Enhancing sustainable in municipal solid waste management: A proposed anaerobic based scenario for Kaunas MBT
2024
Abdullah, Mohsin | Denafas, Gintaras
The Mechanical-Biological Treatment (MBT) facility plays a vital role in the management of municipal solid waste (MSW). A Life Cycle Assessment of the current operations at the Kaunas MBT reveals that the facility’s processes have a negative environmental impact. This impact can be minimized by reducing the carbon footprint. This study presents the activities of the MBT in the Kaunas Region, Lithuania, and proposes a scenario to reduce the carbon footprint of the Kaunas MBT. The Kaunas MBT processes waste collected from six different municipalities in the Kaunas region. The facility also has two landfill sites for non-hazardous waste. The facility shreds and sorts waste into fractions such as paper, plastics, metals, and biodegradable waste. Biodegradable waste is composted using an aerobic technique inside composting tunnels, and afterward, the composted material is used in landscaping and agriculture as fertilizer. Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF) produced by the MBT is transferred to the Kaunas incineration plant for energy production. This article proposes a scenario to replace the aerobic composting of biodegradable waste at the MBT with anaerobic digestion to produce biogas. This biogas can be used to generate electricity, meeting the energy demands of the MBT facility. As a result, the Kaunas MBT could be considered a Green MBT. The MBT facility in Kaunas region requires a load of 1.9 MW to operate smoothly, consuming 16.12 million kWh annually. If the MBT is modified according to aforementioned proposed scenario, 72240 tons per year of biodegradable material can generate 28.94 million kWh.
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