ES&T EUROPEAN
NEWS
Incineration Regulations Set To Tighten
T
h e U.S. Environmental Protec tion Agency's assessment of dioxin a n d dioxin-like com p o u n d s comes at a sensitive time in Europe's debate on waste manage ment and incineration standards. Of ficials at the European Commission in Brussels are n o w turning their reg ulatory gaze on the incineration of n o n h a z a r d o u s waste, standards for w h i c h vary w i d e l y across Europe. They argue that the highest possible standards must be set in order to gain public acceptance for incineration as a disposal option. In the case of h a z a r d o u s waste in cinerators, a n e w directive tighten ing e m i s s i o n s t a n d a r d s in m a n y countries has almost completed its journey through the European U n i o n ' s (EU's) l e g i s l a t i v e m i l l . M e a n w h i l e , n e w proposals for a di rective on n o n h a z a r d o u s waste in cineration—discussed at a series of private c o n s u l t a t i v e meetings this y e a r — i n c l u d e even tougher e m i s sion standards t h a n those agreed on for hazardous waste plants. The n e w directive w o u l d replace European legislation adopted in 1989, which imposed m i n i m u m standards that forced m a n y existing plants to close by 1996. According to analysis for the European Commission by the Dutch laboratory TNO, the new pro posals would add a colossal $33-$120 per metric ton to incineration costs, depending on the plant size. Over the next five to 10 years mu nicipal incineration charges across Europe are set to rocket toward the German average of $170 per ton, ac cording to a recent survey of the Euro p e a n incineration business (1). By contrast, charges in the U.K. are only $30 and in Denmark $35. Some 7 1 % of incineration sites expect to invest in the near future to upgrade their plants, the survey found. Average investment per site will be $22.1 million. The EPA's dioxin reassessment can o n l y a d d to t h e l e g i s l a t o r s ' z e a l . Within hours of the publication of the draft EPA reports on the health im pacts and sources of dioxin, details w e r e circulating a r o u n d E u r o p e a n governments and environmental and industry lobby groups. Pressure 512 A
BY J U L I A N
ROSE
groups held news conferences in sev eral European capitals calling for a halt to further dioxin emissions. Phas ing out incineration and prohibiting the manufacture of many chlorinated compounds are among the environ mental groups' demands. The EPA analysis of dioxin emis sion sources reveals h o w far emis sions from incineration can be re duced with progressive tightening of emission standards. More than half the estimated U.S. dioxin emissions are attributed to the incineration of medical wastes, and a further 30% to municipal waste. Annual emissions from U.S. hospital incinerators are 5100 g 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-pdioxin equivalents (TEQJ, compared with 3000 g for municipal waste incin eration and just 35 g for hazardous •waste incineration. New U.S. stan dards for municipal incinerators will reduce that particular dioxin source; EPA is also considering new controls on medical waste plants. For the time b e i n g , h o w e v e r , total U.S. d i o x i n emissions are thought to be 9200 g. By contrast, a 1992 study of Ger m a n dioxin sources cited in the EPA d o c u m e n t yielded estimates of just 5.4 g of dioxin from medical waste incineration and at most 432 g from municipal waste plants, even though 3 6 % of Germany's munici pal solid waste is incinerated. The German study also predicts that di oxin emissions from m u n i c i p a l in cinerators w i l l soon fall by m o r e than a factor of 10 as n e w standards begin to take effect. Total d i o x i n emissions from all sources in Ger many, w h i c h has roughly one-third the population of the United States, m a y t h e n fall t o b e l o w 1 0 0 g, roughly 1% of the U.S. level. German regulations set the emis sion limit of 0.1 n g / m 3 TEQ for di oxin; this is the limit set in both the n e w EU d i r e c t i v e on h a z a r d o u s waste incineration a n d the proposal on n o n h a z a r d o u s w a s t e i n c i n e r a tion. The p r o p o s e d directive also stipulates minimum residence times a n d t e m p e r a t u r e s , m e a s u r e s that h e l p r e d u c e dioxin formation
Environ. Sci. Technol., Vol. 28, No. 12, 1994
but d r a w criticism for duplication controls set by emission limits. Adopting the philosophy of inte grated p o l l u t i o n control, t h e pro posed directive would regulate emissions from incinerators to land and water as well as to air. The aim is to avoid transferring p o l l u t i o n from one m e d i u m to another. The controls proposed for waste water from incinerators (generated by the flue-gas cleaning equipment) are in some cases tougher than those for drinking water. The solid resi dues from incinerators would be sub jected to leach tests to assess whether they should be placed in landfills ac cording to normal standards or in sites engineered to take h a z a r d o u s wastes—a proposal that has drawn criticism because it duplicates con trols under a proposed EU directive on landfills. Senior Brussels officials say they are p u s h i n g the n e w directive as a priority because incineration w i t h energy recovery is seen as an envi r o n m e n t a l l y a n d politically attrac tive option. It avoids direct landfilling of m u n i c i p a l wastes and makes use of waste materials. As currently p l a n n e d , the n e w standards will be i m p o s e d on all n e w plants commis sioned after January 1, 1998. Exist ing plants w o u l d have to either u p grade or close d o w n by 2001. These schedules are likely to be r e l a x e d s o m e w h a t after g o v e r n ments, parliamentarians, and lobby ing groups have discussed the cost implications. But the seeds n o w be ing s o w n i n B r u s s e l s m e a n t h a t w i t h i n a decade the whole of west ern Europe will be working to the tough but costly incineration stan d a r d s n o w operating in Germany. By t h e n , h o w e v e r , G e r m a n stan dards are likely to have increased even further. Reference (1) "Municipal Solid Waste Incineration in Europe"; Juniper Consultancy Ser vices, 186 Connaught Road, Wokin, Surrey GU24 0ΑΗ, England. Julian Rose is an environmental and technology writer based in London.
0013-936X/94/0927-512A$04.50/0 © 1994 American Chemical Society
