Recycling and processing of waste: possibilities and perspectives

摘要

Recycling has become a fundamental element of any Solid Waste Management (SWM) system and legitimate obligation of the relevant Agencies. According to the legislation, alternative management (reuse, recycling, energy evaluation) of municipal waste is obligatory, while qualitative and quantitative targets have been set. The huge increase of packaging materials is playing a great role in this. Up to now, in Greece, recycling is implemented almost exclusively through Separation at Source. A number of SWM Agencies are running such programs showing useful results, such as high operating cost (due to collection), very low waste reduction, i.e., not exceeding 3-4% of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) and necessary post processing (due to contaminants or necessity for materials separation into different categories). Based on this it is quite clear that Separation at Source cannot be the only recycling method, its low contribution to a significant waste reduction is not to be omitted, but mixed municipal waste processing becomes unavoidable aiming towards Tmaterials and energy recovery.