Modern waste-to-energy is clean, heavily regulated and highly efficient, it also reduces the volume of the treated waste by over 90 % and the weight by 75 %. With decades of experience in waste-to-energy, Usitall only uses proven and trusted technology which is illustrated in the Best Available Technology Reference Documents. These guiding principles are in place to ensure, to the fullest degree, that the facility will operate safely during its whole life time.

Waste-to-energy plants can treat a wide variety of residuals from human activity including municipal solid waste, industrial solid waste, construction and demolition waste and even certain types of hazardous waste.

Each waste-to-energy project is unique and must be adapted to the existing surrounding conditions. In order to achieve this and still deliver fast and secure projects, Usitall always applies the Best Available Technology. Usitall’s waste-to-energy projects are currently based on waste incineration technology which is the only prevailing proven and trusted technology. The principle of this technology closely resembles that of the technology used in coal fired combined heat and power plants. The incineration process is a way of recovering the energy that is contained in the waste by transforming it into heat and power with a very high level of efficiency.

Compared to the situation in the 1980s, emissions from waste-to-energy have dramatically decreased. As an example, the emissions of dioxins from waste-to-energy in Sweden have been reduced by 99.5 % making them virtually undetectable. The bottom ash from the process can be used as construction material after valuable metals have been extracted and recycled. Fly ash constitutes only 2–3 % of the total amount of residuals from the waste-to-energy process and these residuals are classified as hazardous waste and must be handled accordingly.