Life Cycle Environmental Aspects of

Landfills and Waste-to-Energy Systems

Meeting of the Committee on Geological and
Geotechnical Engineering
Board on Earth Sciences and Resources,
National Research Council

February 1, 2007

Keith Weitz
RTI International

1
 Objectives
 Background on life cycle concept
 Landfill discussion
 Waste-to-energy discussion
 Summary of life cycle tradeoffs

2
 What is Life Cycle Assessment?
  A systems analysis, not
isolated operations.
  Considers upstream and
downstream burdens.
  Multi-media and multi-
pollutant.
  Main components:
¡ Goals and Scoping
¡ Inventory Analysis
¡ Impact Assessment
¡ Interpretation

3
Life Cycle for Solid Waste Management

MSW
Landfill

Recycling
Ash
Collection and WTE
Landfill
Composting

Materials
Recycling

Compost
Product
Use

4
Life Cycle Inventory Module
Energy Materials

Solid Products
Waste Management
Waste Activity/Operation Energy

Water
Air Pollution Residual
Emissions Waste

5
Landfills

6
Old Landfill Design – Managed Dumps

7
Modern Landfill Design – Highly
Engineered Sites

8
 US Federal MSW Landfill Standards
  Location restrictions.
  Composite liners requirements.
  Leachate collection and removal system requirements.
  Operating practices.
  Groundwater monitoring requirements—requires testing.
  Closure and postclosure care requirements.
  Corrective action provisions for control and clean up landfill
releases to achieve groundwater protection standards.
  Financial assurance for environmental protection during
closure and post-closure care.

9
 Landfill Leachate Collection and
Treatment: Offsite or Onsite

t
m en
at
Tre
si te
Off

On
sit
e Tre
atm
Leachate Collection System en
t

10
 Landfill Gas Collection and
Management: Flare or Energy Recovery

re
Fla

En
erg
y Re
co
ver
y

Landfill Gas Collection System

11
Waste-to-Energy

12
 “Waste-to-Energy” Systems

Thermal Systems:
  Mass Burn
  Controlled-Air, Modular-Municipal
  Gasification
  Pyrolysis

Non-Thermal Systems:
  Anaerobic digestion
  Hydrolysis

13
 Mass Burn Technology
  Well proven technology for MSW.
  Minimum waste preparation.
  Higher capital cost.
  Complete burnout residues.
  Reduce waste volume by 75-80%.
  Metals can be recovered.
  Ash can be reused or landfilled.

14
Mass Burn WTE Plant: Water and Air
Pollution Control Systems

r
w ate
ste
Wa

Ba
gh
o us
e
Modern Mass Burn WTE Plant

15
Life Cycle Comparison of Landfill
and WTE Options

16
Net Total Cost for WTE and Landfill
Options
250,000,000

200,000,000
Annual Cost ($)

150,000,000

100,000,000

50,000,000

0
Landfill - Vent Landfill - Flare Landfill - Energy WTE

Per 1,800,000 tons of waste and assuming equal 20 mile haul distance.

17
Net Total Energy Consumption for
WTE and Landfill Options
5,000,000

0
Annual Energy Consumption (MBTU

Landfill - Vent Landfill - Flare Landfill - Energy WTE

-5,000,000

-10,000,000

-15,000,000

-20,000,000

-25,000,000

-30,000,000

Per 1,800,000 tons of waste and assuming equal 20 mile haul distance.

18
Net Total Life Cycle Carbon Emissions
for WTE and Landfill Options
500,000

400,000
Annual Carbon Emissions (MTCE)

300,000

200,000

100,000

0
Landfill - Vent Landfill - Flare Landfill - Energy WTE
-100,000

-200,000

Per 1,800,000 tons of waste and assuming equal 20 mile haul distance.

19
Net Total Life Cycle Criteria Emissions
for WTE and Landfill Options
5,000,000
4,000,000
3,000,000
2,000,000
1,000,000
0
-1,000,000 Landfill - Vent Landfill - Flare Landfill - Energy WTE PM
Pounds

-2,000,000 SOx
-3,000,000 NOx
-4,000,000 CO
-5,000,000
-6,000,000
-7,000,000
-8,000,000
-9,000,000
-10,000,000

Per 1,800,000 tons of waste and assuming equal 20 mile haul distance.

20
 Summary of Life Cycle Tradeoffs
  Both are well established and tested, accept
unprocessed waste, have pollution control
requirements.
  Landfill typically cheaper
  WTE more efficient at recovering energy
  WTE avoids landfill methane
  WTE can include metals recovery
  WTE produces ash that must be managed

21
Thank You
Keith A. Weitz
RTI International
3040 Cornwallis Road
RTP, NC 27709
Ph: 919-541-6973
Fax: 919-541-7155
Email: kaw@rti.org

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