Energy and environmental assessment of solid recovered fuels valorisation: Waste-to-Chemicals options vs co-combustion in cement plants.

The increasing interest in Waste-to-Chemical (WtC) technologies operating with Solid Recovered Fuels (SRF) from non-recyclable plastic streams requires a quantitative analysis on the actual convenience of this alternative valorization pathway. This study assesses SRF in selected WtC technologies for hydrogen and methanol production and compares it with the well-established practice of co-combustion in the cement industry. Two case studies are considered: the first one represents the current scenario where SRF is used in co-combustion for cement production meanwhile the chemical is produced by steam reforming; in the second scenario, the cement plant is fed with pet-coke only, leaving SRF as a feedstock for WtC.