, excluding plastics. Given current recycling technology, maximization of energy recovery from plastic recycling can only be accomplished through waste-to-energy conversion, which may have other undesirable results.