What’s The Difference Between Solid Recovered Fuel and Refuse Derived Fuel?

As ESG goals climb higher up the corporate agenda, business leaders must find the best ways to be more sustainable and make more environmentally-conscious choices.

One such way is for organisations to better understand the waste they produce; a process that has to involve taking a closer look at people’s waste behaviours, interrogating their different waste streams, being clear about where their waste goes and why, and recognising that waste can and should have value to the circular economy.

A key way to improve waste management practices, reduce, reuse, recycle and support the pursuit of ESG goals is by increasing the thermal value of the waste we produce. This can be done by converting waste into clean fuel which is then used to produce heat and electricity – all of which diverts it from landfill and conventional mass burn incineration and saves money too.

There are two primary types of clean fuel – Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) and Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF) – that you may hear mentioned. Here we explain the difference:

Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF)

RDF is a relatively crude material, produced from residual household and commercial waste which has undergone some form of mechanical treatment such as shredding and screening. There is no set standard for RDF. RDF is used for combustion in energy from waste facilities to generate energy.

Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF)

SRF on the other hand, is a refined, high quality alternative to fossil fuel. Unlike RDF a standard exists for SRF – BS 15359 2011 SRF Definitions and classes. It is produced from commercial waste including paper, card, wood, textiles and plastic. SRF has gone through additional processing (compared with RDF) to improve its quality. This also means it has a higher calorific value than RDF – so it can be used to replace carbon-emitting coal to power a cement kiln, in gasification or pyrolysis to produce green gas for heating homes or to mine it for useful chemicals.

If you are interested in learning more about how biotechnology could halve your waste and alternative fuels could power your journey to sustainability, contact us today.