Multi-criteria analysis of waste-to-energy technologies in developed and developing countries

Abstract

The main objective of this paper is to utilise a multi-criteria analysis (MCA) to evaluate waste-to-energy (WTE) technologies and identify constraints when examining the placement of a WTE facility. From this, the focus is best summa-rised by determining the optimal WTE technology in developed countries and how the process would change if imple-mented in developing countries. In this study, incineration, gasification, and pyrolysis technologies were reviewed and evaluated. The MCA evaluated the different WTE technologies based on a variety of criteria considering environmental, financial, social, technical, and waste quality and quantity. Different weighted factors were used for two MCAs and different alternative weighted factor scenarios were produced to perform a sensitivity analysis on the results. Overall, pyrolysis was found to be the preferred option for developed and developing countries in all scenarios. For developed countries, the highest difference in the overall index score (7%) was found in incineration between the baseline and scenario 4. In developing countries, the highest differences in the overall index scores were found in scenario 3 for incineration (9%) and pyrolysis (10%). Although pyrolysis had the highest overall capital cost due to it being the newest technology, the environmental, social, associated risk, and waste benefits were found to be more significant.