Waste-to-Energy: Decentralised thermal waste treatment plants as solution for the water and electricity scarcity in the MENA region - Case study Tunisia

Abstract

Starting from the overwhelming challenges in the Tunisian waste management after the Arab spring revolution this thesis explores, to which extend Waste-to-Energy technologies as well as co-processing of waste as an alternative fuel in the cement industry might be suitable solutions for Tunisia with a special focus on the cost-effectiveness and environmental consequences of decentralized and mobile opportunities for thermal waste treatment.The general introduction includes the description of the nexus between energy, water and waste systems, the role of Waste-to-Energy concepts as a key to sustainable societies as well as the waste challenges and chances in developing countries. In the following chapters Waste-to-Energy is offered as an essential part of sustainable waste management describing its various advantages and disadvantages. The role of the waste composition is additionally described as well as the peculiarities of small-scale applications. The case study on Tunisia, a country located in the MENA region, contains historical, political, economic but also social, legal, and constitutional factors in regard to their effects on the Tunisian waste management. Closely connected is the chapter portraying the development of Tunisian waste management policies and strategies from 2006 under authoritarian rule to the outlook to 2035, evaluating the country’s waste composition and calculating the rough overall amount and potential for electricity production out of waste in Tunisia. Before illustrating several suggestions for solutions including small-scale decentralized thermal waste treatment as well as the co-incineration of waste in the Tunisian cement industry in the last chapter, the main waste challenges in Tunisia, are studied in five sub-chapters. Starting from issues of financing, corruption, and institutional weaknesses, next the failings of landfills and recycling are analyzed before closing the chapter with explanations concerning the collection and the informal sector as well as important social aspects and the role of capacity building. After some general considerations on Waste-to-Energy projects in developing countries, small scale waste incineration for electricity production and desalination, mobile waste gasification for syngas/hydrogen production as well as small scale waste pyrolysis for fuel production are presented jointly with the possibility of co-processing waste in the Tunisian Cement Industry.