Pretreatments prior to matter and energy recovery of solid waste

Summary

Despite the clear desire of our societies to make greater use of materials from recycling and to make greater use of waste for energy recovery, there are currently certain limits to these practices. Some of these technical obstacles are due to the presence of pollutants or undesirable substances that can adversely affect the recovery rate, the integrity of the recovery facilities or lead to health or environmental risks. Could an additional waste pre-treatment stage, in certain cases, reduce the pollution load to enable or improve material or energy recovery? RECORD wanted to take stock of these technological possibilities. Over thirty processes have been identified and studied. They are described in the form of technical data sheets and classified according to the nature of the waste concerned and the purpose for which it is to be recovered.