Incineration of Municipal Solid Waste in the Baltic States: Influencing Factors and Perspectives

Abstract

The three Baltic States are in the stage of changing their municipal waste management systems since they have to comply with the principles and targets of the European Union waste policy and directives. Over the past years, thermal treatment of municipal waste has been discussed more intensely in these countries as one of the waste management option that could help to reach the legal targets in a relatively short time. In general, the Baltic States have similar socio-economic characteristics, waste and energy sector developments and geographical conditions that form similar frameworks for the development of a waste management infrastructure, including possible waste-to-energy options. However, as experience from recent studies and projects shows, there are several local and regional factors that could significantly influence the economic success of large scale waste incineration. The paper attempts to identify and discuss these main influencing factors and perspectives for MSW incineration in the Baltic States. The main focus is on conventional mass-burn incineration. The specific issues in terms of technical, economic and environmental aspects are presented in the form of an illustrative case study based on the design and performance data of the first waste-to-energy facility in Estonia. © Springer-Verlag London Limited 2012.