Less than one week for the deadline:The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has submitted a proposal for a new field of activity on solid recovered fuels. As the U.S. member body to ISO, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) invites all interested stakeholders to submit comments on the proposal by the end of the business day on Friday, August 31, 2015.
The new work item proposal, submitted by Finnish Standards Association SFS, specifies that the intended program of work for the standardization of solid recovered fuels would include the following:
Basic standards, including terminology, a standard for describing and defining the classification system, and a standard defining the quality management for the production of SRF (in line with ISO 9001).
Testing and analysis standards and technical specifications for: sampling and sample preparation of solid recovered fuels.
Solid recovered fuel (SRF)—also called refuse derived fuel (RDF) and waste derived fuel (WDF)—is an alternative energy source to fossil fuel. SRF is prepared from non-hazardous waste, with the main categories of raw material being municipal solid waste (MSW), commercial and industrial waste (CIW), and construction and demolition waste (CDW).
The standardization of this fuel is essential to ensure a more sustainable waste management process, and to increase its acceptability in the fuel market. Even more, increased usage of SRF would boost business for SRF producers, which include SME waste management companies.
The challenge within this market, as the proposal emphasizes, is that the quality of traded and recovered fuels can vary among producers, which can impact consumers who may not buy fuels whose quality and compositions are not well known. As a prerequisite, a reliable quality management system—and the development of standards to achieve this—are essential for the production of solid fuels.
Standards for SRF will also act as reference tools for regulators and authorities when defining policies to prevent climate change. Ultimately, as the document notes, the utilization of waste materials including SRF in accordance with ISO standards will increase renewable energy resources, which are especially valuable in areas where recycling or reuse is not available.
U.S. stakeholders are invited to view the new proposal (by clicking here) and submit comments to Steven Cornish, ANSI director of international policy ([email protected]), by close of business on Friday, August 31, 2015.
All comments received will be compiled and used in the development of a recommended ANSI position and comments on this proposal that will be submitted to the ANSI ISO Council (AIC) for approval prior to ISO's October 10, 2015, deadline for voting.
ANSI has published an explanatory information document outlining the process used to develop U.S. positions on issues and activities under consideration by ISO and IEC. Click here to download the document.