Incineration is a waste treatment process that involves the combustion of substances contained in waste materials. Industrial plants for waste incineration are commonly referred to as waste-to-energy facilities. Incineration and other high-temperature waste treatment systems are described as "thermal treatment". Incineration of waste materials converts the waste into ash, flue gas and heat. The ash is mostly formed by the inorganic constituents of the waste and may take the form of solid lumps or particulates carried by the flue gas. The flue gases must be cleaned of gaseous and particulate pollutants before they are dispersed into the atmosphere. In some cases, the heat that is generated by incineration can be used to generate electric power.
A waste-to-energy plant is a waste management facility that combusts wastes to produce electricity. This type of power plant is sometimes called a trash-to-energy, municipal waste incineration, energy recovery, or resource recovery plant.
Kwai Chung Incineration Plant was one of four incineration plants in Hong Kong. The plant was built on a 1.4 hectares of reclaimed land along Gin Drinkers Bay, Kwai Chung, near Pillar Island and the Rambler Channel.
Waste-to-energy (WtE) or energy-from-waste (EfW) is the process of generating energy in the form of electricity and/or heat from the primary treatment of waste, or the processing of waste into a fuel source. WtE is a form of energy recovery. Most WtE processes generate electricity and/or heat directly through combustion, or produce a combustible fuel commodity, such as methane, methanol, ethanol or synthetic fuels, often derived from the product syngas.
Poolbeg Generating Station, colloquially known as The Poolbeg Stacks, is a power station owned and operated by the Electricity Supply Board of Ireland (ESB). There are two stations on the site, the older thermal station containing units 1, 2, and 3 and the combined cycle gas station containing units CG14, CG15 and ST16, which is located toward the eastern end of the site. The six units have a total installed capacity of 1020 MW.
The Kirklees EfW is a major moving grate incineration plant in Huddersfield, Kirklees, England. The incinerator is owned and operated by Suez Recycling and Recovery UK who signed a 25-year contract with Kirklees Council in 1998 with an option to increase the time period to 2028. The plant is integral to the waste strategy and Unitary Development plan of Kirklees Council, treating 150,000 tonnes of locally generated municipal waste, which when incinerated, will produce enough electricity to power 15,000 homes. Only 136,000 tonnes of waste is actually incinerated, the other tonnages permitted are recovered materials such as metals and Incinerator bottom ash (IBA) and Fly ash.
The Sheffield Energy Recovery Facility, also known as the Energy from Waste Plant, is a modern incinerator which treats Sheffield's household waste. It is notable as it not only provides electricity from the combustion of waste but also supplies heat to a local district heating scheme, making it one of the most advanced, energy efficient incineration plants in the UK. In 2004, the district heating network prevented 15,108 tonnes of CO2 from being released from buildings across the city, compared to energy derived from fossil fuels. The incinerator is a 'static asset' owned by Sheffield City Council and operated by Veolia Environmental Services under a 35 year integrated waste management contract (IWMC)/PFI contract.
South East London Combined Heat and Power, better known as SELCHP, is a major energy from waste incineration plant in Bermondsey, London. It was designed to generate both heat and electricity. The plant can generate up to 35 MegaWatts of power using a steam turbine in electricity only mode. It can incinerate up to 420,000 tonnes per year of municipal solid waste.
EcoPark is a waste-to-energy plant which burns waste from several London boroughs to provide electricity for the National Grid. It is located on the River Lee Navigation and bordered by the North Circular Road, in Edmonton in the London Borough of Enfield. It is also known as Edmonton EcoPark.
The Isle of Wight gasification facility is a municipal waste treatment plant in Newport, Isle of Wight. It entered the commissioning phase in autumn 2008, and was replaced by a moving grate incinerator in 2019.
Reworld, formerly Covanta, is a private energy-from-waste and industrial waste management services company headquartered in Morristown, New Jersey. Most of its revenue comes from operating incineration facilities that serve a secondary purpose as power plants that burn trash as fuel. Covanta charges a fee for waste disposal and sells the electricity and metal slag produced from waste incineration.
Teesside Energy from Waste plant is a municipal waste incinerator and waste-to-energy power station, which provides 29.2 megawatts (MW) of electricity for the National Grid by burning 390,000 tonnes of household and commercial waste a year. It is located on the River Tees at Haverton Hill, east of Billingham in North East England. Developed and built by NEM, a subsidiary of Northumbrian Water, the initial plant replaced the Portrack Incinerator and opened in 1998. Subsequently, the facility became part of SITA, now Suez.
Marchwood ERF is a waste incineration plant in Marchwood, near Southampton, England. It is situated beside the estuary of the River Test where it meets Southampton Water, opposite the Port of Southampton. It burns municipal waste and produces electricity for the National Grid.
The Essex County Resource Recovery Facility, also known as Covanta Essex, is a waste-to-energy incineration power station in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. Opened in 1990, it is owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) and operated by Covanta Energy. It is located adjacent to the New Jersey Turnpike between Raymond Boulevard and the Passaic River in Newark.
The anti-incinerator movement in China refers to the series of environmental protests that have occurred in opposition to China's numerous planned and operating industrial waste incinerators. The construction of these waste-to-energy facilities, which has prompted the ensuing protest movement, operates as part of China's ongoing efforts to restructure its waste disposal system in regard to its status as the largest producer of municipal solid waste worldwide since 2004. Described by some as being a new type of NIMBY protest, the roots of the anti-incinerator movement can be traced back to the early 1990s, following the introduction of China's first generation of incinerator plants. The movement, however, began in earnest with the benchmark 2006 Liulitun protest taking place in Beijing.
Allerton waste recovery park is a waste recovery and incineration site located on a former quarry at Allerton Mauleverer, near Knaresborough, England. It is operated by AmeyCespa on behalf of North Yorkshire County Council and City of York Council, the site is capable of handling 320,000 tonnes of household waste per year.
New York City's waste management system is a refuse removal system primarily run by the New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY). The department maintains the waste collection infrastructure and hires public and private contractors who remove the city's waste. For the city's population of more than eight million, The DSNY collects approximately eleven thousand tons a day of garbage, including compostable material and recycling.
The Delaware Valley Resource Recovery Facility is a trash incineration plant located in Chester, Pennsylvania. The waste-to-energy plant, which incinerates waste to generate power, was built and operated by Westinghouse from 1991 to 1997. It is currently operated by Covanta. a Morristown, New Jersey-based publicly traded industrial waste company, and has been criticized for the level of pollution it produces. The plant has the largest capacity of any waste-to-energy plant in the United States.
Covanta Hempstead is a waste-to-energy plant in Uniondale, New York operated by Covanta. It is the tallest structure in Nassau County, and the fourth largest power generation facility on Long Island by net energy generated.
The Hennepin Energy Recovery Center also called HERC is a waste-to-energy plant in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Following changes to state law in 1980 that prioritized incinerating garbage over directly filling landfills, HERC was developed and began generating electricity in 1989. Located in the North Loop neighborhood near Target Field, the facility replaced a Greyhound Lines bus maintenance facility. The facility which is owned by Hennepin County, collects almost half of all waste generated in the county.
