Why Is Only 22% of E-Waste Recycled When the Metal Is Worth $91 Billion?
E-waste recycling recovers barely a fifth of $91B in embedded metals. The bottleneck isn't the smelter, it's collection and sorting - here's where it pays.
Read article →Optimal Waste Intelligence · Archive
Older Articles - Page 7
Previously published OWI analysis. Use the navigation below to move between pages.
Carbon Capture on Waste-to-Energy Is a Biogenic-Credit Trade with a kWh Byproduct
Carbon capture waste to energy economics hinge on the biogenic share, not the kWh. Why most WTE+CCS pro formas overstate by year three.
Read article →
EPA Just Set Compliance Limits for 152 Waste-to-Energy Units. The State Plan Clock Is What Actually Matters.
EPA's March 2026 final rule on waste-to-energy regulations: 152 units, 57 facilities, 0M retrofits. The real compliance window is 18 to 24 months, not five years.
Read article →
The Plastic Export Ban Comes in Two Stages. Domestic Conversion Capacity Is Only Ready for One.
EU Waste Shipment Regulation 2024/1157 just kicked in. Here's what the 21 November plastic export ban actually does to domestic conversion economics.
Read article →
Why EPA's April 2026 PFAS Guidance Is Quietly Bad News for Most Waste-to-Energy Operators
EPA's April 2026 PFAS guidance recognizes thermal destruction above 1,100°C, a temperature most municipal waste combustors miss. What operators must verify.
Read article →
Southeast Asia's Waste-to-Energy Bet Comes Down to Who Pays the Tipping Fee
Waste-to-energy in Southeast Asia lives or dies on contract structure - see how Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines each price the risk differently.
Read article →
Waste-to-Hydrogen Pencils at $5.30/kg. The Co-Product Decides Whether It Pencils at All.
Waste to hydrogen via pyrolysis clears around $5.30/kg - far behind turquoise H2. Why the co-product and gate fee, not the hydrogen, decide if it finances.
Read article →
Food Waste to Energy: The Tip Fee Pays, the kWh Is Byproduct
Food waste to energy comes down to moisture and money: why anaerobic digestion beats pyrolysis on wet feedstock, and where the revenue actually sits.
Read article →
Why Plasma Gasification Hasn't Replaced Pyrolysis Anywhere It Should Have
Plasma gasification vs pyrolysis after Teesside's billion-dollar write-off: where each thermal technology actually fits, and where the capex never closes.
Read article →
CSRD Omnibus Will Make ESG Diligence Worse for Waste-to-Energy Reporting, Not Better
Directive 2026/470 cut CSRD datapoints 61%. For waste-to-energy operators, the simplification removes guardrails Article 9 lenders still demand.
Read article →
Tire Pyrolysis Oil Went From Loss Leader to Crude Substitute in Six Weeks
Q1 2026 tire pyrolysis oil priced at $656/MT in Germany - until Brent crude hit $126. What an oil shock did to the cement-kiln alt-fuel math.
Read article →
5.1 Million Tonnes a Year: The RDF-Cement-Kiln Economy Nobody Talks About
5.1Mt of refuse-derived fuel cross EU borders yearly - almost all to cement kilns. Specs, RDF market price, chloride failures, and what the data implies through 2027.
Read article →