From Waste Power Generation and RDF Use to Biomass Power Generation and SRF (June 1998)

From Waste Power Generation and RDF Use to Biomass Power Generation and SRF (June 1998)

In the late 1990s, Japan made an international commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions under the Kyoto Protocol, and was under pressure to balance waste disposal and energy policies. RDF, which converts municipal solid waste and plastics into solid fuel, attracted attention as an alternative to conventional incineration and landfill, and a 25,000-kilowatt power plant was planned in the Tohoku region, However, RDF also faced issues such as transportation costs, ignition risk, and concerns of local residents.

In 2002, the Basic Law for Establishing a Recycling-based Society and the Biomass Nippon Comprehensive Strategy were enacted, and power generation using woody biomass, food residues, and livestock waste as fuel has been developed throughout Japan. In addition, SRF (solid recycled fuel), an improved version of RDF based on European standards, became widely used as fuel for cement plants and boilers.

In terms of technology, fluidized bed furnaces, gasification and melting furnaces, exhaust gas treatment equipment, and more efficient heat recovery systems were introduced, and waste power generation evolved in the direction of both environmental load reduction and energy supply. The RDF project was a turning point that paved the way for Japan's "waste-to-energy" policy, despite the challenges that remained.