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The temporary storage of municipal solid waste – Recommendations for a safe operation of interim storage facilities

2009; Elsevier BV; Volume: 29; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.wasman.2008.11.018

1879-2456

Jaroslav Wagner, Bernd Bilitewski,

Municipal Solid Waste Management

Since 1st of June, 2005 it was stipulated that municipal solid waste (MSW) in Germany must be sufficiently pre-treated before final disposal. Thermal and high-performance mechanical–biological processes may be employed for this pre-treatment. Due to the current lack of sufficient operating capacity in the corresponding facilities, part of the waste stream must be held in interim storage until treated or until further utilisation becomes possible. In Germany, the following types of waste with different demands on storage conditions are of concern: MSW, due to the shortage of available treatment capacity, high calorific waste (coarse RDF), because of the lack of adequate thermal utilisation facilities and mixed household waste which has been stabilised by mechanical–biological treatment but does not yet meet the criteria for landfilling and hence requires further treatment. These storage solutions have in common that considerable environmental problems can occur as a result of inadequate construction and process engineering. In addition, the temporary storage of waste is also of relevance for the situation of other European countries, which are under pressure to reduce the portion of biodegradable waste going to landfills in order to fulfil the provisions made by European legislation. This article deals with the different approaches for the interim storage of waste, related problems as well as with the demands and possibilities to minimize the environmental risks associated with these solutions.