There are waste-to-energy plants in Mexico where it is possible to obtain energy from industrial waste at competitive costs.
Latin America and the Caribbean produce approximately one kilogram a day per capita of solid waste (both home and urban). Approximately 40 million people who live in the region lack proper waste collection services, informs the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB).
Urban solid waste production in Latin America and the Caribbean hit almost 540,000 tons per day. Reducing this figure is very important not only for the environment, but also for the economy; according to a UN report, companies can greatly benefit from waste-to-energy programs.
The world’s population growth is creating more waste. The UN estimates the world population will reach 9.7 billion by 2050.
Energy demand is also an issue related to the increasing pollution. The World Energy Council anticipates that by 2050 the global electricity demand will be around 53,000 terawatts per hour. Therefore, it is essential to reduce the existing gap between supply and demand and waste conversion could be an alternative for most countries: reduce waste and produce energy.
According to the Straits Research site the global waste-to-energy (WtE) market generated USD37.1 billion in 2022 and it is anticipated its value will be USD68.78 billion in 2031.
WtE technologies refer to any process that obtains energy from waste, and energy can be in the form of electricity, heat or fuel.
The Veolia Environmental Centers in Mexico are global benchmarks for waste-to-energy models, particularly for the renewable fuel they produce. Their fuel often surpasses 5,000 kcal/kg (almost 21,000 kJ/kg of waste), which complies with strict client specifications.
The Veolia Environmental Centers are located in San Luis Potosí and the State of Mexico. Waste is classified and then processed to produce biofuel from residues with heat capacity.
“Mexico has the opportunity to lead the way to transform its energy use habits and achieve significant savings for companies and other players involved, as well as to contribute to preserve the planet.” Jaime Fuentes, Chief Industrial Operating Officer at Veolia.
“The process to utilize the heat capacity from waste is known as coprocessing. Our main environmental centers are located in Xalostoc, State of Mexico and San Luis Potosí. Our processes include fine classification, metal elimination and trituration to produce fuel that meets the specific needs of each of our clients. We also recycle and manage industrial waste and special handling waste,” explains Mr. Francisco Torres, Executive Officer Veolus.
Veolia Mexico focuses on two areas: the first one is to create energy savings and energy efficiencies to achieve lower costs (the best kW is the unused one); the second one is to help their clients find renewable fuels they can use for their processes, like biofuel. Depending on the management, companies can have energy savings between 10 percent and 40 percent.
Mr. Jaime Fuentes, Chief Industrial Operating Officer at Veolia, believes Mexico has the opportunity to lead the way to transform its energy use habits and achieve significant savings for companies and other players involved, as well as to contribute to preserve the planet. “Our biofuel’s calorific value is higher than that of our competitors. It all started by recycling solvents and oils, but the industry realized it was possible to use solid waste because of its calorific value.”
In March 2022, Veolia opened its second Environmental Center in San Luis Potosí. The center had a direct investment of MXN170 million and it is dedicated to transform waste into renewable energy and manage industrial waste that cannot be recycled. Every year the Center transforms 40,000 tons of waste generated by industries in the Bajío region into renewable energy, which contributes to reducing greenhouse emissions.
The Environmental Center in San Luis Potosí is part of the 10-year alliance Veolia signed with Cementos Moctezuma to reduce their carbon footprint by 71,000 tons of CO2 by replacing the fossil fuel they use for their ovens with biofuel. This saving is equivalent to charging the battery of eight billion smartphones a year. There are further savings by not having to transport the residues, which would have used 1,600 trucks and emitted 100,000 tons of CO2 per year, which is equivalent to planting more than 16 million trees in a 10-year period.
“The purpose of optimizing the use of waste is to create a circular economy that will positively impact industries long term. This is why it is essential for companies to have a complete industrial waste management program, as it is the basis to transform business economics. There are many companies that have already started to implement waste management programs. However, there are many opportunities for more companies to start implementing this kind of programs,” points out the Chief Industrial Operating Officer at Veolia.
“Companies should adopt models that use the 4R strategy: reduce, reuse, recycle and recover energetically from those that cannot be reused or recycled.” Francisco Torres, Executive Officer Veolus.
Energy transition to make the most of nearshoring
Mexico is at a crossroads in which we have an amazing opportunity as nearshoring is bringing many companies to our country, but at the same time, experts are warning about the energetic challenges we might face. The increased demand could potentially surpass the existing infrastructure, therefore renewable energies have become more relevant for the industrial sector.
Mr. Francisco Torres says industries should transition to renewable energies, reuse and recycle raw materials and products and make the most of waste. “I could even say it is no longer optional for companies to start doing this, they simply must. For example, we had a project with a Mexican company where we implemented an electric and thermal energy generation system that uses four efficient cogeneration systems. The new system will save 400 million pesos over a 20-year period and prevent the emission of 145,294 tons of CO2 over the same period. The use of alternative, clean energies does bring businesses important economic and energy savings.”
Mr. Torres mentions that industrial parks can offer competitive energy prices if they lean on a waste-to-energy model. “Companies should adopt models that use the 4R strategy: reduce, reuse, recycle and recover energetically from those that cannot be reused or recycled. Half of the energy that comes from a waste-to-energy plant is renewable because it comes from organic waste: it is renewable energy and its production is plannable and reliable. This technology eliminates the pollutants that obstruct the recycling flow and it decarbonises the economy by shifting waste from landfill, reducing the use of fossil fuels and avoiding the extraction of raw materials.”
He concludes that Mexico has the necessary infrastructure to transition to renewable energies, companies just need to be interested in doing so.
