Waste management in USA through case studies: e-waste recycling and waste to energy plant

Abstract

USA has improved waste management system than many other countries, namely India, China, Middle East countries and South Africa. In 2012, Americans generated about 251 million tons of trash. It recycled and composted almost 87 million tons, equivalent to a 34.5 % recycling rate. US recycled and composted nearly 0.69 kg out of the individual waste generation rate of 1.98 kg per person per day. Whereas, in 2012, 3.412 million tons of e-waste was generated in the U.S, nearly 30% is recycled and 70% is trashed. The paper presents the status of the WTE and WEEE recycling plants in the US and analyse their sustainability through two case studies at 20 tpd e-waste recycling plant at 48th Street Transfer Station and the 80 MW Covanta waste to energy plant in Philadelphia, USA based on the study visit in 30th ICSW 2015. The transportation of the MSW feedstock to wte plant is done by the railway wagon with a robust supply chain. The e-waste recycling plant dismantles the materials in semiautomatic conveyor & crusher, segregates and packs both manually and with electronic eye. Plastics, metal, glass and the equipment for reuse are segregated here. The plant sends this material to materials recycling plants. Both the plant has different business case. The study will be helpful for the researchers and the stakeholder in different countries.