The objective of this project was to conduct strategic environmental assessment (SEA) on two waste treatment policies – “Transformations of Refuse Incinerators to Bio-energy Centers” and “Landfill Mining and Reclamation.” Planning the conducting method of landfill mining and reclamation was also carried out with the intention of reforming Taiwan’s waste strategy. For the “Transformations of Refuse Incinerators to Bio-energy Centers”, the bio-coal produced from the Bio-energy Centers could serve as coal in power plants, which could reduce the usage of fossil fuel. The results of SEA showed that the Bio-energy Centers produce less pollution than incinerators (e.g. reduce dioxin emission), produce energy (produce 1,708,431,460 kWH of electricity and reduce the usage of coal for 641,353.55 tons per year), and the recycle rate of the waste could be enhanced after Mechanical Heat Treatment. Furthermore, because the bio-coal is carbon-neutral, it could provide more usable energy and greater greenhouse gas reduction (the total CO2 emission is estimated to be -85,958,402 kgCO2, which is negative). For the “Landfill Mining and Reclamation”, mining landfill sites could retrieve recyclable materials to generate revenue and reclaim capacity for future burial. The SEA results revealed that though the environmental impact during the mining process would be significant, by taking prevention actions, the impacts could be reduced. Landfill mining could be used to achieve a range of objectives such as remediate the potential contaminants, retrieve recyclable materials, increase the existing landfill capacity and eliminate the difficult process of siting a new landfill. As a result, landfill mining and reclamation offers more advantages than keeping the original landfills, which made this policy practical.

Refuse incinerator;bio-coal;mechanical heat treatment;torrefaction;landfill;strategic environmental assessment