Internal Research Program

Data-driven analysis to guide sustainable solid waste management

Using Municipal Solid Waste as a Biofuel Feedstock

August 2015

About EREF

The mission of the Environmental Research & Education Foundation (EREF) is to fund and

direct scientific research and educational initiatives for waste management practices to benefit

industry participants and the communities they serve.

EREF Internal Research Program

EREFs Internal Research Program (IRP) was developed as part of the foundations effort to

expand its mission to advance knowledge and education for sustainable solid waste

management. The primary objective of the IRP is to aggregate and analyze solid waste data.

The program also provides valuable experience to undergraduate and graduate students who

assist in data gathering and analysis. Fees charged for this report are used to provide

internships to college students who assist in data gathering and analysis efforts for the Internal

Research Program.

IRP@erefdn.org

Web: www.erefdn.org

mailto:IRP@erefdn.orghttp://www.erefdn.org/

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

While promising, there are many considerations and challenges in implementing what is still a

relatively new technology in terms of its application to MSW. As development of the technology

continues, energy requirements must be a consideration. As determined by the LCA, power

consumption can be two orders of magnitude higher than comparable existing technologies used to

make electricity from MSW. This is further increased by the use of MSW as a feedstock, which

requires substantial pre-processing to obtain consistent particle sizing, ensure a low moisture

content, and remove components that cannot be converted to biofuel or that may detrimentally

affect biofuel production. While this study does not address cost-benefit factors, an economic

analysis of biofuel production from MSW would be a critical next step to demonstrate feasibility of

converting MSW to pipeline-ready fuel at-scale.

SUMMARY

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES

OVERVIEW OF WASTE CONVERSION TECHNOLOGIES

Figure 1. Schematic of a Typical Waste-to-Energy

(Incineration with Energy Recovery) Process

Figure 2. Example of Syngas Composition Using

(a) Air and (b) Steam as Gasifying Agents

Figure 3. Schematic of Pyrolysis and Gasification Processes

Figure 4. Representative Industrial Feedstocks and Products That Can Be Produced From Syngas

LIFECYCLE ASSESSMENT OF WASTE CONVERSION

Figure 5. Cases and MSW Process Scenarios Examined in This Study

Table 1. Net Global Warming Potential by Scenario1

Table 2. Electricity Consumption and Production per Ton of MSW

Table 3. Products From the Gasification / Fischer-Tropsch (GFT) Process1

Table 4. Key Results Summary for GWP and Energy Production

MSW MANAGEMENT IN NORTH CAROLINA AS

A CASE STUDY FOR WASTE CONVERSION

Table 5. List of Wastesheds in N.C. and Representative Population

Table 6. Estimated Number of Solid Waste

Management Facilities in N.C.1

Table 7. Statewide Annual MSW Generation

by Type of Facility1

Table 8. Estimated Annual Waste Generation (tons)

by Wasteshed and Type of Facility

Table 9. Estimated MSW Composition in N.C.

by Waste Component (%)

Figure 6. Composition of Recyclable Materials

Based on Type of Recycling Facility

Table 10. Percentage of Generated Waste

in N.C. That Can Be Converted to

Biofuels by Facility Type1

SITING AND SOURCE FEEDSTOCK OBSERVATIONS

Table 11. Estimated Number of Potential MSW to

Biofuels Conversion Facilities by Wasteshed1

Table 12. Commodity Pricing, Tonnage and

Estimated Value from Recyclables

Table 13. Estimated Biofuel Production

from MSW (in millions of gallons)1

CONCLUSIONS

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/resolver/1840.16/8681

REFERENCES

Appendix A: Methodology & LCA Modeling Approach

APPENDICES

Figure A1. Cases and MSW Process Scenarios Examined in this Study.

In Case 1, all MSW is Collected in One Curbside Bin While in

Case 2 Recyclables and Residual Waste are Handled Separately.

Table A1. Separation Efficiency for

Material Recovery Facility (%)1

Figure A3. RDF Process Flow Diagram.

During the production of RDF, materials undesirable for

gasification are removed via mechanical sorting.

Figure A2. Conceptual Diagram of RDF Processing.

RDF is created by mechanically removing wet organics, metals,

and chlorinated plastics, before shredding and pelletizing the

remaining material, composed primarily of paper and plastic.

Table A2. Separation Efficiency for Two Pieces of

Equipment within the RDF Facility (%)1

Waste Categories Waste Component Trommel Air Separator

Yard Waste Leaves 70

Grass 70 90

Food Waste Vegetable 70 90

Non-Vegetable 70 90

Recyclable Metals Ferrous Cans 90

Aluminum Cans 90

Glass

Brown 100

Green 100

Clear 100

Other

Rubber/Leather 90

Wood 90

Misc, Inorganic 100

Table A3. Equipment Electricity Usage per Mg of Throughput

Table A4. Inter-facility Transport Distance in km

Table A5. Material Properties Used in the LCA Model

Table A6. Separation Efficiency

for Materials from WTE Ash1

Table A7. Required Gasifier Input Parameters

Table A8. Key Assumptions Used in the ASPEN Plus

Simulations of the Gasifier

Table A9. Difference Between Spreadsheet Model and ASPEN Plus Yield

Estimates with 0% CH4

Table A10. Difference Between Spreadsheet Model and ASPEN Plus

Yield Estimates with 3% CH4

Table A11. Carbon Chain Length Ranges

for Unrefined FT Products1

(Equation A1)

Appendix B1: Landfills and WTE Plants

Appendix B1 (continued): Landfills and WTE Plants

Appendix B2: Composting Operations

Appendix B3: Recycling MRFs1

1Tonnage data was obtained for MRFs via surveys and is partially complete. As a

result, tonnage data on a per facility basis is not provided.

Facility Name County

American Recycling of WNC Buncombe

Butler Paper Recycling (VA) Out-of-state

Curbside Management Buncombe

Davidson County MRF Davidson

ECVC - Eastern Carolina Vocational Center Pitt

Foothills Sanitation & Recycling Wilkes

GDS Conover MRF Catawba

High Point MRF Guilford

Iredell Recycling, LLC Iredell

Kemp Recyclers Wayne

North Davidson Garbage Service, Inc Davidson

Person Industries Person

Pratt Industries (Fayetteville Recycling) Cumberland

Recommunity Recycling Charlotte Mecklenburg

Recommunity Recycling Greensboro Guilford

RockTenn (TN) Out-of-state

Sonoco Recycling (Charlotte) Mecklenburg

Sonoco Recycling (Raleigh) Wake

Sonoco Recycling (Onslow) Onslow

Sonoco Recycling (SC) Out-of-state

TFC Recycling - Chesapeake (VA) Out-of-state

The Recycling Group, LLC Burke

Uwharrie Environmental, Inc Montgomery

Wagram Paper Stock Scotland

WM Recycle America - Raleigh Wake

WM Recycle America - Winston Salem Forsyth

Appendix B4: Recycling Non-MRFs1

Facility Name County

Asheboro Recycling Center Randolph

Asheville Waste Paper Co., Inc. Buncombe

Best Disposal, Inc. Davidson

Cape Fear Recyclers, Inc. New Hanover

Caraustar (Carolina Recycling) Mecklenburg

Carolina Fibre Corporation Guilford

Carolina Shredding Authority Alamance

Confidential Shredding Guilford

Danny's Dumpster Buncombe

EarthWay Global, LLC Caldwell

Engineered Plastics Inc Lee

Federal Waste Recycling Alamance

Fortress Metals Durham

Futura Ventures Inc Pasquotank

GDS, Inc. - Forest City Rutherford

GDS, Inc. - New Bern Craven

Go Green - Edwin Russ Recycling Columbus

Green Coast Recycling, LLC New Hanover

Green Pieces Recycling Stanly

Haywood County MRF Haywood

Integrated Container Corporation Lenoir

International Paper Mecklenburg

Iron Mountain Confidential Destruction Mecklenburg

Iron Mountain Confidential Destruction Wake

L&S Enterprises Guilford

Leisure Time Recycling Davidson

Martin Enterprises Martin

Maslo Company Mecklenburg

Matangira Curbside Recycling Rowan

Material Matters Inc. Randolph

Morrison's Recycling Surry

Nelson & Nelson Recycling Robeson

News and Observer Recycling Wake

OCS Waste Lenoir

Omni Resource Recovery, Inc. Forsyth

Orange Recycling Services, Inc. Durham

Philco Services Durham

Piedmont Disposal and Recycling Forsyth

Piedmont Paper Stock Guilford

Plyler Paper Stock Company, Inc. Mecklenburg

Pratt Industries Wake

PRO Pallet South, Inc. Montgomery

Recycling Management Resources, LLC Wake

Republic Services Forsyth

Republic Services Raleigh Recyclery Wake

Rutherford Sales and Recovery Company Rutherford

S.T.A.T. Industrial Recycling LLC Caldwell

Salvage America, Inc Guilford

Appendix B4 (continued): Recycling Non-MRFs1

Appendix C: North Carolina MSW Management Facilities (Map)