How is General Waste Disposed Of?

There’s a common misconception that if waste can’t be recycled, it has to go to landfill. Thankfully, that’s not always the case, and there are a number of innovative technologies that are enabling us to treat general and residual waste in a more sustainable way.

SL Recycling provides industry-leading waste and recycling services to businesses in South Wales. From commercial skip hire to metal recycling to day-to-day waste management support, we deliver the complete, sustainable solution.

In this guide, we outline some of the exciting alternative methods that we use to process general and residual waste.

General waste often comprises the largest waste stream produced by businesses, and historically, much of it has ended up in landfill. But the negatives impacts of landfill are widely known; they release vast quantities of greenhouse gases, impact biodiversity and soil quality, and leach harmful chemicals into the water table. To that end, a number of alternative treatment methods have been developed, offering environmentally minded businesses a waste management solution that doesn’t cost the earth. Simply put, with consumers, stakeholders, and investors demanding responsible practices from the businesses they work with, it’s no longer acceptable to send general waste to landfill. Our planet is in crisis, and we all have a responsibility to operate in the most eco-friendly manner we can.

Alternative Disposal Methods for General Waste

To give you an idea of some of the other ways of disposing of general waste, we’ve summarised four common treatment methods. At SL Recycling, we utilise a combination of these innovative, sustainable and cost effective processes to ensure we can divert as much of our clients’ waste from landfill as possible. Let’s go through them in more detail.

Mechanical Heat Treatment (MHT)

Mechanical heat treatment is a method of separating general waste into several distinct components using mechanical, autoclave, thermal and steam based technologies. Essentially, MHT is about using heat to extract certain materials from a mixed waste stream, provide options for recycling and recovery, and keep them out of landfill. The thermal part of the process also sanitises the waste by destroying any bacteria and eliminating moisture content. MHT is primarily concerned with healthcare waste, but the process has also been harnessed for the management of municipal waste.

Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT)

Mechanical biological treatment uses a combination of mechanical and biological methods to separate and sort general waste. The purpose MBT is to stabilise waste and recover any materials that are suitable for recycling using mechanical and biological technologies. The mechanical part of the processes uses an automatic segregation system to separate materials and fibre from the mixed waste, and the biological part extracts moisture. As a result, the remaining material is homogenous and consistent, and can be utilised as a reliable fuel for a range of industrial applications.

Energy from Waste (EFW)

Sometimes, the materials in mixed waste cannot practically be reclaimed and recovered, but the energy value can still be harnessed and diverted from landfill based disposal methods. Modern energy from waste technology facilitates this process. Waste is mixed and put into a furnace where it burns at temperatures of around 1000°C. This process generates a hot flue gas which can be cleaned using lime, carbon and fine fabric filters, and then extracted and used as a fuel. It also creates incinerator bottom ash. After treatment with various magnets to remove any remaining ferrous metals, this ash has various applications in the construction industry as a replacement aggregate material.

Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF)

Refuse derived fuel is a fuel produced using waste and waste materials with recoverable calorific value that can be burned. These materials can be used as fuels in cement kilns to generate energy, as an alternative to many common fossil fuels like coal. Once the waste has been sorted, shredded, dried and baled, it is fed into the kiln and burned at high temperatures to generate electricity. RDF can be developed from municipal solid waste, industrial waste, commercial waste, and household waste, and offers a green alternative to landfill disposal.