Reducing harmful emissions from waste incineration plants
The European Commission has adopted a proposal for a Directive on the incineration of waste which would limit the emission of all dangerous pollutants, including dioxins, furans and heavy metals, from waste incineration plants. The purpose of the legislation would be to establish controls on the incineration of wastes that are not covered by the existing Directive on hazardous waste incineration (94/76/EC). It would therefore cover municipal and other hazardous wastes such as waste oil, solvents and clinical wastes and would address the existing regulatory gap in this area. Full implementation of the requirements of the proposal should reduce total emissions of dioxins and furans from the incineration of municipal waste, clinical waste and sewage sludge by approximately 99% relative to the 1994 levels by 2005, even with an expected increase in the amount of waste incinerated. This would ensure that the 90% reduction target of the Fifth Environment Action programme is achieved. The proposal also sets strict emission limits for mercury and cadmium, providing for a reduction to 7.1 and 1.1 tonnes per year respectively. Reductions in the emission of acid gases including HC1, NOx and SO2 are also provided for in the proposal. In addition, the proposal establishes a comprehensive methodology to determine the emission limit values and operational parameters for co-incineration plants.