Energy Recovery from Municipal Solid Waste
Summary
Energy recovery from municipal solid waste (MSW) encompasses a range of thermochemical and biological processes designed to transform heterogeneous urban refuse into useful forms of energy. Central thermal routes include incineration, gasification and pyrolysis, each offering distinct trade-offs in terms of energy yield, emissions and by-product management. Incineration remains the most widely deployed technology, delivering district heat and electricity while reducing waste volume, but challenges arise from pollutant formation and residual ash handling. Gasification subjects MSW or refuse-derived fuel (RDF) to controlled partial oxidation, producing a synthesis gas (syngas) rich in hydrogen and carbon monoxide that can be combusted or catalytically converted to fuels and chemicals. Pyrolysis, in the absence of oxygen, generates a spectrum of condensable tars, non-condensable gases and biochar, offering potential for circular-economy applications in both energy and materials. Complementary biological routes, such as anaerobic digestion, extract biogas from organic fractions. Integrated strategies increasingly combine mechanical sorting with tailored thermal or biological conversion, supported by lifecycle assessment, to optimise environmental performance and resource recovery. Advances in feedstock preprocessing, emission control and process modelling are driving improvements in efficiency, economic viability and regulatory compliance, underpinning the global transition towards sustainable waste-to-energy infrastructures.
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Energy Recovery from Municipal Solid Waste publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in energy recovery from municipal solid waste across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Municipal Solid Waste (MSW): Heterogeneous waste stream generated by households and commercial entities, including organics, plastics, paper and inert materials.
Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF): The combustible fraction of MSW that has been processed (shredded, dried, sorted) to produce a more uniform fuel suitable for thermal conversion.
Pyrolysis: Thermal breakdown of organic matter in the absence of oxygen, yielding a mixture of gases, liquid tars and solid char.
Gasification: Partial oxidation of carbonaceous feedstock at elevated temperatures, producing a combustible gas mixture (syngas) composed mainly of hydrogen and carbon monoxide.
Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA): Technique that measures mass change of a sample as a function of temperature or time, used to characterise thermal stability and reaction kinetics.
Activation Energy: The minimum energy barrier that reactants must overcome to undergo a chemical transformation, commonly determined from thermal analysis data.
Syngas: A synthesis gas primarily composed of hydrogen (H₂) and carbon monoxide (CO), generated by gasification and usable for power generation or as a chemical feedstock.
References
- Prediction of gaseous products from refuse derived fuel pyrolysis using chemical modelling software - Ansys Chemkin-Pro. Journal of Cleaner Production (2020).
- Pyrolysis-Based Municipal Solid Waste Management in Poland—SWOT Analysis. Energies (2022).
- Mercury release from municipal solid waste in the thermal treatment process. Fuel (2022).
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