Current State of Waste Management in Czech Republic

 

Within the findings, which have been obtained by the FITE Company over the past 10 years, elaborating the policy materials relating to MSW in the Czech Republic has led to the conclusion that several technological concepts that either alone or in combination promise to deal with this issue are currently competing.

These are the major techno-economic and logistical concepts:

• The method of direct energy use (WtE plant – Waste-to-Energy plant – In the Czech Republic, it is recommended to avoid the term incinerator),

• Technology of so-called small incinerators (20 to 50 kt),

• Mechanical-biological treatment associated with the energy use of caloric fraction,

• Gasification technologies (pyrolysis, plasma),

• Exporting MSW for energy recovery abroad (the current legislation does not allow it).

 

All the technological concepts of MSW utilization are associated with energy recovery; therefore, dealing with this issue should always be conceived in relation to the real conditions of the Czech energy sector, or with the possibility of heat recovery.

 

•  The whole MSW production has to be used at home.

•  Regardless of the amount of the fee for landfilling in the future, it is necessary to try not to increase the price for MSW disposal, which is currently based on the price of landfilling (about 1,300 CZK/ton including tax), or only adjust the fee a little bit.

•  Solutions must be coordinated between a number of agents (cities and municipalities) and by the selected operator.

•  It is necessary to comply with the existing legislation of the Czech Republic and the EU (air, waste, etc.).

•  Solutions must be sustainable and acceptable to the population. 

One possibility, which is confirmed by the interest of foreign, especially German and Austrian companies, is exporting MSW for energy recovery abroad.  is the possibility is based on a certain surplus capacity of incinerators in those countries.

This is probably one of the worst scenarios of the Czech waste management, because it would not only mean exporting valuable energy resources, but in the long term, there would be an out ow of funds from the population and ultimately the companies producing the concerned waste. Moreover, there is a conflict with the legislation and the principle that everything that is produced as a by-product in this country should be processed here as well.

 

This option, however, is quite realistic, given the current opposition of some residents and approval authorities, as well as the economic bene ts of technologies for energy recovery from MSW in the Czech Republic.

 

2. Reality – current situation of operated and prepared WtE plants 

Currently, three municipal waste incinerators are operating in the Czech Republic: in Prague, Brno and Liberec. e total capacity is 626 kt of waste (Prague: 310 kt, Brno: 220 kt, Liberec: 100 kt). 

In terms of the prepared units, the situation is very confusing, because a grant for the construction of WtE plants has not been obtained even in one locality in the Czech Republic and the construction of WtE plants in the Czech Republic has been virtually suspended or delayed. 

Within the current planning period, projects for the construction of WtE plants in the locations of Pilsen, Karviná and Komořany have been prepared. e initial planned capacity will be 95 kt for the locality of Pilsen, 195 kt for the locality of Karviná (the Moravian-Silesian Region), and 150 kt for the locality of Komořany (Ústí Region). 

Only the project in Pilsen started to be implemented, but due to a legal challenge of the building permit, it was suspended (the administrative decision was challenged). 

                                                                                                                                                                         Direct Energy Recovery – WtE plants 

The basic condition for the successful implementation of technology is meeting the requirement for the energy recovery of waste, i.e. the R1 coefficient, i.e. 65 percent utilization of the input energy of waste. 

This parameter can be met only if the power supply is operating in cogeneration mode with sufficient sales of heat. e requirement can be fulfilled only in areas with properly sized district heating or in industrial areas with sales of heat in industrial production (e.g. paper mills). These are mostly so-called heating plant localities. 

Currently, with parallel thermal upgrading of buildings (subsidy schemes), heat consumption simultaneously decreases, which has a negative effect on the possibility of using incinerators as suppliers of heat. 

MSW energy value is currently at a level of lower quality lignite i.e. approximately 8 to 10 MJ/kg. 

The choice of the resource capacity – localities where it is possible to place the source with the capacity of at least 300 kt prove to be more economical. The minimum economically sustainable capacity of a WtE plant is about 100 kt of MSW/year. 

Environmental bene ts – one of the essential conditions for the construction of WtE plants is the possibility of substituting coal resources with the advantage of the possibility to apply environmental bene ts resulting from the savings in emissions of both conventional pollutants and CO2. WtE plants, or according to the law, incinerators have by far the strictest limits on emissions into the environment, including the need to remove heavy metals and dioxins. 

WtE plant economy – WtE plant price sustainability in heating systems is based on the assumption that the majority of sales in the energy comes from heat sales, which represents 40 to 60 percent of all revenues depending on the cost of waste and the current market price of electricity. 

Another option that seems realistic is co-combustion of waste, especially in areas where the sources using fossil fuels are at the end of their life, and their renewal towards co-combustion will pay off. 

 

The current situation in designing the units for co-combustion of waste produced from MSW 

At present, no unit for the treatment of MSW (MBT – Mechanical-Biological Treatment) is not operating in the Czech Republic is (MBT), therefore, co-combustion of this waste- substitute fuel is not commonly carried out in the existing facilities – fluidized bed boilers in heating plants and power plants. 

At a number of locations, combustion tests of similar fuel- waste imported from abroad were conducted, and many localities are considering this option. 

After a comprehensive evaluation, combustion tests e.g. at the ČEZ a.s. Company, which owns and operates the fluid units, had negative results. 

Other operators, such as Alpig Generation with the unit in Kladno, or Škoda Energo heating plant in Mladá Boleslav are further considering this possibility. 

In reality, however, a large amount of alternative fuel is being produced, because MSW must be somehow treated, and it usually ends up in cement plants. 

Legislation and future prospects – Solution basis from WMP (Waste Management Plan) of the Czech Republic and Regional WMP 

WMP of the Czech Republic did not set a network of equipment for MSW energy utilization in a directive way, and le this issue to be resolved at the regional level. 

Moreover, WMP of the Czech Republic does not prefer any of the offered technologies for energy recovery, whereas it does not reject any of the options either. 

The technologies that have been discussed in the Czech Republic so far: 

MSW Mechanical-biological treatment (MBT) associated with the energy use of energy fraction 

The technological concept for the mechanical-biological treatment of mixed solid municipal waste is based on a series of customizable processes leading to the production of energy-rich fractions and fractions that can be landfilled. e possibility to use the produced fractions for the material recovery is only theoretical, namely including the possibility of producing biologically usable products such as compost or economically sustainable feedstock for biogas production. 

 

The product quality for biogas plants in the Czech Republic has not proven to be useful. 

Sales of products from the MBT are not yet available at a sufficient level in the Czech Republic. 

                                                                                                                                                                         Systemic shortcomings of the process 

MBT itself in any form is merely a facility for treatment of waste, not for its final utilization. e only used material is iron (other outputs are not recyclable in the Czech Republic conditions due to the quality requirements of the end processors of secondary raw materials). 

The possibilities of caloric fraction energy utilization are limited primarily legislatively, i.e. it is necessary to adhere to the co-combustion limits in the case of energy use in so-called standard power engineering ( fluidized bed boilers along with coal). In the case of using it as a solid alternative fuel in cement plants, it is necessary to meet relatively strict standards, e.g. for chlorine. A fundamental limitation of the massive use of caloric fraction from MBT, however, is the limited capacity of cement plants (up to 200 kt of energy-utilizable fractions) and their seasonal production depending on the construction cycle min. in the winter mode (exclusions) and the spring, summer, autumn. Cement plants also utilize a variety of other homogeneous and energy-caloric wastes (tires, waste oil, industrial plastics, etc.). 

The overall economy of the operation – To assess the overall sustainability of the MBT method, it is necessary to know the total cost of the complex of operations to final disposal or utilization of output fractions. 

 

3. Interesting projects – the current situation of the energy sector in the Czech Republic, especially in the heating industry sector 

 

The situation in the Czech energy sector in the eld of heating industry is due to the necessity of the greening of resources in accordance with the amendment to the Clean Air Act, which tightens the limits on the discharge of pollutants by the year 2022 (for exemption), and further to the e orts to secure the fuel base, which is currently under threat, given that the primary fuel is mostly represented by lignite. e future of lignite is uncertain due to the uncertainty in the energy policy of the Czech Republic regarding the so-called breaking the environmental limits in mining in North Bohemia and hysteria about CO2 emissions, whereas lignite has the highest rate of released CO2 based on the energy produced. 

The substitution of lignite in the heating industry with another fuel also represents a problem. Domestic hard coal mining is economically insecure, and there is a similar problem with CO2 in the case of imports from abroad. 

Substitution with natural gas is indeed environmentally advantageous; however, it faces environmental limits as well as geopolitical risks.