Municipal solid waste (MSW) as a source of renewable energy in Bangladesh: Revisited

With radically increased population, rapid economic growth and expansion of urbanization and industrialization, mega-cities of Bangladesh are faces the complexity of municipal solid waste (MSW) management. The purpose of this paper is to review the types of MSW that are currently being used for renewable energy sources. To meet up the power supply for city dwellers and reducing space for new landfills, waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration is playing a vital role for renewable energy production from discarded MSW. Incineration of MSW is complex owing to its low calorific value (~3000 kJ/kg) and high water content (~60%). MSW in Bangladesh contains relatively high proportion of organic matter (74.6%) than paper (9.1%) and plastic (3.5%). Using landfill gas recovery process, generation of electricity from MSW in six mega-cities is ~186,408 kW h/day. Therefore, WTE incineration system contributes greater supply of renewable energy in Bangladesh.