technology & art united
The Spittelau Incinerator is a waste-to-energy incinerator in Vienna. Originally completed in 1971 the building was damaged by fire and in 1987 the elevations were redesigned by architect and artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser.
many tourist take pictures of this pretty plant from Hundertwasser in Vienna. We (the GBSgroup) went in the building and got a presentation and tour about how the plant operates. (I’ll spare you all the details) but some basic information might be interesting!
- Annually, up to 250,000 tonnes of household waste are incinerated in the Spit- telau
- The Spittelau produces 470,000 MWh of district heating annually.
- 60,000 Vienna households can be sup- plied with heating with the produced energy.
- The state-of-the-art filter systems reduce the dust content by 99.9 per cent.
- It is mainly water vapour, which leaves the flue at a height of 126 metros.
I still have some doubts about the true sustainability of the plant… since they drop some rest materials under a German mountain and they do pollute the air in the environment…. Also waste minimisation, reuse and recycling of waste should all be preferred to incineration. Supporters of zero waste consider incinerators and other waste treatment technologies as barriers to recycling and separation….
well at least the plant looks nice in the city landscape!
