Enhancing environmental quality and public health by promoting resource circulation using waste coprocessing in cement plants

Abstract

Since ages, countries throughout the world have been using landfill sites for dumping waste at minimum cost. Currently, an estimated 2 billion tonnes of municipal solid waste is generated globally, out of which almost 33% remain uncollected by municipalities (Waste Atlas 2018). Currently, the top three municipal solid waste-generating countries are the USA, i.e., 258 million metric tons, China, i.e., 220 million metric tons, and India, i.e., 169 million metric tons (Statista 2020).This daily accumulation of waste materials is increasing heavily on a daily basis with increase in population, causing scarcity of further land to be used for landfills. According to the World Bank, the generation of municipal solid waste is anticipated to rise to 3.4 billion tonnes by 2050 (The World Bank 2020a). These landfills are generally without any scientific treatment or segregation in developing countries including India. Treatment capacities are not sufficient causing local harm, release of greenhouse gases and other pollution. From the current world population of 7.6 billion (US Census Bureau 2020), nearly 3.5 billion people are deprived of basic waste management facilities (Waste Atlas 2018). As a result these landfill sites have become a breeding ground for contamination by flies, rodents, mosquitoes and causing diseases like dermatological, respiratory, genetic, and several other kind of infectious diseases. Among these wastes accumulated, various materials have been proven to be useful resources which can be used again as an input in various industries. A major portion of these wastes may be utilized and resources can be recirculating by various treatment and management processes by the implementation of 3Rs and circular economy concepts. Co-processing of wastes in cement plant is one of the options for this solution. This paper deals with enhancing the environmental quality and public health by promoting the process of co-processing of waste materials in cement plants thereby reducing the path of waste materials to the landfill sites. Co-processing is defined as the process where waste materials are used as a source of energy or raw materials. By applying this circular economy concept, usage of conventional fuel can also be greatly reduced. A case study has also been done to enquire whether co-processing is the best option to be implemented on cement plants. If the waste materials are co-processed in cement plants effectively, landfill sites will no longer overflow with waste and quality of health and environment can also be improved significantly. Moreover, it will help to obstruct the flow of waste materials to ocean, hence preventing marine littering and creating micro plastics too.

Since ages, countries throughout the world have been using landfill sites for dumping waste at minimum cost. Currently, an estimated 2 billion tonnes of municipal solid waste is generated globally, out of which almost 33% remain uncollected by municipalities (Waste Atlas 2018). Currently, the top three municipal solid waste-generating countries are the USA, i.e., 258 million metric tons, China, i.e., 220 million metric tons, and India, i.e., 169 million metric tons (Statista 2020).This daily accumulation of waste materials is increasing heavily on a daily basis with increase in population, causing scarcity of further land to be used for landfills. According to the World Bank, the generation of municipal solid waste is anticipated to rise to 3.4 billion tonnes by 2050 (The World Bank 2020a). These landfills are generally without any scientific treatment or segregation in developing countries including India. Treatment capacities are not sufficient causing local harm, release of greenhouse gases and other pollution. From the current world population of 7.6 billion (US Census Bureau 2020), nearly 3.5 billion people are deprived of basic waste management facilities (Waste Atlas 2018). As a result these landfill sites have become a breeding ground for contamination by flies, rodents, mosquitoes and causing diseases like dermatological, respiratory, genetic, and several other kind of infectious diseases. Among these wastes accumulated, various materials have been proven to be useful resources which can be used again as an input in various industries. A major portion of these wastes may be utilized and resources can be recirculating by various treatment and management processes by the implementation of 3Rs and circular economy concepts. Co-processing of wastes in cement plant is one of the options for this solution. This paper deals with enhancing the environmental quality and public health by promoting the process of co-processing of waste materials in cement plants thereby reducing the path of waste materials to the landfill sites. Co-processing is defined as the process where waste materials are used as a source of energy or raw materials. By applying this circular economy concept, usage of conventional fuel can also be greatly reduced. A case study has also been done to enquire whether co-processing is the best option to be implemented on cement plants. If the waste materials are co-processed in cement plants effectively, landfill sites will no longer overflow with waste and quality of health and environment can also be improved significantly. Moreover, it will help to obstruct the flow of waste materials to ocean, hence preventing marine littering and creating micro plastics too.