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Cited by 925Municipal Solid Waste ManagementWaste Management and RecyclingHealthcare and Environmental Waste Management

Municipal solid waste management and waste-to-energy in the context of a circular economy and energy recycling in Europe

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Malinauskaite, J., Jouhara, H., Czajczyńska, D., Stanchev, P., Katsou, E., Rostkowski, P., Thorne, R.J., Colón, J. +7 more·2017·Energy
DOI 10.1016/j.energy.2017.11.128
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Abstract

This paper proposes an overarching review of national municipal waste management systems and waste-to-energy as an important part of it in the context of circular economy in the selected countries in Europe. The growth of population and rising standards of living means that the consumption of goods and energy is increasing. On the one hand, consumption leads to an increase in the generation of waste. On the other hand, the correlation between increased wealth and increased energy consumption is very strong as well. Given that the average heating value of municipal solid waste (MSW) is approximately 10 MJ/kg, it seems logical to use waste as a source of energy. Traditionally, waste-to-energy (WtE) has been associated with incineration. Yet, the term is much broader, embracing various waste treatment processes generating energy (for instance, in the form of electricity and/or heat or producing a waste-derived fuel). Turning waste into energy can be one key to a circular economy enabling the value of products, materials, and resources to be maintained on the market for as long as possible, minimising waste and resource use. As the circular economy is at the top of the EU agenda, all Member States of the EU (including the EEA countries) should move away from the old-fashioned disposal of waste to a more intelligent waste treatment encompassing the circular economy approach in their waste policies. Therefore, the article examines how these EU policies are implemented in practice. Given that WtE traditionally is attached to the MSW management and organisation, the focus of this article is twofold. Firstly, it aims to identify the different practices of municipal waste management employed in selected countries and their approaches in embracing the circular economy and, secondly, the extent to which WtE technologies play any role in this context. The following countries, Estonia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, and the UK were chosen to depict a broad European context.

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  • Plastic from bulky waste is a loss of an important resource that has potential to be valorised and contribute to circular economy and sustainability.

    “Therefore, the plastic from bulky waste is a loss of an important resource that has a potential to be valorised, and to contribute to the circular economy and sustainability in accordance to the greening strategy in Europe [5].”

    From Utilization of Municipal Plastic and Wood Waste in Industrial Manufacturing of Wood Plastic Composites (2020) · cites this paper as [5]

    Section 4 says that unrecovered municipal waste represents lost potential secondary raw materials and that reclaiming resources supports a circular economy. Section 3 includes both plastics and bulky waste within municipal waste, but the paper does not specifically identify plastic from bulky waste as a lost resource or assess its potential for valorisation. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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Authors
Malinauskaite, J., Jouhara, H., Czajczyńska, D., Stanchev, P., Katsou, E., Rostkowski, P., Thorne, R. J., Colón, J., Ponsá, S., Al-Mansour, F., Anguilano, L., Krzyżyńska, R., López, I. C., A.Vlasopoulos, & Spencer, N.
Affiliations
  • Brunel University of London (GB)
  • Wrocław University of Science and Technology (PL)
  • NILU (NO)
  • Universitat de Vic - Universitat Central de Catalunya (ES)
  • Jožef Stefan Institute (SI)
  • Instituto de Tecnología Cerámica (ES)
ORCID
Venue
Energy
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2017-12
Volume
141
Pages
2013-2044
ISSN
0360-5442 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.energy.2017.11.128
OpenAlex
W2769905391
Cited by
925
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 72 · 2025: 102 · 2024: 107 · 2023: 132 · 2022: 115 · 2021: 145 · 2020: 121 · 2019: 85 · 2018: 45
FWCI
71.57
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Energy (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • RIUVic (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Hispana (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • RECERCAT (Consorci de Serveis Universitaris de Catalunya) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • Brunel University Research Archive (BURA) (Brunel University London) (submittedVersion)
  • LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • NORA - Norwegian Open Research Archives (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
Manik Ventures Limited
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Waste Management and Disposal › Municipal Solid Waste Management
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Waste Management and Disposal › Waste Management and Recycling
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Healthcare and Environmental Waste Management
Keywords
municipal solid waste management, waste-to-energy, circular economy, energy recycling, waste incineration, waste-derived fuels, EU waste policy, waste management practices, European countries, resource conservation

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