Waste-to-Energy in Europe and Technology Highlights From Von Roll Inova Projects

Von Roll Inova is a major provider of thermal treatment technologies ranging from combustion, energy recovery, air pollution control, and residue processing. The company is headquartered in Switzerland and its portfolio includes over 300 WTEs around the world, processing more than 100,000 metric tons of solid wastes per day. This paper discusses the technological and political trends in Europe regarding waste-to-energy, the state-of-the-art-technology and presents an an overview of recently executed projects by Von Roll Inova. During the hiatus on new plant construction in the U.S., European countries pursued a variety of different approaches. Not all the results showed environmental, social or economic promise. Of the aspects developed since the mid-nineties, some are applicable to the United States. Particularly the advances in air pollution control technology and improved thermal efficiency will be useful as new Waste-to-Energy capacity is added in the U.S. and delays in permitting may be avoided by taking advantage of such experience transfers.