Sustainable management of waste-to-energy facilities

In 1995, Porter and van der Linde defined pollution as a manifestation of economic waste. Currently, incorrect information and conflicting theories among scientists hinder the diffusion of sustainable practices in waste management [1]. New industrial market research reports highlight that the value of the global waste incineration market has increased in recent years (+$1.3 billion dollars from 2008 to 2012), and this sector will continue to grow (+$6.8 billion dollars from 2012 to 2022) [2]. The paper focuses on the Italian situation on which urgent actions are required because more than 50% of waste is landfilled [3]. The correct environmental management increases the financial performance because waste investments offer both environmental and economic benefits. The problem to solve is related to both waste management and high levels of recycling, where an unsorted fraction of waste will remain. Based on a thorough review of the topic, a national waste management plan (NWMP) for energy recovery is herein proposed for evaluating all the aspects of sustainability of waste-to-energy (WTE) plants: the reduction of greenhouse gases (GHGs) with respect to landfill, the estimation of financial net present value (FNPV) and the economic net present value (ENPV) and, finally, the estimation of new employment opportunity.