Journal
RESOURCES CONSERVATION AND RECYCLING
Volume 63, Issue -, Pages 1-8Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2012.03.002
Keywords
Recycling; Municipal solid waste; Plastics; Paper; Energy intensive industry; Carbon reduction; Circular region
Categories
Funding
- Japanese Ministry of the Environment [K22050]
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The organic fraction of municipal solid waste (MSW), such as plastics and paper, is commonly recycled in Japan, but a considerable room for improvement still remains. Energy intensive industries, such as steel, cement, paper, and power plants, have great capacities to accept waste plastics and paper to substitute their fossil resource consumption and to reduce carbon emissions. We propose a smart recycling system that utilizes existing industrial facilities that have high energy efficiency, for establishing a cost-effective and robust recycling system. The core of the smart recycling system is the smart recycling center (SRC) that establishes a new recycling pathway connecting spatially diffuse municipal sources to facilities in energy intensive industries. This paper discusses the design and function of an SRC and estimates the CO2 emissions and costs related to the operation and construction of the SRC. We also evaluated the cost effectiveness of the smart recycling system, taking into account sorted collection, incineration, processes in the SRC, and processes in industrial facilities. We estimated that the system could result in a reduction of approximately 100 kg of CO2 emissions per capita per year without a significant increase in cost. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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