Thermal Plasma Gasification of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)

Rapid economic development has led to an annual increase in municipal solid waste (MSW) production. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), MSW generation has increased by a factor of 2.6 since 1960 [1]. The US EPA endorsed the concept of integrated waste management that could be tailored to fit particular community’s needs. Sustainable and successful treatment of MSW should be safe, effective, and environmentally friendly. The primary components of the philosophy are (a) source reduction including reuse of products and on-site composting of yard trimmings, (b) recycling, including off-site (or community) composting, (c) combustion with energy recovery, and (d) disposal through landfill. Among them, landfill has been the practice most widely adopted. There are two main drawbacks of landfill. One is that surrounding areas of landfills are often heavily polluted since it is difficult to keep dangerous chemicals from leaching out into the surrounding land [2]. The other is that landfill can increase chances of global warming by releasing CH4, which is 20 times more dangerous as a greenhouse gas than CO2. Therefore, we must find a more environmentally friendly alternative to treat MSW.