Cost of Collection & Transportation of Wastes
The logistics of waste collection/ segregation and its transport to plant site are of fundamental importance. Sufficient consideration should be given to the costs involved in the same. In the specific case of MSW, collection and transportation costs often account for the largest proportion of MSW treatment costs, which may be as high as 70% and may preclude consideration of certain technologies e.g. Sanitary Landfilling at faraway sites.
15.6.1.2 Scale of Treatment
The waste quantity available/ to be processed is another major factor requiring careful consideration. Large scale treatment would be advantageous for large cities where large waste quantities are discharged in limited area. Small scale treatment on the other hand may be more suitable for low discharge density/ small quantities of wastes to be treated. Such facilities will have the advantage that they can be operated easily and quickly. However, collection and transportation costs in this case (involving wide area) are bound to be higher than in the latter case involving a limited area, and a trade-off will be necessary.
15.6.1.3 Local Conditions/ Existing Waste Management Practices
The viability of any Waste to Energy Project, critically depends upon, interalia, an assured availability of the requisite quantities and quality of the waste. Implicit, therefore, will be the need to ensure proper linkages in waste management right from its generation at source to final disposal.
The waste management practices generally vary with: the local socioeconomic and physical conditions, rates of waste generation, and wastes composition. The last two factors also determine the potential for energy recovery within the over all frame-work of the waste management system. The local socioeconomic conditions and existing WM practices may, however, over-ride certain solutions which otherwise are techno-economically more viable. Conversely, there will be a need to improve the existing waste management practices/ local conditions to suit the selected technological option/ maximize energy recovery component.
For example, wastes of different qualities from different activities often get mixed up with the Urban Municipal waste stream. Some of these wastes have a very high percentage of organic matter and accordingly a high energy recovery potential.
It should, therefore, be ensured that such wastes are collected and transported directly to the energy recovery facilities and not allowed to get mixed up with other waste streams with low energy recovery potential.
