Evaluating Uganda’s waste management system for the production of refuse-derived fuel (RDF) and its potential implementation in the country’s growing cement industry

Abstract

In the country of Uganda in Sub-Saharan Africa, a World Bank-funded development project has been implemented under the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol for the purpose of improving waste management and reducing emissions from untreated household waste. This project has set up twelve active composting facilities throughout the country. The residues resulting from the composting process are currently landfilled. Municipal solid waste quantity and composition data recorded on nine of the twelve active facilities was thoroughly reviewed to show that the residues contain enough combustible material to process further to create two different forms of refuse-derived fuelone primarily composed of paper and one primarily composed of plastics. The theoretical quantitative values of each RDF was then derived, as well as their lower heat values based on their composition. It was then shown that both RDFs would serve as viable fuel replacements for clinker production in Ugandas growing cement industry, therefore reducing the demand for primary fossil-based fuel sources, and ultimately, leading to a net carbon dioxide gas emission reduction, should the alternative fuel production scheme be implemented.