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The Indian waste to energy (WtE) market is currently in its early stage relative to the global waste to energy market, but it is growing rapidly. The market is driven by the increasing need to manage municipal solid waste (MSW) in a sustainable way.

Also during the years dominated by geopolitics, public awareness about cleanliness has increased pressure on the urban local governments and industries to manage trash more efficiently, this has increased the demand for waste to energy plants in the nation.

The increasing urbanization, industrialization, and changes in the pattern of life have given rise to a generation of increasing quantities of waste. In recent years, waste to energy technologies have been developed that not only help generate a substantial quantity of decentralized energy but also reduce the amount of trash for its safe disposal.

Furthermore, the Increasing energy demand as countries shift from coal to renewable energy is increasing the demand for Waste to energy generation.

Waste-to-energy (WtE) or energy-from-waste (EfW) is the process of producing energy from municipal waste, biomedical waste, agricultural waste and other waste in electricity and heat. Waste to energy conversion is a type of energy recovery. Most waste to energy operations directly generate electricity and heat through burning or generating a combustible fuel commodity such as methane, methanol, ethanol, or synthetic fuels. 

Types of Waste to Energy Technologies:

Biological

Biomethanation: It is the anaerobic digestion of organic waste materials converted into biogas and manure. Anaerobic digestion is a bacterial fermentation process that operates without oxygen and results in biogas mainly containing methane (CH4), carbon dioxide (CO2), and other gases. 

Thermal

Incineration: Incineration technology is the complete combustion of Waste (only combustible waste such as Municipal Solid Waste) with heat recovery to produce steam that generates power through steam turbines.

Gasification: Gasification is used at high temperatures (500-1800 deg C) in the presence of low oxygen to decompose waste materials to produce synthetic gas and hydrogen (H2). Biomass, agro-residues, and municipal solid waste are used in the gasifier to produce syngas. This gas can further be used for thermal or power generation purposes.

Pyrolysis: Pyrolysis uses combustion to break down waste materials without oxygen, producing a mixture of combustible gases, primarily methane, hydrogen, carbon monoxide, liquids, and solid residues. The products of the pyrolysis process are: 

? Gas mixture

? Liquid (bio-oil/tar)

? Solid residue (carbon black). 

The gas generated by these processes can be used in boilers to provide heat or cleaned up and used in combustion turbine generators. The pyrolysis of Waste is to minimize emissions and maximize the gain.

India Waste to Energy Market Scenario

The Indian government has identified waste to energy as a renewable (clean Energy) technology and is supporting it with different subsidies and incentives. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is actively promoting all viable technologies for energy recovery from municipal and industrial wastes. 

According to MNRE, the estimated energy generation potential from urban and industrial organic waste in India is approximately 5,690 MW. The primary sources contributing to this potential include Urban Solid Waste (1,247 MW), Urban Liquid Waste (375 MW), Paper (liquid waste, 254 MW), and the Processing and Preservation of Meat (liquid waste, 182 MW).

In India, the conventional waste disposal methods include waste collection by unorganised waste pickers, waste burning (industrial waste, food waste, and other hazardous waste), and landfilling, all of which release carbon dioxide. The Waste To Energy Plant initiatives can help minimise carbon emission. With government incentives for constructing waste to energy facilities, the number of incineration plants and WTE facilities has increased in India.

In India's metropolitan regions, around 55 million tonnes of municipal solid waste (MSW) and 38 million litres of sewage are created each year. In addition, industries create a considerable amount of solid and liquid waste. Waste output in India is anticipated to skyrocket in the coming years. Consumption levels and trash generation rates are anticipated to climb as more people relocate to cities and income levels rise. It is projected that the quantity of trash created in India would rise at a per capita rate of 1-1.33% each year.

As of July 2023, India has a cumulative installed capacity of approximately 10.2 GW for biomass power and cogeneration projects, while the total installed capacity for waste-to-energy projects reached 522.42 MWeq. With the total number of active WTE plants in India being only 14, the potential to turns the nations waste into energy source is still underutilized.

India Waste to Energy Policies, Programmes, and Others

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is promoting the national program to recover energy from industrial, urban, and rural wastes. Since this program seeks to facilitate the setting up of waste-to-energy and biomass gasifier projects, various financial incentives and other eligibility criteria have been proposed by the MNRE to encourage participation in waste-to-energy projects.

For instance, consider the National Bioenergy Programme which was launched in November 2022. The scheme comprises of the subthemes such as:

• Waste to Energy Programme (Programme on Energy from Urban, Industrial, and Agricultural Wastes/ Residues)
• Biomass Programme (Scheme to support Manufacturing of Briquettes & Pellets and Promotion of Biomass (non-bagasse) based cogeneration in Industries
• Biogas Programme: for promotion of family type Biogas plants

Some of the Other Waste to Energy Policies in India

• Solid Waste Management Rules,2016:  
  • Segregation at the source.
  • Collection and disposal of sanitary waste.
  • Collect Back scheme for packaging waste.
  • User fees for Collection.
  • Waste processing and treatment.
  • Promoting the use of compost.
  • Promotion of waste to energy.
• Financial Support Scheme to Promote Innovative Industrial Organic Waste-to-Energy (IOWtE) Biomethanation Technologies and Business Models in India & GIS Waste Mapping Tool
• Programme on Energy from Urban, Industrial, Agricultural Wastes/Residues and Municipal Solid Waste and Scheme to Support Promotion of Biomass-Based Cogeneration in Sugar Mills and Other Industries in The Country
• Concessional Custom Duty Certificates (CCDCs) for setting up projects for the generation of Compressed bio-gas (BioCNG) using Urban and Industrial Wastes of Renewable Nature. 

The Financial Assistance for waste to energy plants is listed below:

• Financial assistance is provided through interest subsidies for commercial and industrial projects.
• Financial assistance is provided on the capital cost for innovative or technological projects in terms of the generation of power from municipal/ industrial wastes.
• Carbon Credits are provided for power generation/ Bio methanation.
• Financial incentives or credits are given to municipal corporations for supplying garbage at the project site.
• Incentives are given to the state and nodal agencies to promote, coordinate, and monitor such projects.
• Financial assistance is given for carrying out studies on waste to energy projects, covering the total costs of such studies.
• Assistance is given in training courses, workshops and seminars, and awareness generation.

(You can access a comprehensive list of both existing and upcoming Waste-to-Energy Projects in the world, along with their current status, through our extensive Global Waste to Energy Database)

Some of the India Waste to Energy Market Opportunities

• Growing demand for biofertilizers in the global market
• Increasing natural gas prices are increasing the demand for biogas
• Public-private partnerships in municipal solid waste (MSW) and waste-to-energy

Major Restraints to India Waste to Energy Market Growth

• Poor Policy implementation by government and public in Segregation of wastes.
• Growing pollution levels from waste to energy plants, causing the plants to shut down in major cities.
• Lack of financial resources with Municipal Corporations/Urban Local Bodies to promote and supply waste to the plants.
• High energy tariffs compared to solar and wind.

Some of the Recent Developments

• In August 2023, Antony Waste Handling Cell Ltd (AWHCL) achieved the successful completion of a 14-MW integrated waste-to-energy plant located in Moshi, Maharashtra. With the capability to process 1,000 tonnes per day of municipal solid waste, this state-of-the-art facility is anticipated to produce sufficient electricity to meet the needs of approximately 12,000 households in the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) area.
• In the 2023 annual budget, the Indian government allocated INR 10,000 crores for the GOBAR-Dhan scheme, aiming to establish approximately 200 compressed biogas plants and 300 community and cluster-based plants.
• In January 2023, Norway's development finance institution, Norfund, revealed its commitment to invest approximately USD 60.5 million in SAEL, an Indian company specializing in solar and agricultural waste-to-energy solutions.
• In June 2022, Guntur Municipal Corporation established a 15 MW Waste to Energy Plant with Jindal Ecolipus.
• In March 2022, South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) is planning to complete a second waste to energy plant and construct an engineered landfill site by 2023.
• East Delhi Waste Processing Company Limited's 12 MW WtE project in Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh, has supplied power to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation. To promote and make viable WtE projects, the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission announced in January 2019 that WtE projects in the National Capital Territory of Delhi will be exempt from open access and deviation charges for intra-state scheduling. These exemptions will be applicable for the useful life of the existing projects, on future projects commissioned on or before March 31, 2022, and also on those for which power purchase agreements have been signed on or before March 31, 2022.
• The Bidadi waste to energy plant in Karnataka is being built by KPCL and BBMP, with each agency investing Rs 130 crore. It will be able to process 600 TPD of Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) to create 11.5 MW of electricity, resulting in an annual output of 80.59 million units, which will be evacuated through an underground cable to KPTCL's 220 kV Bidadi sub-station. The facility will incinerate RDF to generate electricity and is in accordance with the Municipal Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016. The plant will have a 20-year lifetime.
• In Shimla, a Waste-to-energy project based on MSW is being established, and power generation trials began in September 2020. The WtE plant is capable of producing 2 MW of electricity per day. The plant would need 100 tonnes of waste per day to generate electricity for the city. This requirement will be met by waste generated in Shimla and some of its surrounding areas.

Blackridge Research's India Waste-to-Energy (WTE) Market report provides insights into the current global market demand and regional market demand scenario and its outlook.

The study offers a detailed analysis of various factors instrumental in affecting the India Waste-to-Energy (WTE) market's growth. The study also comprehensively analyses the India WTE market by segmenting it based on type of WTE technology deployed (Biological, Thermal).

The Indian Waste-to-Energy (WTE) Industry market report also addresses present and future market opportunities, market trends, and developments in the India Waste-to-Energy (WTE) market, important commercial developments, trends, regions, and segments poised for the fastest-growth (including market growth rate), competitive landscape.

Further, the India Waste to Energy Market report will also provide India Waste to Energy market size (total India Waste-to-Energy (WTE) market revenue), demand forecast, List of waste to energy plants in India, upcoming waste to energy projects in India, Industry growth rates (CAGR), market share of key market players (contains company overview, their strategies for future market growth), and trade (imports and exports).

Further, the India Waste to Energy Market report will also provide India Waste to Energy market size (total India Waste-to-Energy (WTE) market revenue), demand forecast, Industry growth rates (CAGR), Market Share of key market players, and trade (imports and exports).