Recycling municipal, agricultural and industrial waste into energy, fertilizers, food and construction materials, and economic feasibility: a review

Abstract The global amount of solid waste has dramatically increased as a result of rapid population growth, accelerated urbanization, agricultural demand, and industrial development. The world's population is expected to reach 8.5 billion by 2030, while solid waste production will reach 2.59 billion tons. This will deteriorate the already strained environment and climate situation. Consequently, there is an urgent need for methods to recycle solid waste. Here, we review recent technologies to treat solid waste, and we assess the economic feasibility of transforming waste into energy. We focus on municipal, agricultural, and industrial waste. We found that methane captured from landfilled-municipal solid waste…

• DF
  Department for the Economy

  Award: VA5048
• EC
  European Commission
• BC
  Bryden Centre, Queen's University Belfast

  Awards: VA5048, Project ID VA5048