Incineration process offers new solution for China's growing waste problem

The latest innovation in waste processing combines a traditional disposal method — incineration — with new technology that reduces air pollution and creates a reusable residue.

Beijing Shenwu Thermal Energy Co, which provides energy saving solutions for the fossil fuel market, has developed a waste recycling technology that turns organic and other waste into oil and gas through anaerobic pyrolysis. The method decomposes material through high heat in the absence of oxygen.

"Cities are producing a lot more rubbish than before. Most waste in the country ends up in landfills that are becoming scarce or incinerators that produce toxic dioxins," said Wu Daohong, head of the company. "Our new technology is expected to solve the problem on a large scale."

Waste that cannot be recycled would still be sent to landfills, but plastic and other organic and combustible materials would be sent to furnaces.

The technology has been adopted in a pilot project by a garbage processing center in Bazhou, Hebei province, with a daily processing capacity of up to 200 metric tons.

More than 900 million cubic meters of gas and 600 metric tons of oil can be extracted from the waste each year, said Xiao Lei, a company researcher.

The technology can be used to treat sewage, industrial hazardous waste and other organic solid waste, Wu said. Residue could be later turned into industrial fuel materials.

Zhao Penggao, deputy director of the Department of Resource Conservation and Environmental Protection at the National Development and Reform Commission, said that the new technology has potential, but its adoption will depend on cost and support from the local government.