Mini-review of waste-to-energy related air pollution and their limit value regulations in an international comparison

The concept of circular economy supports mitigation of climate change and other environmental pressures to the planet. Circulating materials in anthropogenic processes come with the risk of accumulating hazardous substances and compounds. In this concept, waste incineration or waste-to-energy (WtE)...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Waste Management & Research 2022-07, Vol.40 (7), p.849-858
Main Authors: Hodgkinson, Isla, Maletz, Roman, Simon, Franz-Georg, Dornack, Christina
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Air pollution
Anthropogenic factors
Circular economy
Climate change
Climate change mitigation
Combustion
Contaminants
Emission analysis
Emission inventories
Environmental impact
Environmental protection
Flue gas
Hazardous materials
Human influences
Incineration
Incineration plants
Industrial pollution
Life cycles
Waste disposal
Waste to energy
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Summary:The concept of circular economy supports mitigation of climate change and other environmental pressures to the planet. Circulating materials in anthropogenic processes come with the risk of accumulating hazardous substances and compounds. In this concept, waste incineration or waste-to-energy (WtE) is a necessary technology to remove these compounds from the life cycle. In this mini-review, contaminants of major importance in the flue gas from waste incineration plants and their environmental impact are discussed. Air pollution of WtE is often seen as the most relevant environmental impact of this treatment option. The emission values parameter set for different countries is presented and compared. The most stringent legally set of emission values could be found in parts of Europe and South Korea. Japan also permits similar strict values when authorising individual incineration plants. In North America, the values are partially less strict as the best available technologies in Europe suggest being possible. Emerging economies, such as India and China, have shown efforts to improve their environmental protection standards but still have room to improve. This could be set in relation to other industrial emitting processes and therefore could be used to assess the relevance of this industry sector to the national emission inventories.
ISSN:0734-242X
1096-3669
DOI:10.1177/0734242X211060607