Turning our waste into resources

Hughes McStravick

Waste management is a universal issue that matters to every single person on a global scale. Chances are that the last time you thought about waste disposal was when you left your bins out for collection.

Poor waste management contributes to climate change and air pollution, and can directly affect many ecosystems and species.

Diverting biodegradable waste from landfill is the quickest way to make an impact on climate change and to cut greenhouse gas emissions. When biodegradable waste is deposited in landfills, it decomposes releasing large quantities of landfill gas which contains methane and carbon dioxide.

Converting House Waste Into Bioproducts

An example of this is our Wilson System, which converts up to 20 tonnes per hour of municipal solid waste into a product with significant resale value.

Methane is a highly potent greenhouse gas making landfills a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions nationally – approximately 4% of all UK emissions.

There are now technologies available that can process and recycle biodegradable waste, such as food waste that was ultimately destined for landfill –repurposing it into a higher value, biobased commodity product.

Circular Economy And Bioeconomy

The circular economy is a new model in the way the world produces and consumes goods and services. A circular economy focuses on reducing waste and pollution with repair, reuse, and reduction, while having an emphasis on restoring natural systems and supporting regeneration.

The goal of circular economy activity is reducing waste to a minimum because everything that is produced is transferred and used somewhere else, continuously.

The circular bioeconomy is defined as the sustainable, cascading processing of biological residues into bio-based products that can be shared, reused, remanufactured, recycled or released safely to the biosphere, via organic and nutrient cycles.

On the basis of this definition, interdisciplinary approaches to biodegradable waste technologies have been developed.

The system, which helps organisations to meet waste regulations and surpass recycling targets, processes unsorted household waste to create a unique biomass fibre that has many valuable uses.

One of these is Wilson Fibre, a feedstock for renewable biofuels and bioproducts. It can be pelletised and torrefied into biochar pellet so it can co-mingle, and replace, coal and wood pellets in heat and energy production. Converting the feedstock into bioethanol can also create sustainable aviation fuel. All these biofuels will in turn save natural resources and reduce our dependency of fossil fuels.

Waste Valorisation

Identifying sustainable waste management solutions and technologies is now imperative to build the bioeconomy. The concept of waste valorisation is standing side by side with recycling and reuse technologies.

Namely “enhancing the value”, valorisation is a process of changing residues into products at a much greater value. The results can include high-quality chemicals, materials, fuels, and energy, as well as many other products beneficial for a local economy.

Two main challenges for our society are the depletion of fossil resources and increasing waste generation. With innovative waste-to-energy technologies, we are now in a position where we can use waste as a resource and develop new sources of sustainable and renewable biofuels.