UPSC Express

Waste-Energy Plants: A backgrounder

What are Waste-Energy plants?

• Waste-To-Energy (WTE) plants are innovative ways of converting non-recyclable wastes, organic and inorganic, into usable forms of energy including heat, electricity and fuel.
• Different types of WTE processes include:
  • Incinerators which are used to produce usable form of heat by complete combustion of waste
  • Pyrolysis – thermal degradation of organic materials through use of indirect, external source of heat – used to convert wastes into liquid fuels
  • Anaerobic digestors – with moderate heating in the absence of oxygen – used to convert organic waste into biogas and sometimes compost
  • In-situ landfill gas recovery to produce biogas

Waste-Energy Plants in India

• Waste-Energy sector is still at a nascent stage in India.
• According to CPCB data of 2014-15, India generates about 1.5 lakh tones of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) every day.
• However, the processing and treatment of MSW is very low, with only about 24% of the total waste generated is being treated.
• The remaining waste is significantly adding to pollution as it is left untreated in dump sites or landfill sites.

Challenges to Waste-Energy Plants in India

• Low level of collection and segregation of waste
• High moisture content of the waste, making it expensive to segregate and treat
• Low calorific value of the waste (about 1200 kcal/kg)
• Inefficient management of MSW by urban local bodies
• Lack of acceptance level of W-E plants among people due to perceived pollution woes
• High cost of electricity generated from W-E plants, nearly Rs. 7 per unit compared to Rs. 3-5 offered by thermal and solar sources.

Way Forward

• With growing urbanization, the MSW is expected to be 4.5 lakh tonnes per day by 2031, waste-energy plants are seen as an effective alternative to manage municipal solid waste.
• As a result, NITI Aayog has proposed capacity upgradation of waste-energy plants by 10 fold.
• NITI Aayog also proposed setting up of a Waste-to-Energy Corporation of India responsible for setting up incineration plants to treat MSW.