By Kate Stubbs
2022 was a challenging year for South Africa, with the worst case of load shedding since 2008 and there is no end in sight.
However, the country’s energy supply needs are critical and with the Just Energy Transition Investment Plan’s (JETIP) provision focus on achieving “Net Zero” carbon emissions by 2050, exploring alternative sustainable options, and reducing carbon emissions, is key – and waste to energy presents a huge opportunity.
In fact, if we consider that a few short weeks ago, the Presidential Climate Commission released two reports on the JETIP, with key considerations and concerns pointing to issues related to the affordability of energy, the pace and extent of decarbonisation, and the role of public sector, as well as the extent of private investment, skills development and employment, there is no doubt that there is a lot of work to be done.
Waste management forms an integral solution to many of the challenges as not only does it take the circular economy thinking into account where waste reuse and repurposing is fundamental to meeting the objectives and, importantly, central to addressing environmental impact and growing ESG targets globally.
Effective waste solutions in this space can result in much larger investment, collaboration with government and, as a result, lower the cost of ownership while investing in skills to drive the initiatives.
From a global perspective; the waste-to-energy market is expected to grow from $28.4 billion in 2017, to almost $43bn (R827bn) in 2024, representing a large economic opportunity to establish new industries and/or revenue streams too.
Bringing this into the local context, there is economic and environmental as well as capacity opportunity, if done correctly and made more readily available.
In South Africa, we generate an estimate of 122 million tons of waste a year, with 90% of it being disposed of in landfills.
Much of the waste, if managed effectively, could be reused as alternative resources in the form of waste-to-energy solutions which offer a wide range of scalable options for processing waste. This could make a significant contribution to our energy crisis as well as alleviate pressure on our natural resources and eco-systems.
Converting waste to energy production occurs through three key processes – thermal, biological and physical.
For each process, there are a variety of technologies available to convert various types of waste to energy such as electricity, steam or gas.
Examples of thermal destruction solutions include direct combustion for energy recovery, pyrolysis and gasification.
A large variety of waste types from municipal solid wastes to high hazardous waste can be processed through direct combustion.
Typical wastes used in pyrolysis include tyres, rubber and some plastics. Gasification feed stocks include biomass, refuse derived fuels and some municipal waste streams.
Biological technologies focused on processing putrescible, organic waste such as food, sewage sludges, animal carcasses and agricultural waste, include anaerobic digestion, fermentation for production of bio-ethanol and landfill gas extraction and utilisation.
Certain types of non-recyclable solid or liquid wastes that have a calorific value can be physically processed to create a refuse derived fuel which can be used as a replacement to fossil fuels.
Waste is a universal issue as it presents much broader challenges that not only affect human health and livelihood but also the environment and ultimately the economy.
It is therefore important that we shift our thinking and approach to managing waste from a linear process – take-make-dispose – towards a more circular model whereby waste is designed out of the value chain from the onset and any waste produced is re-purposed, recycled or reused, with disposal being the last option.
Waste to energy therefore clearly speaks to the objectives of JET as it will allow us to produce clean reliable energy and can have clear, positive environmental and economic benefits over the long term but more importantly, it addresses key issues that are keeping stakeholders awake at night – a win-win for all.
Kate Stubbs is the marketing director at Interwaste.
BUSINESS REPORT