College of Science and Engineering at the University of
Minnesota College of Science and Engineering  Garbage Power
Yesterday, we visited the Vestforbraending Incineration Plant,
which incinerates 20,000 to 50,000 tons of waste a week and
turns it into electricity and district heat for nearly one sixth
of the population of Denmark.  The Danes have realized that
modern consumption habits generate an enormous amount of waste,
and that even what we normally consider to be useless waste
represents a valuable resource. The Vestforbraending station
takes in the waste from 19 Danish communities, including parts
of Copenhagen, separates out 29 different materials for
recycling (paper, glass, various plastics, and various metals)
and incinerates the rest. It's especially important to separate
out the metals, both because they don't burn in the incinerator,
instead just melting and clogging it up, but also because
producing new metal from ore is an extremely energy-intensive
task. Producing a single ton of aluminum re