Activities : Solid Waste

Cabinet MERLIN has been working for many years as a Consultant in solid waste treatment technologies and solid waste integrated management, always anticipating regulatory improvements and advising on the latest technologies. Cabinet MERLIN is the leader in France for designing and supervising works for Solid Waste treatment centers (with references on more than 160 treatment sites)

Solid waste management concerns not only household waste, but also hazardous waste, hospital waste, sludge from wastewater treatment, etc. Solid waste integrated management includes all activities from waste collection to treatment and elimination, or final storage.

Cabinet MERLIN assignments range from the diagnosis of existing waste collection & treatment services, to drawing the integrated solid waste management plan for a city or a region, preparing the detailed design and tender documents for the service and the treatment facilities, supervision of the works and eventually control of the operators' performances or benchmarks.

Solid Waste Collection

Studies and expertise for solid waste collection include techniques, equipment and best-practices for :

• Street cleaning activities, black spots,
• Door to door collection : pre-sorted waste (separative collection) or all-mixed (traditional collection),
• Special collection in dedicated areas with sorting at source,
• Optimisation of collection routes (operational research, computerised programmes using the graph theory).

Transfer and transport

Optimising costs implies :

• Transfer centers : setting them up in appropriate locations (ideally defined by specific software), with equipment adapted to the local conditions
• Transport equipment adapted to each use (short & long distances, streets, roads, rail)

Recycling

Integrated management also aims at optimum recycling :

• Materials : glass, paper, cardboard, metal, plastics... from sorting centers and clinker from incineration plants...
• Organic : composting, digestion, agricultural reuse of wastewater treatment sludge
• Energy : incineration (waste to energy plants), thermolysis, landfill biogas recovery

Sanitary landfills

And also...

• Energy : thermodynamic cycle for energy recovery from heat (waste to energy plants), renewable energies, consultant services related to the European Energy market deregulation .
• Air protection: plume dispersion studies, Dioxin permanent control out of incineration plant chimneys ( COPER-DIOX® process), ...
• Special waste : study of different projects and alternative techniques for incineration of bone meal in partnership with the French Agency for Waste and Energy (ADEME). Complete project management of the related industrial installations.