After recycling, solid waste ends up being burned to energy in waste-to-energy plants or the waste is carried to landfills. While in Finland burning waste to energy is common, for example in the United States, majority of the solid waste is still carried to landfills.
But why exactly burning waste to energy is better option than carrying it to the landfills? Because when waste breaks down in a landfill, it releases methane, a potent global warming gas. But when it’s burned, the gas is converted to energy.
When compared to landfills, the climate benefits are significant from burning the waste. For every ton of solid waste that goes to a waste-to-energy plant instead of to a landfill, the difference is one ton of carbon dioxide less to the atmosphere. If all the solid waste in the world went to waste-to-energy plants, it would reduce the amount of carbon humans emit by about three percent.
In Finland, waste burning has increased exponentially over the last ten years since carrying the mixed waste to the landfills was banned in 2016. Since, more waste-to-energy plants have been built at a rapid pace. It is also worth to notice that currently 99% of Finnish waste is utilized as energy or material.
Sources and links to read more about the topic:
Waste-to-energy plants could reduce methane
https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2019/03/22/sekajatteen-energiapoltto (in Finnish)
