Operative Areas
Composting
The process of composting is a technique, which when controlled and accelerated, improves the natural rotting process through the stimulation of microbes of all organic substance present in waste. It is an "aerobic process of biological decomposition of organic substances which occurs under controlled conditions, allowing us to obtain a biologically stable product in which the organic component presents a high degree of evolution" (Keener et al., 1993).
Rich in humus, in active microbial flora and in micro-elements, compost is suitable for many agricultural solutions, such as: greenhouse plants or open field cultivation.
Entsorga’s vision is that the composting process has to be carried out with selected organic waste (for example: organic waste collected separately from general household waste, or organic waste collected from the agricultural sector), from which is produced "High Quality Compost", a composted soil improver for the use in agriculture or floriculture.
Composting contributes in a tangible manner to fight climate change. In 2008, only in Italy, 3.600.000 tons of green waste, kitchen waste and sewage has been composted. If these wastes would have been landfilled, without any prior treatment, they would have emitted 7.200.000 tons of CO2 equivalent.
MBT Treatment
Under the MBT (Mechanical Biological Treatment) acronym, incorporates a wide range of possible technologies. In general MBT processes implement mechanical sorting and refinement steps along with a biological stimulation of microbes present in waste finalized to bio-dry the waste and/or to reduce the biological content within the waste.
The European waste strategy is to promote suitable measures so as to stimulate the separate collection of the different fractions of wastes in order to implement more effective recycling solutions.
Entsorga provides solutions for the treatment of the unsorted residual Municipal Solid Waste (rMSW) through MBT treatment in order to achieve either the reduction of the organic content within the waste (before landfilling) or for the production of a Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF). For SRF production, the waste fraction with the highest calorific value may be generated, thus minimizing the quantity of material which is sent for combustion and which directly lowers the absolute value of overall emissions.
The finalised SRF products are generally used in substitution of fossil fuels, in particular that of coal.
Landfill gas treatment
Even though today’s landfills are still the most diffused method of waste disposal, the EU Landfill Directive for environmental protection has imposed new limits on the quantities of waste that may be landfilled.
The major problem with this method of waste disposal is the production of biogas inside the landfill caused by the anaerobic fermentation of the organic components of the deposited waste. The principle gases present in the biogas, are carbon dioxide and methane. It must be remembered that methane is 21 times more potent as a green house gas than carbon dioxide. The peak production of biogas is usually during the initial period, when waste is lanfilled and then tends to gradually decrease over a period that may extend up to almost 100 years.
Entsorga offers economic but efficient solutions for landfill biogas management. Entsorga has expertise that design and plan specific solutions to capture the landfill biogas, convert the biogas into energy and implement a system of biofiltration to remove the residual methane when energy recovery is no longer possible.
