It’s sad that the Indian government still (and now with renewed vigour under Swachh Bharat) goes on about the idea of Waste-to-Energy – technology entirely unsuitable to our conditions.

“The fundamental reason (for the inefficiency of these plants) is the quality and composition of waste. MSW (municipal solid waste) in India has low calorific value and high moisture content. As most wastes sent to the WTE plants are unsegregated, they also have high inert content. These wastes are just not suitable for burning in these plants. To burn them, additional fuel is required which makes these plants expensive to run,” said Swati Singh Sambyal, author of the report and researcher on waste management, at the CSE.

Source: Wasted effort: half of India’s waste-to-energy plants defunct – The Hindu