Quantitative determination of energy potential of refuse derived fuel from the waste recovered from Indian landfill

Abstract Landfills are urban stocks and resource reservoirs for potential energy recovery. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the amount of energy that could be recovered from aged waste (around 5–20 yr old) recovered from landfills. Investigations were conducted on the physical and chemical properties of refuse-derived fuel (RDF) prepared from recovered landfill waste (RLW) in Andhra Pradesh, India. Waste characterization studies include determination of waste composition, proximity analysis, ultimate analysis, and energy content. The moisture content ranged between 25.7 to 31.3% and no trend was observed with age. In the ultimate analysis, the percentage of carbon increased from 42.9 to 71.7% with the age of the samples, this is due to an increase in the plastic content over time. The calorific value of the recovered landfill waste ranged from 10.4 to 21.8 MJ kg− 1. From the findings, it can be summarized that the RDF can potentially be utilized as a feedstock for the recovery of energy from RLW. The results from this study will assist policy makers and local authorities in designing and developing strategies for resource and energy recovery from landfills in different urban cites across the globe.