Dimensions of the sorting platform for the solid waste sorting line. Integrated sorting and processing of solid waste. Waste sorting abroad
Strange as it may sound, the development of civilization is having an increasingly difficult impact on the ordinary existence of a person. It would seem that a small thing like the emergence of new types of packaging for goods automatically increases the amount of garbage in landfills. The problem of solid waste disposal has grown into one of the most important problems of modern civilization. Huge quantities of garbage accumulate in landfills, are buried, and burned. But a significant part of the garbage can be recycled and make money from it.
Every year, about 400 million tons of new waste are generated around the world. The growth rate of landfills is ahead of any forecasts and even outpaces population growth, for example, the planet’s population increases by 1.5–2% per year, and the volume of landfills by 6% per year. Each city resident throws about 400 kg of waste into a landfill during the year.
We never thought about the fact that many items in our everyday life were already garbage in the past. Take a closer look, plastic or cardboard packaging, all kinds of containers, basins, boxes, buckets, toys, clothes, books, magazines... this list can be continued for a very long time. Polyester fiber, aluminum alloys - all this is also extracted from ordinary household waste. In developed countries, the percentage of use of recycled resources obtained from garbage is quite high, for example: in Japan, more than 65% of literature is printed on recycled paper.
The structure of municipal solid waste has changed significantly over the past decades. If at the beginning of the last century, city garbage dumps consisted mainly of food residues, now in the first place are components such as paper, glass, metals, polymers, rubber, inert and building materials. It is especially difficult to dispose of unsorted waste, which in Russian conditions is the absolute majority. Today, humanity uses three ways to dispose of waste: landfilling, incineration and composting. Moreover, landfilling is the simplest and most common type of waste management. But in addition to territorial problems associated with the “conquest” of more and more new lands, such landfills drag behind them a whole train of related problems. Long periods of natural decomposition of waste in the natural environment are one of them, for example, paper takes up to 10 years to decompose, a tin can takes more than 90 years, and plastic takes up to 500 years. And rubber products and glass bottles are not recycled at all in the usual way. The next problem is ecology, hence the pollution of air, soil and groundwater, as well as a high epidemiological danger. Well, the third problem is that the overwhelming number of existing landfills will be filled in the coming years if the current practice of dumping waste continues. This means that other waste disposal technologies are needed, related not to their disposal, but to their recycling.
Sorting equipment
It is precisely this method of waste processing that includes the sorting of solid household waste, which has long been common in Europe and America. The main goal of complex sorting is the maximum extraction of components suitable for recycling from the entire mass of solid waste. The main types of such secondary raw materials include waste paper, rubber products, plastics and polymers, glass containers, wood waste, non-ferrous and ferrous metals. In the structure of the garbage flow, the most common type of urban waste is paper and cardboard - up to 35% of the total mass, then plastic - up to 15%, then textiles - up to 11%, glass - up to 8% and metal - up to 4%, the rest is organic matter. . And only 6% of household waste cannot be useful.
The sorting equipment offered today can be divided into several types: with automatic or manual sorting of waste, in stationary or mobile design, on a road or even on a railway. Various options for waste sorting complexes are offered by both European and Russian companies. The “stuffing” is approximately the same for all: a platform for the passage of special vehicles, a checkpoint, a weighing platform, an overpass for vehicles for unloading solid waste, the main production building, warehouses for storing secondary raw materials, areas for accessing and loading road trains with recyclable materials.
The “mechanics” of the main actions are also practically the same: garbage is brought in by garbage trucks, weighed and tested for radiation, then goes to the receiving department, where, after removing large parts, the waste is disposed of small items. After this, small fractions of waste are conveyed through conveyors into self-unloading storage bins. At the next stage, most of the food waste, leaves, organic matter, small glass vials, glass fragments, metal and plastic bottle caps, small waste paper, and batteries are eliminated. Next, a range of large items are sifted, such as plastic bottles, aluminum cans, gas cans, 0.33 l and 0.5 l bottles, food packaging, lump food waste, wood waste, medicine boxes, disposable tableware, tubes household chemicals, kitchen utensils, etc.
The waste cleaned in this way is fed to a belt conveyor, the drive drum of which is made of magnetic material and serves as a metal separator, and then to the sorting table conveyor located in the sorting cabin. Passing through the sorting table, items that have previously undergone shaking and metal selection are subjected to manual or automatic sorting to extract useful recyclables. Items arriving at the sorting table are approximately equal in size, which allows them to be removed with maximum productivity. Selected useful secondary materials are sent to their pre-storage departments (storage chambers). The percentage of recyclables removed on preliminary and final sorting conveyors can reach 85–95%. After compaction, the non-recyclable part of solid waste is transported to a landfill for subsequent disposal.
Industry personalities
Stationary waste sorting complexes are the largest group of equipment offered. This is understandable - the construction of such a facility covers the need for waste treatment, for example, of an entire city. Company Husmann Rus LLC, being the official representative of the company Husmann on the territory of Russia, offers equipment with a capacity of 5,000 to 500,000 tons of solid waste per year. Sorting lines of this brand are usually used when the sorting site is located at a significant distance from the landfill at a distance of 20 km or more. A distinctive feature of this manufacturer is the use of special transfer presses of a series of varying capacities, which effectively compress unused waste fractions, thereby reducing the area of waste disposal at landfills, which in turn reduces the cost of transporting waste to the place of their disposal, and also significantly extends the life of the landfill . Stationary presses for “tailings” (non-recyclable waste) can be equipped with storage containers of various sizes and automatic systems for moving containers. Sorting lines predominantly use conveyor loading from a reloading press.
Waste sorting complexes based on presses MP Husmann preserve the environment and profitably solve the problem of waste disposal. All equipment is made of high-quality steel, suitable for use in aggressive environments and thought out to the smallest detail, from ease of use, when the installation can be operated by only one person, to ease of service with accessibility and easy replacement of all technological components. The quality of the equipment is also evidenced by the fact that a significant part of all sorting lines produced by other companies are equipped with presses manufactured by Husmann.
GC "Ecomtech" also produces and sells complexes for sorting solid waste. When developing equipment, the company relies on both traditional and innovative design solutions. Among the proposed solutions are waste sorting complexes with a capacity of 80,000 to 160,000 tons of solid waste per year. The customer has a choice; for example, it is possible to equip the sorting line with a magnetic separator for separating cans, large metals and a rotary separator for screening out small metal fractions up to 80 mm in size. Bulky waste is separated at the receiving site and fed into the shredder. A high-performance automatic horizontal press is installed to remove non-valuable waste. In addition to standard solutions, we additionally offer transfer stations for manual sorting of solid waste with a single feeding and sorting conveyor with variable speed, which replaces two separate conveyors: feeding and sorting. For sorting and packaging cardboard, paper, PET, etc., recycling pressing lines are produced. The complex is also available for order in a version with automatic sorting. Ecomtech Group of Companies is also ready to offer its customers waste sorting complexes with the ability to produce RDF fuel.
CJSC "EcoNatsProject", subsidiary CJSC "Kominvest-AKMT", is a developer and supplier of waste management equipment, successfully implementing projects for the construction of turnkey waste sorting complexes with a capacity of 40,000 to 400,000 tons/year and above. Typically, the waste sorting complex includes a shredder for preliminary grinding of large pieces of waste, a screen for dividing the waste stream into several fractions by size, a sorting platform with manual or automatic selection of recyclable materials from the waste stream. A magnetic separator for separating ferromagnetic and non-ferromagnetic metals, conveyors and presses for pressing selected valuable fractions or screening fractions for storage and transportation are also installed. Plus, the company offers packaging machines for the safe long-term storage of waste or packaging of recovered recyclables, as well as for packaging RDF fuel.
It is gratifying that the Kominvest-AKMT company itself is actively developing the direction of waste processing, offering its customers equipment for sorting it, as well as related products. To meet the technological needs of waste processing facilities, the company offers conveyors, shredders, separators, screens and all kinds of presses. Being an official dealer Doppstadt, the company supplies high-quality equipment for waste processing from a German manufacturer. The product range includes stationary and mobile waste shredders, all kinds of crushers for shredding waste, drum or disk screens and screw extruders for separating liquid and solid fractions of biodegradable waste.
Under the brand name PRESSMAX We produce various types of pressing equipment for recycling waste: cardboard, paper, metal shavings, PET, aluminum bottles, film, textile waste and other municipal solid waste. Waste sorting lines are produced with a capacity from 50,000 to 200,000 tons/year. Standard waste sorting stations consist of several conveyors and are manufactured exclusively using imported components: INNOVARI gearboxes, ESQ frequency drives, Craft bearings. Options include a press for waste paper, cardboard, polyethylene, PET bottles or a press for pressing metal shavings, aluminum and tin cans, metal scraps, metal barrels and other metal waste, as well as a press for metal, plastic, paper and other waste, and also "tails". The proposed solutions from PRESSMAX for waste sorting complexes cover the needs of cities with a population of up to 1,000,000 people.
Mobile complexes for sorting solid household waste are necessary when they require frequent movement from place to place. The benefit is obvious: the mobility of the equipment allows you to quickly move it from place to place without expensive dismantling and sort waste directly at the landfill before disposal, thereby reducing transport costs to zero.
JSC "Tiskond" offers company equipment Hammel(Germany). The productivity of the lines offered by the company can be up to 120 thousand tons of solid waste per year. They are equipped with various additional equipment upon request. Depending on the volume of sorted waste, the line can be serviced by 8 to 16 people. The energy intensity of the line is 22 kW. Mobile waste sorting complexes from Hammel are installed on a hard surface using a concrete or asphalt surface and, if necessary, are easily transported to a new location. Sorting lines can also be used in cases where, instead of household waste, it is urgently necessary to sort bulky or industrial waste.
The use of such equipment is very important for large cities and large industrial centers. A special feature of Hammel equipment is the use of unified pressing equipment, which can be used both for pressing waste and for pressing recyclables. Additionally, the waste sorting line can be equipped with a preliminary and secondary shredder for large materials, optionally with a diesel or electric drive. Thanks to the patented two-shaft waste processing principle, the output size of the crushed material ranges from 150 to 400 mm. Hammel's versatile mobile plants can process and sort all types of industrial and domestic waste, offering a complete waste sorting solution.
LLC "Ural-Sot" from Sverdlovsk region produces mobile sorting lines and offers four main models of different types. So, Ural-Sot-2 with a sorting volume of 800 to 900 m 3 per shift, it is used at landfills and transfer sites. Ural-Sot-3– a self-propelled sorting complex with a capacity of up to 200 m 3 per shift, can operate autonomously in small settlements, in dacha cooperatives and during the liquidation of unauthorized landfills. Ural-Sot-4– a version suitable for use, except for standard conditions, and for sorting old, stale landfills with a processing volume of 3000–4000 m3. Ural-Sot-5 is a mini-sorting complex that replaces containers in residential areas.
Mobile sorting lines developed by Ural-Sot LLC fully solve the assigned tasks of sorting solid waste at landfills, transfer sites, spontaneous or temporary landfills, effectively processing glass or plastic containers, metal structures, aluminum cans, cardboard, etc. In the event of a lack of electricity at the solid waste landfill, the complex can have a diesel power plant with a capacity of 30 kW. The solid waste sorting line itself is an insulated “car” on a semi-trailer platform with 14 workplaces with a conveyor installed in the center. To heat workplaces, 4 electric heaters of 2 kW each are installed. The room also has a control panel, ventilation and lighting. It is worth noting that the cars from which the lines are assembled can be transported on roads without obtaining permission from the traffic police.
Engineering company GREENEX LLC(Ukraine) offers a mobile rail sorting complex. The sorting line is only part of a large complex for the maintenance of railway tracks with the processing of solid waste. Maud. TKPO-300 can be used as a waste sorting plant with a capacity of 300 kg/h. The complex itself is, in fact, a waste incineration plant serving the access roads of seaports and large railway junctions. The specifics of working at such facilities prompted the company's designers to create an installation that combines the sorting of solid waste with the extraction of recyclable materials and further disinfection and incineration of the residue. This approach ensured maximum economic and environmental efficiency. Along the existing railway tracks, the complex quickly moves to a given point, the accumulated waste is fed to a receiving and sorting line, where recyclable materials are extracted from it, and the waste does not end up in a landfill, but for thermal destruction. In addition to the mobile railway version, the complex can be installed on a vehicle platform or in a stationary container version.
With the development of the direction of sorting solid household waste, more and more factories are appearing that produce waste sorting complexes of various capacities. Competition is only good - for example, many companies equip their lines with ultraviolet lamps, which allows, during the waste sorting process, to disinfect it from pathogenic bacteria and microorganisms present on the surface of the waste before feeding the waste to the sorting table. Video surveillance systems, fire extinguishing systems, wastewater collection and disinfection systems are installed - all this is done for the benefit of workers.
Attempts to ease the heavy manual labor when sorting waste are being made by a large number of designers - not so long ago a Finnish company ZenRobotics created a special robotic line for sorting solid household waste. Modern technology, which is based on an adaptive search algorithm and a set of various sensors, allows an industrial robot to determine, in addition to its dimensions, the materials that make up an object, and quickly and accurately direct it to the desired storage container or to the desired conveyor belt for processing. These robotic capabilities significantly increase the overall efficiency of presorting compared to traditional manual methods.
To summarize, it must be said, to our deep regret, that numerous foreign waste sorting complexes previously supplied to Russia, in most cases, do not work as efficiently and with lower productivity than stated by the manufacturers. All of them are technically impeccable, but are designed to work with other incoming raw materials - previously sorted, following the example of countries where a system of separate waste collection and transportation has been established for decades, but in Russia, and, perhaps, throughout the entire post-Soviet space, this system does not work. The mentality of the majority of Russians still does not accept waste separation schemes, out of habit they throw everything in the trash bin. According to experts, it will take about 15 years to establish the separate principle of waste collection among the population - thus, companies involved in sorting solid household waste have time to develop this “golden” business.
In Russia there are 11 thousand landfills and landfills, 4 waste incineration plants, 5 waste processing plants and 39 waste sorting complexes (2011 data), however, the system of primary waste sorting by the population practically does not work. Therefore, automated sorting of solid waste is a necessary stage, which can be used at different stages of complex waste processing, including, in addition to sorting, heat treatment and fermentation, and ensures low final waste of production as a whole. Possible options for organizing integrated processing of solid waste were presented earlier (see Fig. 7.9).
Foreign and domestic experience in processing solid waste shows that today there is no and cannot exist a single universal method or scheme that simultaneously meets all economic (cost level), technological (requirements for raw materials, processes and products) and environmental (compliance with standards) requirements. Integrated recycling is a certain combination of methods, a kind of technological “puzzle”, built in accordance with the ultimate goal of recycling, which in turn is determined in accordance with the concept of waste management at the regional level. Each method of sorting, neutralization or disposal has its own advantages and disadvantages, and using a combination of methods allows you to minimize these disadvantages.
Thus, the main goal of complex sorting is the maximum extraction of waste components, however, due to the removal of ballast fractions, the efficiency of fermentation increases and the quality of compost improves, the calorific value of the burned combustible fraction increases, the clogging of furnace grates is reduced, etc. The number of stages at which sorting operations are used, the number and sequence of operations, and their hardware design depend on the moisture content of the waste, the morphological and granulometric composition, the speed and physical and chemical laws of the process.
As an example, we can consider the technological scheme for processing solid waste used in Sweden. The purpose of processing is to separate the feedstock into three main streams:
- flammable fractions (paper, wood, textiles, film, etc.);
- compostable material (food waste, wet paper and sewage sludge);
- black scrap metal.
At the first stage, solid waste is crushed, subjected to magnetic separation and sorted in a cylindrical screen. The lower, softer and looser organic fraction is mixed with sewage sludge and subjected to aerobic fermentation - open composting, after which glass and other heavy ballast fractions - stones, rubber, dense plastic - are removed from the compost by secondary screening (screening).
The upper, harder combustible fraction is subjected to secondary magnetic separation, drying and briquetting (pressing).
As a result of such processing, according to a simplified scheme, 2.4% of ferrous metal scrap, 26.3% of fuel and 71.3% of fractions for composting are obtained.
Domestic experience in designing complex schemes for processing solid waste can be traced using the example of a basic technological scheme for sorting solid waste with subsequent combustion, implemented at plant No. 4, located in the Rudnevo industrial zone in Moscow (Fig. 7.18). The scheme is a set of sequential screening, magnetic and electrodynamic separation operations aimed at extracting scrap ferrous and non-ferrous metals (aluminium). However, this scheme does not involve the stage of preliminary preparation of the waste stream, which reduces the efficiency of metal extraction, and the separation of fractions according to the 250 mm size class does not ensure the separation of the main components (Fig. 7.17 shows the classification by size, depending on where the fraction is collected: from above (+) or bottom (-) of the screen). An integrated technology for processing and sorting waste must take into account the composition and properties of the feedstock and be based on the experience of world practice. A distinctive feature of residential sector waste is a certain class of component size, varying in a narrow range of 150-200 mm, since it is in this class that about 80% of ferrous metal, about 80% of tin-plated containers, more than 95% of aluminum scrap, more than 60% of paper (from the total content of these components in solid waste) [19]. Thus, the enrichment of solid waste should be aimed at separating the components included in this size class, with the preliminary separation of the lump components.
In addition, when using this processing scheme, the problem of preparing solid waste for thermal processing is not solved, since all ballast fractions, including hazardous components (97-98% of the original amount), are sent for combustion. As a result, per 3 tons of incinerated waste, 1 ton of highly toxic ash is formed, containing dioxins, heavy metals and other toxic components in concentrated form. Such solid residue cannot be disposed of and must be disposed of in hazardous waste sites.
An example of the most successful integrated solution to the problem of processing solid waste can be a modern technological scheme of a multi-resource industrial complex (MIC) (Fig. 7.18; numbers in circles - the number of a node in the general scheme; in accordance with the requirements for low-waste technological processes, the number of technological units process should be the minimum possible), developed by Energopromsystems LLC (Ukraine) and passed model tests, which involves the processing of organic raw materials by destructive thermochemical conversion - high-temperature pyrolysis (12()()-H300°C) (see subparagraph 4.3.4 ).
When processed in a gas generator, any organic components of waste are converted into flammable gas, which is a mixture of hydrogen, carbon monoxide and methane (with a calorific value of 1000-
1350 kcal/nm 3), and liquid pyrolysis resin - “synthetic oil”, from which gasoline and diesel fuel fractions can be isolated. The solid ash residue formed as a result of processing practically does not contain “dusting” harmful components, such as heavy metals, since the glass contained in the crushed mass subjected to pyrolysis vitrifies the mineral components of the waste at high temperatures. During pyrolysis processing, practically no super-toxic gas emissions of dioxins, characteristic of waste incineration plants, are formed, since plastic and film, which are the main sources of these emissions, undergo thermochemical destruction under the redox conditions of pyrolysis.
Rice. 7.17.
Almost every Russian leaves behind about 300 kilograms of garbage per year.
More than 50% of all our waste is polyethylene.
Such waste accumulates in landfills and harms the environment.
However, most waste can be recycled, and yesterday's trash can become new products.
That is why recycling is very important for Russia - collecting and sorting useful waste.
The automatic sorting line PYTHON is also convenient in production. It allows you to work both in open waste sites and in closed plants.
The line includes an L-shaped conveyor for receiving waste from the hopper, a 10-station straight conveyor, bins for sorted waste, 10 work stations made of durable steel.
At the customer’s request, it can be equipped with a bin for large-sized waste or infrared heaters for work stations. The price of such a line 2,450,000 rubles.
The conventional manual sorting line also has advantages. For example, it costs much less than an automatic one.
One of the compact and productive products is a waste sorting line LS 500 4-8.
It is sold at a price a little more than 300 thousand rubles with a productivity of 10 tons per hour. You can buy this equipment.
Behind minimum set of equipment with average productivity (sorting line, magnet, press, storage bin for raw materials and crusher), a novice businessman will have to pay approx. 2.5-3.5 million rubles. But in many respects the price of equipment depends on the manufacturer.
On business forums, entrepreneurs are advised to buy products from the Moscow company ECOMASHGROUP, the Chinese company BESTON, the manufacturer VTORTECH and those organizations that give a good guarantee for the product, provide maintenance, and have also been working in this market for a long time.
You will find more information about waste recycling equipment.
Sales rules
There are many companies ready to buy sorted raw materials for processing. In every major city exists 2-3 waste processing enterprises. However, they do not buy everything, but only waste paper, glass, polyethylene, plastic and metal.
Sorted wet organic matter (food waste, stones and soil) can be sent to enterprises that produce soil for vegetable gardens or seedlings. You can find a buyer using recyclables exchanges.
For that, to sell profitably sorted waste is needed follow certain rules:
- constantly monitor prices and compare them at all possible points of sale;
- the raw materials sold must be of good quality; they will pay less for unrefined recyclables;
- prices must be compared taking into account the delivery of waste for recycling and without it;
- sell in large quantities (usually the garbage is bought back at a higher price);
- have several purchasing companies;
- constantly search for new points of sale.
Is it profitable to sort for recycling?
And now the most important thing: let’s calculate how cost-effective it will be to maintain a waste sorting plant.
Based on modern realities, an ordinary small sorting plant can produce in one shift up to 1.5 tons of polymers, 3-5 tons of paper waste and up to 300 kg of plastic containers.
The price per ton of compressed raw materials ranges from 9 to 45 thousand rubles.
Thus, average profit per month enterprises for the sale of secondary raw materials will be from 150 thousand rubles to 3.3 million rubles. It follows from this that the profitability of this project will be 50%, which is a good indicator.
Video on the topic
More details about the operating principles of one of the mobile sorting stations of a domestic manufacturer in the video presented:
conclusions
If we look at it globally, opening a waste sorting plant is an expensive and responsible business, because large financial investments are required at the initial stages. However, such the project will work great in the future.
Every year the number of waste processing plants in need of raw materials increases. New environmental programs are emerging that increase the number of government subsidies in this business segment.
Exhaustible natural resources are reduced: for example, from which paper products are made. All this will become solid ground for the development of waste sorting production.
In contact with
In Russia, from time immemorial, problems with garbage were solved in a simple way - it was taken to uninhabited places and dumped in a heap. This is practically the same situation now. Only these places are now called landfills, and the garbage is called MSW (domestic solid waste). Today, in the Moscow region alone, more than 830 hectares are occupied by such landfills - almost five times the area of the state of Monaco. The largest landfill - "Timokhovo" (Noginsky district) - occupies 113.8 hectares. And the oldest - “Narkomvod” (not far from the city of Zhukovsky) - has been operating since 1936. Most waste cemeteries have not met any sanitary and epidemiological requirements for a long time. Almost all of them have turned into environmentally hazardous objects: mountains of garbage emit carbon monoxide, methane and other unpleasant compounds, including odor. Plus pathogenic microorganisms, plus the eternal companions of landfills - rodents.
Alexey Kiselev, coordinator of the Greenpeace toxic campaign: Russian legislation establishes very strict environmental standards (MPC). And only a limited number of enterprises can fit into them. As a result, officials reluctantly issue permits for waste dumping at landfills in excess of the norm, without any control. According to the State Sanitary and Epidemiological Supervision Service, of the 55 operating polygons in the Moscow region, half have already reached the capacity limit, and the other half is close to this.
Dmitry Radushkevich, head of the waste management department of the State Department of Natural Resources: There is a total littering of the Moscow region. Further increasing the capacity of landfills will not lead to anything good. It is necessary to recycle as much waste as possible. And it’s worth starting with selective collection of solid waste. Cardboard, waste paper, polyethylene, aluminum cans, plastic bottles - all this can be taken to enterprises that specialize in their recycling.
Moscow sorting
MSW is divided into three categories: secondary raw materials (35%), biodegradable waste (35%) and so-called tailings, or non-recyclable waste (30%). The first category can be processed at a profit, the second can too, but the profit is likely to be lower, and the third can, at best, be safely “hidden”.
Waste sorting in Russia, unlike foreign countries, is carried out, so to speak, on an optional basis, despite the fact that ecologists and epidemiologists vying with each other about its urgent need. For example, the management of the Kuchino landfill (Novokosino district) showed a useful initiative - they entrusted the sorting of waste to the homeless. They collect plastic bottles, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, rags and hand it all over to the waste processing plant. There, the resulting recyclables are put under pressure. Every day, 500 - 600 waste sorters work at the Kuchino landfill, many even come from neighboring regions. In the city they give 10 kopecks for a returned aluminum can, at the landfill - 5 kopecks, but homeless people prefer to work here. A ton of pressed plastic bottles costs $100, a ton of aluminum cans costs $600. As a result, 40-50% of the delivered garbage remains in the landfill, the rest is recycled.
However, this case is just a drop in the ocean. There is no need to talk about mass waste sorting in Russia yet. Only four waste processing plants and 11 waste incineration plants have been built in the country, while, according to the State Sanitary and Epidemiological Supervision Service of the Russian Federation, waste processing plants actually do not operate. The fact is that they use foreign technologies that simply cannot cope with unsorted Russian waste.
Reset creates supply
However, “garbage” problems are associated not only with waste processing and sorting. Waste often simply does not end up in landfills. Today, the areas adjacent to megacities are very densely populated - more and more city dwellers prefer to live at some distance from urban civilization. But everyday problems remain and even worsen. So, if in a city garbage collection is the business of the local authorities, then in a cottage village this responsibility falls entirely on the shoulders of its inhabitants. Ideally, people living in such a village should unite into a partnership, the chairman of which organizes the collection of money and hires a company involved in the removal of solid waste.
Meanwhile, in Moscow alone there are more than 100 companies specializing exclusively in the collection and removal of solid waste. Waste is removed as it accumulates. Removing 5 tons of garbage will cost an average of 1.5 thousand rubles, 10 tons - 3.5 thousand rubles. As a rule, in a cottage community of 100 houses, garbage is collected every two to three days. At the same time, specialized companies complain about a shortage of clients.
Lyudmila Bunina, specialist JSC "Ekotekhprom" : Most often, waste disposal in cottage villages is left to chance. While no one comes to check, residents are in no hurry to conclude an agreement with us.
Russian legislation provides for liability for unauthorized dumping of waste, but the violator must be caught red-handed. And this is something from the realm of fantasy. In Europe, citizens who pollute the environment in this way are dealt with by the environmental police. There is an environmental police in Russia, but so far only in Moscow.
Evgeny Pisarenko, senior inspector for special assignments of the Moscow environmental police: The relevant law of the city of Moscow contains article 7 - “Unauthorized dumping of waste.” It provides for fines for citizens from 3 to 5 minimum wages, for officials - from 30 to 40 minimum wages, and for legal entities - from 80 to 100 minimum wages. But in order to fine violators, we must catch them in the act.
Strangers don't come here
Meanwhile, many Russian businessmen would like to start recycling waste and sorting waste in Russia (in the West this business is considered very profitable). However, as it turned out, this is very difficult to do. Businessmen themselves unanimously say that the biggest obstacles are administrative barriers and high taxes.
Mikhail Rachkov, Deputy General Director of the Yuvi company ( Saint Petersburg ), specializing in recycling waste paper: Every year it becomes more and more difficult to obtain a license - you need to collect more and more permitting documents. We are forced to operate as enterprises with a high rate of profitability - no tax breaks. We, one might say, are the city’s orderlies, so it is completely incomprehensible why its administration does not meet us halfway.
Here again it would be appropriate to turn to foreign experience. For example, in Finland, a waste recycling company wants to purchase a special press. It can cost up to $500 thousand. So, any Finn just needs to present documents confirming that he is the owner of a waste processing plant, and the state bank will easily issue him the necessary amount in the form of an interest-free loan for 15 years.
Yuri Dyudin, chief engineer of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise Giprotsvetmet: Several years ago we developed a technology that allows us to process both industrial and household, medical and even stale waste. The costs of its implementation pay off within two to five years. We have repeatedly applied to the administration of Moscow and the Moscow region, as well as to the administration of other regions, and proposed to build waste processing complexes at landfills based on our technology. According to our calculations, 300 factories would be enough to solve the waste problem in the country. However, the answer was the same everywhere: “Unprofitable.” We tried to turn to businessmen for investment, but those people are cautious and first of all demand: “Show me where it works.” It turns out some kind vicious circle.
In general, all the experts we interviewed identified several reasons for the indifference of local authorities to the problem of solid waste. Firstly, the established traditions of handling solid waste and the lack of incentives to change them. Secondly, the level of qualifications and awareness of employees of territorial administrations who make relevant decisions is insufficiently high. Thirdly, the existing shadow financial flows, which imply a certain interest of responsible persons in choosing expensive and not the most effective solid waste management schemes. And finally, the consciousness of the businessmen themselves: waste recycling is a type of business that is non-traditional for Russia and therefore requires non-standard approaches.
Alexey Kiselev: For example, in one city there is the head of a landfill who lives in the old fashioned way thanks to budget subsidies and subsidies and does not allow anyone else into the market. He is not interested in waste sorting issues. Every year, tenders may be held and companies may appear that traditionally lose these tenders, since the director of the landfill has a good relationship with the administration. This is a very typical situation for Russia. The beginning of the “garbage” chain is in the hands of city officials, and they will make decisions based not on the interests of the city, but on the principle of minimizing their own problems. For example, they will want to build not a waste processing plant, but a waste incineration plant. He, Firstly , creates the appearance of reducing waste volumes without solving the problem in essence, but Secondly , is more expensive - it’s easier to get a “kickback” from there, and it can be stolen more unnoticed.
Cleaning the area
However, recently the state nevertheless met the needs of entrepreneurs. At the beginning of October, the Ministry of Industry and Science summed up the results of the competition for the implementation of an innovative project of national importance “Increasing the efficiency of solid waste processing based on modern domestic technologies and equipment with the production of secondary raw materials and marketable products.” 19 enterprises from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Perm, Tomsk and Orenburg participated in the tender and presented their developments.
The state allocates 400 million rubles to the winner. for the implementation of technology. A prerequisite for the competition is that the company must find investors who are willing to bear the remaining costs. With the allocated money, it must build several prototypes of waste processing equipment so that potential buyers can evaluate the effectiveness of this business. They will be able to lease the equipment.
The tender was won by St. Petersburg OJSC Mekhanobr-Tekhnika. Its technology is designed for processing not only household, but also construction, military and industrial waste. If it is successfully implemented, then, according to specialists from the Ministry of Industry and Science, in Russia the problem of unprocessed solid waste will be solved by 30-40% in just three years.
In addition, since waste sorting in Russia is a rather expensive production, which at the same time has a social orientation, the state is ready to allocate $12-15 per ton of incoming solid waste to an entrepreneur who has built a waste processing plant.
Thus, one can hope that soon the waste sorting business in Russia will begin to bring real profits and will finally cease to be considered a thankless task.
BUSINESS PLAN
Net profit of the “dirty” business
Greenpeace Russia, especially for Money, calculated the profitability of waste recycling production for a conditional metropolis with a population of 1 million people. Every year, 1.4 million cubic meters are formed here. m of waste (280 thousand tons). The rate of accumulation of solid waste from the housing stock is 1 cubic meter. m (200 kg) per person per year; The rate of accumulation of solid waste from public buildings is 40% of solid waste from the residential sector. 1. To extract secondary raw materials from solid waste (35% of the total mass of waste), waste sorting complexes (MSCs) are erected. Capital investments in the construction of MSK will amount to $50 per 1 ton of solid waste receiving capacity. Thus, the total capital investments will amount to $14 million. According to various sources, the specific costs of operating MSCs vary significantly, but all experts note the profitability of this type of activity. For calculations within the framework of this model, we assume that the value of the total unit costs is equal to the revenue from the sale of products made from recycled materials.
The construction of a turnkey MSK takes no more than a year. Thus, in a year the mass of solid waste disposed of in landfills will decrease by 35% and amount to 182 thousand tons per year. The remaining landfill resource at this point will thus be “automatically” extended from 2 years to 3.1 years; and the total resource, counted from the beginning of modernization, is from 3 to 4.1 years.
2. To process biodegradable waste (the share of solid waste is 35%), simultaneously with the construction of the MSK, it is necessary to begin the construction of a composting plant with a receiving capacity of 182 thousand tons per year. Its construction can be completed within three years. Capital investments in construction - $150 per 1 ton of waste, total - $27 million.
The total unit costs for processing 1 ton of waste (taking into account the cost of selling useful products) will be about $18. Thus, the budget subsidy (see main text) for the operation of the solid waste composting plant will be $3.3 million per year. The mass of the non-recyclable part of solid waste will be 54.7 thousand tons per year (30% of the total mass of solid waste).
3. To compact the non-recyclable part of the waste - “tailings” (the share in the composition of solid waste is about 30%) at the site of the plant for processing biodegradable waste, presses must be installed that allow the waste to be pressed to a density of about 1 ton per cubic meter. m. The presses should be put into operation simultaneously with the launch of the plant. The volume of “tails” after pressing will be 54.7 thousand cubic meters. m per year, which is 7.3 times less than with direct disposal of all generated solid waste and 2.6 times less than in the case of using an incinerator. Thus, the above measures will make it possible to extend the resource of landfills remaining at the time of plant commissioning from 1.1 to 3.7 years, and the total resource of landfills - from 3 to 6.7 years.
In total, the proposed program will require investments in the amount of $41 million. The total unit costs for the implementation of the above scheme will be $3.3 million. At the same time, the costs of landfill disposal of solid waste at an average disposal tariff of $3 per ton will be reduced by $676 thousand per year ( from $840 thousand to $164 thousand) Thus, the required annual additional subsidy from the budget of our conditional city for waste disposal will be $2.6 million per year. In addition, the state is obliged to allocate $12-15 per ton of incoming solid waste to an entrepreneur building a waste processing plant. On average, waste recycling production pays for itself in two to three years. Its profitability is 30%. That is, for example, having invested $200 thousand in its construction, in two or three years it will be possible to make a profit of $60–70 thousand per year.