What does it mean, ‘recover’? In connection with waste, recover simply means the creation of energy from rubbish. We produce so much waste that even after reducing, reusing and recycling it there are tonnes of it left destined for the landfill. There are several ways of energy recovery from waste and these include: incineration, anaerobic digestion, mechanical biological treatment, gasification and pyrolysis.
Energy is recovered by incineration in two ways: direct waste incineration or using waste as a fuel substitute. The technology used for burning waste has significantly improved over the years and are successfully used in some European countries.
Anaerobic digestion means decomposing biodegradable waste in the absence of oxygen. The decomposing waste produces methane that is typically used to produce electricity. The technology used is still in its development stages.