Characterisation and calorific potential of waste generated in Mexico City for energy production

This paper highlights the characterisation of waste in a major disposal site in Mexico City. The research involves the application of a methodology comprising activities such as delimitation of area for selection according to borough of origin, sorting of materials, weighing of samples, lab tests and determination of calorific potential. The methodology was based on guidelines from official standards: MX-AA-015-1985, NMX-AA-019-1985, NMX-AA-22-1985 and NMX-AA-61-1985. It was determined that only 19.43% of all samples included organic waste and the rest was split into 25 different materials. High-density polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride were identified as the main plastic components within a classification of 19 materials, with 31.30% and 13.91%, respectively. Finally, the samples of waste per borough resulted in an average calorific value of 3,192.27 kcal/kg. Therefore, this research provides a first approach to reliable data regarding characterisation of waste calorific potential.