Socio-economic benefits and policy implications of generating sustainable energy from municipal solid waste in Pakistan

The facet of sustainability in power generation carries immense importance since the environmental and social aspects of power generation have often been sacrificed for economic gains. It is imperative to develop novel methods that serve the dual purposes of implicating sustainability and catering to the ever-increasing energy demand. This study assesses the potential of municipal solid waste (MSW) to energy production through waste to energy (WTE) technologies and the potential contribution of WTE facilities to meet the peak energy demands of Pakistan. In the current study, two WTE development scenarios, Mass Burn with recyclable materials and Mass Burn without recyclable materials for two cities, Islamabad and Peshawar were considered. The analysis revealed that Mass Burn with recyclable materials has the potential of producing 205 MW and 180 MW of electricity for the selected cities respectively, with positive social, economic, and environmental impact. It was observed that the energy generation from waste helps in the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as compared to landfills which were 65 % for Islamabad and 54 % for Peshawar and also helps in the development of a supply chain system with economic and social benefits.