Climate analysis Subcoal®

This study compares the climate effects of the processing of coarse rejects from the paper industry by the Subcoal® route with incineration of the rejects in a waste incineration plant (WIP). A previous study by CE Delft revealed that for the paper-plastic fraction of household waste, the Subcoal® route scores better in terms of climate impact and overall environmental burden compared with incineration in a WIP. This report shows how the climate change comparison between the Subcoal® and WIP routes pans out for coarse rejects from the paper industry. In this case, too, the Subcoal® route has a significantly lower climate change impact than the WIP route. Per tonne of reject the Subcoal® route avoids 828 kilo CO2 emissions compared with an average WIP and 545 kilo CO2 compared with a high-performance WIP (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Comparison of avoided CO2 emissions of rejects processed via the Subcoal®/lime kiln route and in a waste incineration plant


For the production of lime this means that when Subcoal® is co-fired at 30% (on a caloric basis), the CO2 emissions of the lime production process can be reduced by 17-18%.