The growing world population is contributing to the increasing amounts of waste and a significant increase in energy demand. Therefore, coal will increasingly be replaced by refuse-derived fuel (RDF), which is produced from municipal solid waste. The use of such fuel poses many difficulties because of its heterogeneity and high mercury emission. One method to stabilize the properties of RDF and reduce the mercury content is thermal pretreatment. The purpose of this study was to investigate the release of mercury from RDF samples following thermal pretreatment. The study was carried out in the temperature range of 100–350 °C. Statistical analysis was performed on the correlation between the composition of the RDF samples and the release of mercury. The RDF samples showed a very high variation in the mercury content, ranging from 45 to 849 µg Hg/kg (1.7 to 35.3 µg Hg/MJ). Thermal pretreatment removed a significant amount of mercury at 250 °C (94–99%). Paper content positively affected mercury release. Relatively low correlation coefficients were obtained in the statistical analysis, which may be explained by the significant heterogeneity of the RDF samples magnified by the variability in the mercury content within particular fractions.

The growing importance of environmental technologies in a circular economy requires the use of tools that allow a realistic assessment of their economic efficiency. Classical investment indicators, such as NPV or IRR, are proving inadequate in the case of installations whose main objective is not to maximise profit but to reduce waste and emissions. There is a lack of tools in the literature that would allow for an unambiguous assessment of the unit cost of waste treatment, taking into account the life cycle of the installation and market conditions. This study aims to assess the feasibility of using the Levelised Cost of Waste (LCOW) indicator, modelled on the Levelised Cost of Energy (LCOE) from the energy sector, as a planning and decision-making tool in the waste management sector. In this study, an LCOW calculation model was developed and applied to analyse textile waste pyrolysis technology. Simulations were conducted for three plant scales (1000, 5000, and 10,000 Mg/year), and a sensitivity analysis was performed to examine the relationship between the LCOW and by-product prices, energy costs, capital expenditures, and CO₂ emissions. The results confirm that the LCOW is a helpful tool for determining tariffs, identifying subsidy thresholds and comparing technology options. Its application is particularly well suited to small-scale environmental investments where classical approaches fail.

Porównano zawartość rtęci w próbkach różnego rodzaju produktów z papieru. Przeprowadzono proces termicznej preparacji wybranych próbek w zakresie temp. 200–400°C. Określono ubytek masy oraz ilość uwalnianej rtęci. W temp. 300°C ilość uwolnionej rtęci wyniosła 63%, a ubytek masy 39%.

The growing volume of textile waste requires efficient valorisation strategies that go beyond energy recovery. This study investigates the pyrolysis and subsequent KOH activation of major textile fibres (cotton, viscose, polyester, wool) and their realistic mixtures to produce high-surface-area activated carbons. The effects of temperature (400-700 °C) and residence time (15-60 min) on char yield and pore development were systematically evaluated. Cellulosic fibres reached maximum BET surface areas at 500 °C, whereas polyester and wool required 600 °C and 700 °C, respectively. KOH activation produced highly microporous carbons (1659-3504 m²/g, >90% micropore contribution). Most pore development occurred within the first 30 min of pyrolysis. Strong positive synergistic effects were observed for fibre mixtures at 500 °C, where the experimental BET surface area exceeded the theoretical additive value by approximately 49%. The activated carbons showed excellent methylene blue adsorption (1284-3003 mg/g), which fitted the most to the Langmuir isotherm model. Importantly, the favourable performance of materials derived from cotton and polyester, which are the dominant components of global textile waste streams, suggests that strict fibre separation prior to thermochemical treatment may not be necessary. These findings provide new insights into pore formation in multicomponent textile systems and highlight the potential of mixed textile waste as a feedstock for high-performance carbon adsorbents within circular economy frameworks.