Heavy metals in Municipal Solid Waste

• Heavy metals originate mostly in non source-separated municipal

solid wastes from a verity of sources: batteries, electronic appliances,
newspapers, paint chips, foils, motor oils and plastics that can all
introduce metal contaminant into the compostable organic fraction
(Hamdi et al., 2003) – Heavy metal distribution in soil and plant in
municipal solid waste compost amended plots, F. Ayari; H. Hamdi;
N.Jedidi; N.Gharbi; R.Kossai, Int. J. Environ Sci. Tech, 2010.
 Waste to Energy plant scenario in USA

• In 2013, Americans generated about 254 million tons of trash and

recycled and composted about 87 million tons of this material,
equivalent to a 34.3 percent recycling rate. On average, we recycled
and composted 1.51 pounds of our individual waste generation of
4.40 pounds per person per day. – Recycling rate is only 34.3% in the
year 2013.
• U.S. EPA estimates incinerators emit more CO2 per unit of electricity
(2,988 lbs/MWH) than coal-fired power plants (2,249 lbs/MWH), This
makes waste a very poor fuel source for power generation.44 A
report by Eco-Cycle points to the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate
Change’s (“IPCC”) CO2 reporting requirements that include both
biogenic and non-biogenic greenhouse gas emissions when
comparing electricity generation sources