Examination of the Fate of Carbon in Waste Management Systems through Statistical Entropy and Life Cycle Analysis

Abstract

The statistical entropy (SE) function has been developed as a methodology to rapidly benchmark he effectiveness of different waste management systems by determining the level to which specific substances are either concentrated or diluted. Past usage of SE has been confined to metals. In this paper, this method is extended to account for carbon--a key substance of interest Accounting for carbon is complicated by the fact that reactions involving this substance are complex and their products are numerous. Through experiments on carbon-containing emissions from styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR), natural rubber (polyisoprene, IR), and waste tires we demonstrate that a knowledge of carbon-containing species accounting for 90% (by mass) of gaseous emissions is sufficient. Next, we develop an extended SE calculation methodology and apply it to compare carbon flows through two different systems for municipal solid waste (MSW) management (landfills) and waste-to-energy (WTE) facilities. Our results indicate that while landfills perform better on a cursory analysis, they are roughly equal to WTE when carbon flows related to energy generation are accounted for, and underperform by a factor of 3 when considering global warming potential.