Waste-to-energy in Distrito Federal, Brasil, as a sustainable waste management policy
Waste Incineration. Anaerobic Digestion. Waste Management.
The main objective of this study is to technically and environmentally assess the utilization of waste from Distrito Federal, Brasil, for energy generation, employing Life Cycle Assessment as the tool, with 1 Mg of treated waste as the functional unit. Two primary waste types are being evaluated: Urban Solid Waste, under public responsibility, and Agrosilvopastoral Waste, under producer responsibility. The USW is evaluated under two different scenarios: the implementation of incineration with energy recovery and the current disposal method, landfilling, including the transportation stage. The AW is evaluated under three distinct scenarios: on-site decomposition and harvesting waste, centralized and decentralized collection with anaerobic digestion, and also accounting for transportation. Through this analysis, the aim is to provide material for public decision-makers in situations requiring technical decisions regarding optimal investment areas from an environmental perspective. For the analysis, a Life Cycle Inventory was developed and assessed using the GaBi software. Given the study's limitations, landfilling is recommended for USW disposal, primarily due to the characteristics of the Brazilian energy matrix. Additionally, centralized anaerobic digestion of AW is recommended. For public decision-makers, this study is suggested to be utilized as a supplementary tool when analyzing various potential scenarios, not only for waste management but also for any project aiming at mitigating environmental impacts.