Waste to Energy: Challenges and Opportunities in Iran

Introduction: Countries around the world are looking for an appropriate, stable, and affordable replacement for the natural energies. Therefore, the waste is considered as an available resource to produce energy, which by controlling, its effects on the environment could be minimized. Materials and Methods: To conduct this review article, the scientific data related to the topic were gathered from scientific databases such as Google Scholar, PubMed, Elsevier, Scopus, Springer, Magiran, and SID using waste to energy, Biogas, Incinerator, Landfill, and Pyrolysis as the keywords. In addition, 53 articles were used for this research (from 1993 until 2016). Results: The results indicated that from a technical point of view, according to Iran’s current environment and the properties of the produced waste, most methods mentioned in the study are applicable. However, the important issue is to choose the best technologies with the best functionality in Iran, based on the composition of the municipal solid waste, proved technologies, and the municipal solid waste management strategies. Conclusion: This study recommends construction of incineration plants with an appropriate location for processing municipal, household, and industrial hazardous wastes, as well as energy recovery. In addition, promoting application of household biogas reservoirs in villages and use of pyrolysis for some industries to converse industrial waste into fuel, are further suggested.