ABSTRACT
The first chapter supplies a general introduction of developing state of the art sustainable waste management and waste -to -energy worldwide. It describes the Wwaste -Tto -Eenergy (WTE) Ttechnologies that are mainly used in all continents around the globe. (in Europe, North America, Latin America & Caribbean region, Asia & Africa, including some impressive photos of new WTE Plants). Materials that can be processed through grate combustion are presented. Additionally, in this chapter the role of the gGlobal Waste- To- Energy Research & Technology (WTERT) Council, headquartered in the Earth Engineering Center (EEC) of Columbia University, (USA) and its role in advancing sustainable waste management and Wwaste -Tto -eEnergy Wworldwide, is deeply presented. Today, an estimated 230 million tons of municipal solid wastes (MSW) are treated thermally to produce electricity and heat. This relevant global industry is usually called waste-to-energy (WTE) and is rapidly growing. An estimated 250 WTE facilities were built, during the first 1.5 years decade of the 21st twenty-first century, mostly in Europe and East Asia. The great majority of these WTE plants are based on the grate combustion of as-received or post-recycling MSW (Municipal Solid Waste) and produce electricity and heat, (and in some cases cooling). There are also several gasification processes, implemented mostly in Japan. Indeed, the dominant WTtE technology, practiced in over 2,000 WTE plants in over forty five nations, is grate combustion of as-received or post-recycling MSW with production of electricity and heat/cooling.
