Miljöeffekter av alternativa system för behandling av hushållsavfall i Santiago, Chile
en jämförelse mellan deponering och förbränning med energiutvinning
This report was written by Lisa Bengtson and Hanna Paradis and describes the
degree thesis "Environmental impacts of solid waste treatment in the Metropolitan
Region, Santiago, Chile ? a comparison between current system and incineration
with energy recovery". The purpose of this thesis was to investigate if incineration
with energy recovery could be motivated through an environmental perspective as
an alternative to landfilling of solid waste in Santiago, Chile. The study was
performed with Life Cycle Analysis as a theoretical base.
In Santiago, situated in the thirteenth region of Chile, Región Metropolitana, lives
6,5 million inhabitants. The major part of the solid waste produced in the region is
landfilled on three different sanitary controlled landfills situated outside the city
center. In order to present different solutions to the present treatment, incentives
have been taken to start a cooperation project between Chile and Sweden in which
this report is a part.
After a short introduction to the project in Sweden the main part of the study was
performed in Santiago. The inventory part of the study aimed to map the current
system of solid waste management in Santiago and to find a suitable place to
establish a pilot plant for waste incineration. A facility in the municipality of
Quilicura was chosen and an incineration plant was dimensioned based on the
energy need of the industry. In the study the environmental impacts of the
industries´ current energy system plus the waste handling system was compared to
the environmental performance of an alternative system with a waste incineration
plant.
The results of this study show that the environmental impacts of the alternative
system are lower for all the studied impact categories. The study also shows that,
according to a rough economic analysis, the alternate system is profitable compared
to energy production with fossil fuels. The quality of data in some areas is
uncertain. In the categories of Acidification, Eutrophication and Air quality ? dust,
where the difference of the environmental performance between the systems are
small, the results could be affected if different assumptions and data were chosen.
The study also identifies that further investigation is needed about the local aspects
of emissions referring to Santiago's extreme geography and poor air quality.