The environmental comparison of landfilling vs. incineration of MSW accounting for waste diversion

This study evaluates the environmental performance and discounted costs of the incineration and landfilling of municipal solid waste that is ready for the final disposal while accounting for existing waste diversion initiatives, using the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. Parameters such as changing waste generation quantities, diversion rates and waste composition were also considered. Two scenarios were assessed in this study on how to treat the waste that remains after diversion. The first scenario is the status quo, where the entire residual waste was landfilled whereas in the second scenario approximately 50% of the residual waste was incinerated while the remainder is landfilled. Electricity was produced in each scenario. Data from the City of Toronto was used to undertake this study. Results showed that the waste diversion initiatives were more effective in reducing the organic portion of the waste, in turn, reducing the net electricity production of the landfill while increasing the net electricity production of the incinerator. Therefore, the scenario that incorporated incineration performed better environmentally and contributed overall to a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions because of the displacement of power plant emissions; however, at a noticeably higher cost. Although landfilling proves to be the better financial option, it is for the shorter term. The landfill option would require the need of a replacement landfill much sooner. The financial and environmental effects of this expenditure have yet to be considered. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

本研究运用生命周期评估（LCA）方法，在考虑现有废弃物转移举措的同时，对已准备好进行最终处置的城市固体废弃物的焚烧和填埋的环境绩效及贴现成本进行评估。还考虑了诸如废弃物产生量变化、转移率和废弃物成分等参数。本研究针对如何处理转移后剩余的废弃物评估了两种情景。第一种情景是现状，即所有剩余废弃物都被填埋；而在第二种情景中，大约50%的剩余废弃物被焚烧，其余的则被填埋。每种情景都产生了电力。本研究使用了多伦多市的数据。结果表明，废弃物转移举措在减少废弃物的有机部分方面更为有效，进而减少了填埋场的净电力生产，同时增加了焚烧炉的净电力生产。因此，包含焚烧的情景在环境方面表现更好，并且由于替代了发电厂的排放，总体上显著减少了温室气体排放；然而，成本明显更高。尽管填埋在经济上是更好的选择，但这是短期的。填埋方案将更快地需要一个替代填埋场。这笔支出的财务和环境影响还有待考虑。（C）2011爱思唯尔有限公司。保留所有权利。