Recovering landfill waste through an innovative and integrated process committed to the circular economy

Introduction

Transition to a more circular economy requires changes throughout value chains, with waste management playing a central role. It determines how the EU waste hierarchy is put into practice. Despite increasing attention on prevention and sustainability, total municipal solid waste (MSW) generation has increased dramatically in recent years, presenting both an environmental and an economic problem. Europe currently loses around 600 Mt of waste materials that could potentially be recycled or reused.

Project Overview

The LIFE ZEROLANDFILLING project aims to tackle this environmental and economic problem by demonstrating, for the first time, the cost-effectiveness and sustainability of an innovative, advanced, and integrated management system through a pilot plant. This system serves as a solution to treat and revalorise non-recyclable MSW, which is mainly composed of non-recyclable plastics and bio-waste that typically ends up in landfills.

Revalorisation Process

Remarkably, the non-recyclable MSW will be revalorised into products with commercial interest, specifically:

• Green naphtha
• Solid charcoal

Environmental Impact

In the frame of the project, 2,112 t of non-recyclable MSW will be treated, avoiding 2,069.76 tCO2e associated with their landfilling. Moreover, this revalorisation will result in the production of:

• 458 t of green naphtha, which will avoid the generation of 918.56 tCO2e
• 583 t of solid charcoal, which will avoid the generation of 1,700.26 tCO2e

Future Prospects

Additionally, the project will pave the way towards wide replication and close-to-market deployment, allowing for a reduction in MSW of 160,000 t/y and the avoidance of 355,222.65 tCO2e/y over three years. This initiative will foster the deployment of a new circular economy concept and consolidate the solid positioning and robustness of the European waste treatment sector.

Conclusion

LIFE ZEROLANDFILLING will thus offer a sustainable and competitive zero-landfill solution, with a low carbon footprint and a circular economy approach. This project is expected to have a strong impact on Europe's environmental and economic future.