Waste incineration: a friend or a foe to the circular economy as a way forward for Covid-19

Abstract

It is well established now that Covid-19 is very strongly linked to the loss of biodiversity that is caused by both businesses and individual human activity. In this short article, we introduce Energy from Waste (EfW) as a process of generating energy in the form of electricity and/or heat from the incineration of waste (Stringfellow, 2014). It could be termed ‘Renewable’ in the sense that waste is always in a constant process of replenishment from human activity. We are suggesting here that EfW is a useful tool in reducing/eliminating the biodiversity loss created by businesses and humans.

At the core of most of the processes that turn waste to energy lies the waste incinerator, which is the main driving force that produces energy from the waste in EfW plants. We believe that EfW is an important component in implementing the Circular Economy.

A Circular Economy is an economic system aimed at eliminating waste and the continual use of resources, this is the simplest definition according to Wikipedia. Because waste elimination is at the core of its objective, waste incineration must be considered as a means of harnessing resources in a Circular Economy.

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https://research-portal.uws.ac.uk/en/publications/6c9edb43-2cc2-49d6-bc0a-fc120b5e5060