Category: ESWET, Waste-to-Energy, Recycling | | Created by Redaktion
Belgian and Danish streets are full of waste - but not in the way you imagine! Belgium and Denmark have high recycling rates and are among the pioneers in treating non-recyclable waste with state-of-the-art waste-to-energy technologies.
A road trip through Europe - trash finds use in roads and cars
Waste-to-energy plants can recover secondary raw materials and minerals from the slag generated during the treatment of non-recyclable waste. Some of these minerals are used in road construction. In Danish WtE plants, for example, the recoverable materials are first recovered from the slag and then 99% of the remainder is reused for construction purposes.
Numerous materials are recovered from the slag. Slag is used as an efficient and recyclable solution in road construction. This saves resources by avoiding the use of virgin materials. and increases efficiency because minerals recovered from slag can carry a heavier load than new crushed stone.
Metals, in turn - including copper, iron, aluminum, and steel, to name a few - are used to make auto parts. In the Netherlands and France, for example, aluminum recovered from non-recyclable waste is already used extensively to make castings for the automotive industry.
Using waste to produce hydrogen: The electricity supplied by waste-to-energy plants can be used not only to charge electric vehicles. Waste-to-energy plants also produce hydrogen by using an electrolyzer to convert electricity generated from non-recyclable waste.