Study of Waste-to-Energy

1.2.1. Waste Collection

Waste collection is licensed and managed by the National Environment Agency. The public waste collection in Singapore is divided into nine sectors, managed by four licensed Public Waste Collectors.

The Public Waste Collectors are responsible for the collection of waste from residential and trade premises in Singapore, and are also required to provide recycling services under the National Recycling Program. For commercial and industrial premises, the waste is collected separately by licensed general waste collectors.

Figure 2: 9 Sectors of Waste Collection [ NEA, 2014 ]

1.2.2. Waste Recycling

Waste that is not disposed of, is sent for recycling. Recycling saves energy and helps mitigate carbon dioxide emissions. In Singapore, several recycling companies are located at an industrial area called Sarimbun Recycling Park. Waste materials, such as construction and demolition waste, horticultural wastes, and tires, are sent there by trucks for additional reprocessing.

In 2012, about 7.3 million tons of waste was generated in Singapore. The recycling rate for 2012 is 60% and has been increasing steadily over the years. The government has set a recycling target of 65% by 2020 and 70% by 2030.

1.2.3. Waste Disposal

Figure 3: Waste Disposal Trend [ NEA, 2012 ]

In land-scarce Singapore, the government has decided that waste-to-energy incineration is the best way to manage waste as it reduces the volume of waste by 90%. The first waste-to-energy plant was opened in the late 1970s. There are presently four incineration plants and one sanitary landfill in Singapore.

Currently, the waste collected by the Public Waste Collectors and general waste collectors is disposed of at four waste-to-energy plants and the offsh...

... middle of paper ...

...lit:

• waste handling, incinerator grate and boiler 52%

• power generation 16%

• flue gas treatment 17%

• building and civils 15%

7. OPERATING COSTS OF INCINERATION AND

The typical range of these costs as a percentage of the total operating cost is:

• capital 30-40%

• labour 15-23%

• maintenance 15-25%

• consumables, analyses etc. 10- 12%

• disposal of residues, waste diversion etc. 11-15%

8. OPERATING COSTS OF PLASMA Gasification

Operating costs for a 45ktpa plant are in the range S$135-S$190/te.

These costs are similar to that for incineration at this scale of plant. With increasing plant capacity, the operating costs for technologies based on modular plants will reduce slightly, possibly to S$122-S$163/te for a 150kte/yr plant and S$108-S$150/te/yr for a 170/200kte/yr plant.

The percentage breakdown of the operating costs is similar to an incineration plant.