Sewage & Waste

Waste is broadly defined as an unwanted, unusable or hazardous material, substance or byproduct. Waste and sewage-related markets include technologies, infrastructure, facilities, equipment and material products required for the disposal and treatment of wastewater, sewage, solid municipal waste and industrial wastes. Additional products in the market are capable of converting wastes into usable products, commodities, and energy.

Recycling represents another method of converting wastes into useful products. Waste to energy (WtE) methods, facilities and equipment combust, digest and physically alter wastes in order to produce fuels and thermal energy for power generation.

Industrial wastes – whether solid, liquid or gaseous – are commonly regulated in their disposal and required treatment. Gas abatement refers to the minimization or altering of waste gas emissions. Scrubbers and filters are also capable of removing toxic, hazardous and environmentally damaging substances from fluid streams. Outside of industry, sewage represents one of the major biological wastes produced by humans. Sewage can be collected into anaerobic digesters for biogas (methane) production, digested in septic tanks, or collected in sewer systems for delivery to water treatment and management facilities. Various methods exist for water treatment including bioremediation, chemical treatment, flocculation, settling and separation.

Municipal solid wastes or trash can be burned (combusted) to generate power and reduce solid waste volumes or collected in landfills where decomposition processes and continuing disposal and recycling operations minimize and transition the waste volume, while containing its migration and leaching into the environment. Landfill gas can also be produced as a fuel.