The energy transition is the dynamic matrix of processes that meet the need of mitigating climate change by generating opportunities resulting from a change of paradigm. Energy transition is at the same time an ambitious challenge and a driver for innovation at the technological, industrial and socio-economic level.

SSF is defined by art. 183, paragraph 1, letter cc), of Italian Legislative Decree 152/2006, Code of the Environment, as the solid fuels produced by non harmful waste, which meets the classification and specification set by UNI EN 15359 technical standard.

Specifically, SSF derives mainly from treating unsorted USW (Urban Solid Waste), a fraction that, given the current status of the technology available for waste management, cannot be processed for reuse or recovery of the material.

In this way co-combustion of SSF in kilns for the production of cement completes the virtuous cycle of separate waste collection.

To be classified as SSF and then valorized as energy in cement production, the unsorted MSW (Municipal Solid Waste) undergoes a series of physical and chemical treatments. Its volume is reduced using biostabilization, which eliminates the bacterial load and residual wetness; this improves also the fuel’s heating power. The waste is then deironed and the inert material present removed (the metal fraction is recovered) and then goes through dechlorination and it is finely crushed to improve the kinetics of the fuel, therefore improving its emission profile too. The result is a full fledged noble fuel, which provides the calories needed for the production of clinker, cement’s main component.

UNI EN 15359 standard classifies SSF based on the limit values of three important parameters of the fuel, strategic from the standpoint of the environment, technology and performance/economic value:

• The mean value of Lower Heating Value – LHV (commercial parameter)
• The mean value of chlorine (process parameter)
• The value of the median and of the 80th percentile of mercury content (environmental parameter)

According to the values reached, these parameters are ranked in classes ranging from 1 to 5, as set by the standard. The combination of the numbers of the three parameters defines the SSF “class code”, which must be included in the fuel specifications.

A recent study by the Laboratorio REF Ricerche has estimated the benefits Italy would have by applying a 66% replacement rate of fossil fuel with SSF, in line with that of Germany in 2017. The study proved that the emission of 6.8 million tons of CO2 equivalent in the atmosphere would have been avoided thanks to the biomass contained in them, also, since the waste would have become energy valued by the cement industry instead of being taken to landfill, this would have further prevented emissions of methane.

The support provided by the domestic cement production plants to the completion of the waste cycle using SSF co-combustion translates into a social and economic benefit for the community too, as it lowers the costs of managing urban waste, which affects directly the tax paid by the users.

With regards to energy costs and thus in favour of business competitiveness, using SSF reduces significantly the cost of the calories used to cook clinker, compared to the use of fossil fuels.

Within this context TRITOR ENERGY, comes to be, a quality brand that places waste treated by Tritor Technology a step above the SSF produced with much less efficient technologies in terms of production and quality of the finished product.