Technology

Landfilling

Co-firing in cement kilns

Incineration

Biogas production

Gastification

Composting

Advantages

· Easy

· Fewer costs

· No emissions of heavy metals

· Safe disposal

· High calorific value

· No influence on the environment or clinker quality

· No threat for a human

· The least expensive and cost-demanding technology

· Easy to implement and operate

· Reduction in the volume of sludge

· Control of spread of diseases

· Recovery of precious metals

· Safe utilization

· Short payback period

· Electricity generation

· Energy independence

· Different revenue flows

· reduction of CO₂ emissions

· cost efficient production of power and heat

· high calorific value

· no dioxins

· production of a fertilizer (biochar)

· A rich content of P and K

· A substitute to artificial fertilizers

Disadvantages

· Soil contamination

· Greenhouse gases emission

· Leachate of toxic materials to soils, groundwaters and drinking water

· Lack of sites for landfilling

· High transportation cost

· Equipment upgrade at a cement plant is needed

· Competent operators are needed to control the process

· toxic metals are retained after the buring

· utilization of toxic metals is expensive

· dioxins, furans, chlorine are released as gaseous pollutants

· Heating value of the sludge is not enough for auto-thermal combustion

· Mercury in sludge is not removed with ash

· Expensive to build

· Expensive to build

· Competent operators are needed to run the plant

· Heavy metals in the content may reduce revenues

· High transportation costs if there are heavy metals in the sludge

· flammable gas

· a risk of explosion if the gas is in contact with the dust

· a risk of CO gas poisoning

· heat recovery is used for drying

· high capital expenditure

· profitability is hard to determine

· High costs of sludge transportation

· Heavy metals may be in the content, difficult to examine

· Declining popularity