Municipal waste management is a severe problem. Landfill and other approaches to waste management are associated with soil, air and water pollution. There are also human health issues and greenhouse gas emissions to consider. Incineration, is one approach to waste management that produces CO2 emissions. A recent study investigated the option of using carbon capture storage (CCS) to reduce CO2 emissions.
Researchers in Denmark undertook a life cycle assessment of a waste incinerator with a capacity of 600 000 tons per year and the proposed addition of CCS technology. The study found that introducing CCS reduces the average impact of the process by 850 kg CO2e (CO2 equivalents) per ton of incinerated waste. The heat generated by the incineration process is used to produce electricity and heat. But because the CCS process would use some steam, electricity output would be reduced by 50%. However, post-capture flue gas condensation would increase the heat output in the Copenhagen district heating system by 20%.