In our society, heaps of waste material can be seen in every corner, but there is no well-thought-out plan to take advantage of it. Incineration is a waste treatment process that involves the combustion of organic substances contained in waste materials.
Incineration of waste materials converts the waste into ash, flue gas and heat. In some cases, the heat that is generated by incineration can be used to produce electric power. Indeed, incineration with energy recovery is one of several waste-to-energy technologies, such as gasification, pyrolysis, and anaerobic digestion.
As a matter of fact, incineration has manifold benefits to provide. It treats certain waste types in niche areas, for example, clinical wastes and certain hazardous wastes where pathogens and toxins can be destroyed by high temperatures. There are numerous examples like chemical multi-product plants with diverse toxic or very toxic wastewater streams.
Waste combustion is particularly popular in the countries–Japan, Singapore, and the Netherlands where land is a scarce resource. Among them, Singapore and Sweden also benefit from it. Above all, a number of European countries rely heavily on incineration for handling municipal waste, particularly Luxembourg, Germany and France.
It is an undisputed fact that incineration decreases the quantity of waste by 95 per cent and there comes a reduction in the solid quantity of original waste by 80%-85%. That is why countries do not have rely on landfills.
By means of this process, waste can be efficiently managed by burning up to 90 per cent of the total waste generated.
Most importantly, countries like Pakistan which are abundant in waste materials can produce heat and power. Since energy costs are skyrocketing day by day, it is advisable that steams turbines can best be used to generate power. Currently, Europe and Japan have integrated incinerators into modern hearting systems. Relating to this, Sweden fulfils 8 % of heating needs with the help of incinerators.
Beyond a doubt, solid waste incinerators are more environmentally friendly; on the other hand, coal-fired power plants prove disastrous for the environment. By way of incinerators, pollutants are trapped as they possess filters.
In addition to these advantages of incineration, it saves on transportation of waste, provides better control over odour and noise, prevents the production of Methane Gas, eliminates harmful germs and chemicals at very high temperatures. It is adaptable to any weather, ensures effective metal recycling and is based on a computerised monitoring system.
Given all these benefits from untapped waste material, we have not been able to make the best use of waste that is uselessly spread out all over our country, putting precious human life in danger. So, it is the need of the hour to obtain the benefits of incineration now.
ABDUL QADEER SEELRO
Larkana
