Report: Waste refinery in the municipality of Borås

Abstract

This paper briefly describes waste treatment trends in Sweden and describes an example of state-of-the-art treatment in a local integrated waste treatment system (Borås). The focus is on treatment of household waste, to illustrate what can be done to establish a sustainable waste treatment system with high recovery of materials and energy. The various processes have resulted in a low amount of landfilled household waste, and high proportions of recovered energy and materials. Heat, electricity, vehicle fuel and fertilizers, metals and construction materials are recovered from the local waste in Borås, with less than 4% of domestic waste being sent to landfill.

From “less landfilling” to “wasting less”

“…Newer studies of Swedish waste management (e.g. Johansson et al , 2007) and trade magazines, for example, Avfall och Miljö (in translation, Waste and Environment ) have also been examined. We have carefully reconstructed the evolution of the Swedish legislation on waste (see Avfall Sverige (2010) for a chronology).Our understanding of the societal narratives that have driven Sweden's waste management rests on this compound of inputs.…”

Uncertainty over techno-economic potentials of biogas from municipal solid waste (MSW): A case study on an industrial process

“…The biogas produced after the biological treatment is used as CBG for vehicle fuel to run buses, garbage trucks, and other gas vehicles. [18,19] In this study, the techno-economic feasibility of an industrial biogas plant for MSW, located in Borås, Sweden was investigated under six different scenarios. The process was simulated using Aspen Plus ® version 8.0 (AspenTech, Massachusetts, U.S.A.) based on the industrial data obtained from Borås Energy and Environment AB, Sweden.…”