Recycling of waste better than burning it

This study puts its focus on the changes in environmental impact caused by alternative changes in the methods of collecting household wastes. How collection is done, and how it is then transported, affects neither environment nor energy consumption very much – several of the analyses made confirm this.

– What seems to be the number one factor in boosting savings is how the original raw materials are recycled from the waste, explains Dr. Sara Tyskeng at KTH, who is one of the scholars behind this report. And also the method of incinerating the waste. Other important factors are how new replacement processes are performed, that is, how fresh new materials are produced – and how alternative heat production could be done with other fuels than waste.

The study comprises a total of 18 different system analyses that were compared with each other. As to energy, its result is unambiguous: Recycling reduces the energy consumption, when compared with incineration of the waste materials.

With regard to environmental effect, the results are somewhat more complex. One of the reasons for this is that measurement errors are usually greater in the case of emissions than with energy consumption, at least in contexts of this nature. Yet the rule of thumb remains the same here, too – recycling gives less environmental impact than incineration.

Magnus Myrén