ABSTRACT
This chapter utilizes the term resource recovery to mean recovery of either materials or energy from a mixed municipal solid waste stream. Incineration will mean the burning of municipal solid waste, with or without recovery of energy. In any case, proper emission control systems are an absolute requirement for responsible incineration facilities, as is proper control of combustion conditions. Provision for removal of residuals includes managing the heavy noncombustibles removed before incineration, as well as the residual ash from combustion and the effluents from the pollution control devices. There is a growing trend for even the mass-burn facilities to incorporate some material recovery before incineration. A relatively new technology is the combustion of municipal solid waste in a fluidized bed, where an inert noncombustible material is used as a substitute for a grate and helps in heat transfer and, therefore, combustion.
