Life cycle assessment of environmental impact on municipal solid waste incineration power generation

Municipal solid waste (MSW) incineration power generation is an important treatment technology, which has been widely concerned in recent years. It is of great significance to evaluate the environmental impact. This study conducted the environmental life cycle assessment of MSW incineration power plant in Yongcheng city, Henan province, China. After that, the comprehensive environmental impacts of MSW incineration power plant, landfill, and coal-fired power plant are compared. Furthermore, the energy conservation and emission reduction benefits brought by MSW incineration power plant in Yongcheng city are quantitatively analyzed. The results show that (1) the main environmental impact categories of MSW incineration power plant are human toxicity potential and acidification potential, which together account for 72.8% of the total comprehensive environmental impact. In addition, incineration is the main process of pollutant generation, which contributes 94.1% to the comprehensive environmental impact. (2) As an effective supplement to landfill and coal-fired power generation, MSW incineration power generation produces lower environmental impact. (3) Significant energy-saving and emission reduction benefits can be brought by MSW incineration power plant. Particularly, it could save energy 2.75×104 tce, reduce greenhouse gas emissions 3.43×105 t CO2-eq, and effectively reduce the emissions of various air pollutants for the local area annually.