Waste and Biomass Valorization

Until the 1990s, technology was the main driver when dealing with waste and residues, the objective being the treatment of waste for (landfill) disposal, storage, and in some cases sorting. In the 1990s, depletion of raw materials and socio-economical concerns supported the direct recycling of waste and residues. However, the direct recycling approach is limited when waste/residues contain significant amounts of pollutants such as heavy metals and organics (VOC, PAH), and when the treatment process to remove/stabilize or destruct the pollutant generates emissions. Due to depletion of natural resources, increasing greenhouse emissions, and awareness of the need for sustainable development in terms of safely reusing waste and biomass, the transformation of waste/biomass to valuable materials and energy (i.e. valorization) is emerging as a strong trend.

直到20世纪90年代，技术一直是处理废物和残留物的主要动力，目标是处理(垃圾填埋)处理、储存和在某些情况下分类的废物。在1990年代，原材料的耗竭和社会经济问题支持了废物和残渣的直接回收。然而，当废物/残余物含有大量污染物，例如重金属和有机化合物(VOC、PAH)，以及当去除/稳定或破坏污染物的处理过程产生排放时，直接回收方法是有限的。由于自然资源的耗竭、温室气体排放量的增加以及对安全回收废物和生物量方面的可持续发展的需要的认识，将废物/生物量转变为有价值的材料和能源(即价值化)正成为一个强有力的趋势。