Effective Use of Food and Other Biological Wastes: A View from the Waste Side

Transcription

1 Effective Use of Food and Other Biological Wastes: A View from the Waste Side Dr Kenneth O Callaghan Defra Total Food 2014, Norwich Research Park, Norfolk, Nov 11 th - 13 th.

2 policy background Several EU legal instruments address treatment of biogenic waste. General waste management requirements found in revised Waste Framework Directive which also contains biogenic waste elements Landfilling addressed in the Landfill Directive which requires diversion of biodegradable municipal waste from landfill; landfill tax IPPC Directive (soon to be replaced by the Industrial Emissions Directive) lays down the main principles for the permitting and control of bio-waste treatment installations of a capacity exceeding 50 tonnes/day Incineration of bio-waste is regulated in the Waste Incineration Directive, while the health rules for composting and biogas plants which treat animal by-products are laid down in the Animal By-products Regulation. Information on the EU biodegradable waste pages is found here

3 policy background By 2020 biodegradable municipal waste sent to UK landfill should be reduced to 35% of the 1995 amount Commission called for separate collection of all biowaste by This isn t subject to TEEP (technically, environmentally and economically practicable) exemptions, as are some other separate collections requirements Recent measures to improve the quality of materials coming from MRFs recycling facilities

4 policy background Official statistics show the % of BMW (biodegradable municipal waste) landfilled in England in 2012 was 28% and across the UK 29% against a 2013 target of 50% and 35% by e/358278/uk_statistics_on_waste_ _statistical_release_final.pdf The nature of landfill targets post 2020 may change significantly landfill is proposed to be limited to 25% of MSW arisings in 2025 and 5% of MSW arisings in 2030, with concurrent landfill bans for recyclable and recoverable waste materials

5 policy background SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY SELECT COMMITTEE INQUIRY Waste Opportunities: stimulating a bioeconomy Debated the science & technology used to exploit bio-waste and waste gases to generate higher-value products, including chemicals, polymers, bio-materials, bio-fuels. Waste or resource? Stimulating a Bioeconomy report published March Reported on the science & technology needed to transform carbon-containing wastes into higher value products, and assessed the economic and environmental opportunities for the UK and the scale of the bioeconomy.

6 background to UK waste sector Local Authorities (LAs) collect municipal waste ca. 50% by in-house operations, 50% by private sector (more private recyclate collecting than residual) LAs don t collect much trade waste C&I (trade) waste collection, and all sorting and other waste treatment done by private sector Ca. 1,000 waste management companies in UK, but <10 large companies e.g. Veolia, Biffa, Sita, Shanks, WRG, Viridor, Cory account for >50% of the market

7 background to UK waste sector Large waste companies are involved in collection of waste right through to recovery/disposal waste management sector worth about 4.8bn, with 42,000 employees waste recovery and recycling sector worth an additional 6.5bn, with >53,000 employees About 33 million tonnes of waste sent to landfill each year

8 background to UK waste sector = organics HWRC Industry Landfill EfW MBT Residual waste Garden waste AD Food waste MRF Composting With permission - ESA image

9 background to UK waste sector UK Organics treatment (inputs in tonnes) for 2012 (1) Excludes sites co-located with drinks manufacturers and processing high volumes of liquid that s treated and discharged to sewer ~ 6 million tonnes (2) MBT figures are for mixed input waste stream From WRAP 2012 Organics Survey

10 background to UK waste sector UK organics treatment UK composting capacity in 2012 was 7.48 million tonnes, suggesting capacity utilisation of 78% Inputs to composting increased by 4% between % of compost goes to agriculture 34 new AD sites became operational between , bringing an additional 590,000 tonnes of operating capacity AD throughput suggests about 82% utilisation of UK capacity in 2012 More MBT facilities led to increased throughput from 1.28 mt in 2010 to 2.51 mt in 2012

11 background to waste sector Waste treatment historically many ideas Activated sludge systems; Oxidation processes; Aerated lagoon; Aerobic granular reactor; Aerobic granular sludge technology; Anaerobic clarigester; Anaerobic digestion; Anaerobic filter; API oil-water separator; Anaerobic lagoon; Belt filter; Biofilters; Bioreactor; Bioretention; Biorotor; Carbon filtering; Capacitive deionization; Cesspit; Chemical addition wastewater treatment; Clarifier; Coarse bubble diffuser; Composting toilet ; Constructed wetland; Dark fermentation Diffuser (sewage); Dissolved air flotation; Dissolved gas flotation; Distillation; Desalination; EcocyclET systems ; Electrocoagulation; Electrodeionization; Electrolysis; Expanded granular sludge bed digestion; Facultative lagoon; Fenton's reagent; Fine bubble diffusers; Flocculation & sedimentation; Flotation process; Froth flotation; Imhoff tank; Induced gas flotation; Ion exchange; Lamella clarifier (Inclined Plate Clarifier); Maceration (sewage); Microbial fuel cell; Membrane bioreactor; Membrane distillation; NERV (Natural Endogenous Respiration Vessel); Parallel plate oil-water separator; Reed bed; Retention basin; Reverse osmosis; Rotating biological contactor; Sand filter; Sedimentation; Septic tank; Sequencing batch reactor; Stabilization pond; Thermal hydrolysis; Trickling filter; Ultrafiltration; Ultraviolet disinfection; Upflow anaerobic sludge blanket digestion; Vacuum evaporation; Anaerobic digestion; Ethanol production; Bioconversion of biomass to mixed alcohol fuels; Biodrying; Gasification; Gas plasma arc; In-vessel composting; Mechanical biological treatment; Mechanical heat treatment; Pyrolysis; Refuse-derived fuel; Solid recovered fuel; Sewage treatment; Tunnel composting; Waste autoclave is this list endless? But what is needed for a bioeconomy?

12 Some UK non-food industry research Environment Agency waste technologies data centre LCA showing preferred options for treating BMW AD strategy Digestate-compost agri field trials probably most comprehensive ever done compares different organic materials for crop growth, environmental safety, soil health, costs, carbon emissions across many UK sites WRAP AD technology optimisation of processes and products ongoing now Study on the proportion of MSW (depending on how you figure it) that is biodegradable about 50% Natural Environment Research Council Resource Recovery from Waste programme

13 waste sector bio-economy some say the bio-economy is the oldest economy Web of Science search for bioeconomy (in title) from 1994 onwards = 118 hits; from 2004 onwards = 114 from 2010 onwards = 81 ~ a modern re-think! definitions of bio-economy use of biological feed-stocks, or processes involving biotechnology, to generate economic outputs in the form of energy, materials or chemicals Select Committee 2014 encompasses the production of renewable biological resources and the conversion of these resources and waste streams into value added products, such as food, feed, biobased products and bioenergy Innovating for Sustainable Growth EU Strategy paper

14 waste sector bio-economy where are the waste bio-materials? WRAP research and data suggests about 15 mt of food waste but EUROSTAT for UK Total wastes Total C-containing Total waste treatment 200,963,023 51,016,617 Deposit onto or into land 48,517,347 21,320,453 Land treatment and release into water bodies e.g. biodegradation of sludgy discards in soils, release to water body 38,604,453 0 Incineration / disposal (D10) Energy recovery which does not meet efficiency criteria 7,350,933 6,993,602 Incineration / energy recovery (R1) 355, ,822 Recovery other than energy recovery Backfilling Reclamation in excavated areas or for engineering purposes in landscaping 14,201, ,217 Recovery other than energy recovery - Except backfilling Recycling, land treatment with agricultural or ecological improvement 91,932,993 22,229,523

15 waste sector bio-economy

16 waste sector bio-economy

17 waste sector bio-economy OECD 2009 The Bioeconomy to 2030 Biotechnologies high probability of reaching market by 2030 Improved enzymes for a growing range of applications in the chemical sector Improved micro-organisms that produce chemical products in one step, some building on genes identified through bio-prospecting Biosensors for real-time monitoring of environmental pollutants and biometrics for identifying people High energy-density biofuels produced from sugar cane and cellulosic sources of biomass Greater market share for biomaterials such as bioplastics, especially in niche areas where they provide some advantage

18 waste sector bio-economy R&D expenditure and future market share in three main areas of biotechnology health, agriculture and industry according to OECD futures report The report anticipates more growth in agri and industry, with a smaller future health sector share

19 waste sector bio-economy Investment in facilities and new technologies Better collection, identification and separation of materials Diversion from landfill Market development Techno-innovations for using recovered materials Sustainable solutions Better recycling rates Novel applications for recovered materials Integration of biorelated sectors Growth of bio-economy

20 waste sector bio-economy We need more innovation on process integration The eurobioref project good example of exploring integration options Courtauld 2025 (WRAP) will include a theme on dealing with unavoidable food waste how can retail sector work with innovators? Will landfill be forgotten? some questions being asked are can off-gases be feedstocks for other processes?; will diversion of BMW from landfill impact value from CH4 capture?; will LAs struggle to present attractive business models for landfill management?; is landfill mining an opportunity in Europe? Will landfill liability management run and run for decades? Should we just try to process the materials out of these sites now?

21 waste sector bio-economy More innovation is required in resource recovery technology and process engineering, which has opportunities for innovation and sustainable practices Does supply chain analysis and the concentration of integrated flows of materials within a bioeconomy suggest that the way to produce shorter supply chains is to bring technologies together? Large waste management companies in UK are already operating widely across the waste sector. Perhaps this indicates opportunities for more integration.

22 waste sector bio-economy Star-COLIBRI project funded under FP Analytical tools required to determine the composition and important physical and chemical properties of different biomass types (including residues and waste) and their structural components Knowledge of the composition and properties of biomass is vital for the subsequent design of the handling and transportation stages that will impact the biomass supply chain Databases could be important to ensure compliance with any quality requirements for downstream processing, particularly so for the biorefinery concept, where a wide range of products can be produced But similar for solid waste streams generally identify valuable materials, ensure resource quality and separate materials and develop markets.

23 A PLUG!! Recovering Valuable Materials from Waste - Scope Develop processes for dealing with continuously produced waste steams, maximising value of recovered resources: Improved collection schemes Techniques for identification of materials and parts Identification and processing of waste materials at speed Real-time monitoring of contaminants Recovery of valuable resources from wastewater or factory effluent Production of high-value chemicals or materials from agri or bio-waste