Waste-to-energy is the process of extracting energy from waste that cannot be re-used or recycled. From an environmental point of view it is far better to recover the energy in non-recyclable waste than to put it on landfill.

In Usitalls reference plants; both heat and power is extracted from solid waste that comes from industries and municipalities. This is done through a process of thermal treatment using moving grate technology.

Before waste is classified as fuel it goes through a series of sorting and preparation stages where large pieces are crushed and recyclable, reusable and hazardous materials are set aside. This process guarantees high quality fuel while making best use of our natural resources.

The European Union classifies the biodegradable fraction of industrial solid waste and municipal solid waste as biomass. By weight, 85% of Swedish waste is of biological origin which effectively means that almost all of the waste in Sweden can be used as renewable fuel.

Modern thermal treatment of waste is very clean, heavily regulated and highly efficient. Thermal treatment of waste reduces the volume by over 90% and the weight by 75%.

There are synergies between thermal treatment of waste and recycling/re-use. In the process of establishing a system that facilitates thermal treatment of waste, a system for recycling and re-use follows automatically. Thermal treatment allows for new products from recycling and re-use and gives energy from non-recyclable waste material.

Thermal treatment eliminates toxic leakage from landfills into ground water, minimises greee house gas emissions, replaces large amounts of fossil fuels and frees valuable space that would otherwise be used as landfill sites.

Read more about the environmental aspects of waste-to-energy