Refuse-Derived Fuel Projects in China from a Legal Perspective

Refuse-derived fuel falls within the category of biomass-based technologies, a family of technologies aimed at generating power from different kinds of biomass feedstock: agricultural and forest waste, animal manure, landfills, wastewater and municipal solid waste.

Each of them can be converted into energy by making use of various technologies. For instance, direct-firing or gasification of agricultural and solid waste is used to convert solid waste into power by processing it in steam turbines; animal manure, landfills and wastewater are usually converted into energy by employing a technology known as “anaerobic digestion”, which implies recourse to external combustion engines.

Because no new fuel sources are used other than the waste that would otherwise be sent to landfills, municipal solid waste is considered a renewable fuel in many countries. Municipal solid waste can be converted into a green fuel, known as refuse-derived fuel (RDF), that is burnt in power stations or cement-kilns to generate power. RDF consists largely of the organic components of municipal, commercial and non-hazardous industrial solid waste but can also include plastics and other residues, depending on collection techniques.