Marketable high performance compact technologies for the abatement of VOCs in EU waste treatment plants, decreasing CO2 emissions and energy consumption.

Introduction

In the EU, 570 mechanical biological waste treatment (MBT) plants were operating in 2017. This number will increase by 120 new facilities in 2025, with an expected total emission of NMVOCs of 3,900,000 tons/year. Additionally, 2,926,000 tons of CO2 were emitted in 2020 from the waste management sector.

Current Challenges

Current VOCs treatment technologies in MBT plants, such as thermal oxidizers and biofilters, show high costs, energy consumption, and CO2 footprint.

Project Overview

LIFE ABATE will significantly reduce VOC and odour emissions, energy requirements (saving natural gas and electricity), and exploitation costs. It will also transfer produced CO2 to greenhouse farming. The solution will be validated at an industrial scale in the MBT plant Ecoparc 3 (Barcelona) and replicated in Las Dehesas (Madrid), treating 20,000 m³/h of real gas emission.

Demonstrative Aspects

The demonstrative aspects include:

1. Adsorption-desorption of VOCs in a zeolites rotoconcentrator (RC), which will convert large volume streams with low VOC concentration to x10 concentrated, low flow streams for the first time in EU MBT plants.
2. Novel two-phase biotrickling filter (2P-BTF) for biological treatment of the concentrated VOCs.
3. CO2 capturing (now released from MBT plants to the atmosphere) by greenhouse farming.

2P-BTF (TRL7) and RC (TRL9) have been tested but not implemented yet as combined solutions in EU MBT plants. Thus, the next step to bring these technologies to the market is to scale them up as a combined solution and promote their approval as Best Available Techniques (BAT).

Communication Strategy

An extensive communication strategy will focus on setting the right EU market conditions, networking, and dissemination.

Future Implementation

In the after-LIFE period, the technology will be operated in both demo sites (Ecoparc 3 and Las Dehesas, 265,000 m³/h) and implemented in 2 additional MBT plants (740,000 m³/h). The solution will also be replicated in 2 waste treatment plants in the EU. The partners will offer the technology as a turnkey solution for EU MBT plants and other transferable industrial sectors.