Incineration – Solid Waste Disposal

2.1.2013

Words by Paul Fontaine

Photos by

The Minister for the Environment believes that the trash incinerator in Kirkjubæjarklaustur is a part of the past, and has recommended that it be shut down.

As reported, incinerators in the West Fjörds, the Westman Islands and in Kirkjubæjarklaustur have been shown to be emitting dioxin, a highly toxic chemical that was at one time used to make the notorious herbicide Agent Orange. The matter was first brought to light when dairy producers in the northwest detected unusually high amounts of dioxin in milk.

Traces of the toxin, albeit far below dangerous levels, were also found to be in some meat originating in south Iceland. The Ministry for the Environment called for an investigation into the matter, conducting inspections on all the facilities.

RÚV now reports that a committee assembled by the ministry has come to the conclusion that the incinerator in Kirkjubæjarklaustur is not up to code. Speaking to the press, Minister for the Environment Svandís Svavarsdóttir told reporters that “according to the conclusions of the ministry, this age of incinerators is over.”

However, the municipality of Kirkjubæjarklaustur has until January 11 to raise objections to the decision. Until that time, said the minister, she cannot give a more detailed statement than this on the matter.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/article/Biddeford-incinerator-close-to-shutting-down-4155734.php

Published 2:49 pm, Sunday, December 30, 2012

Page 1 of 1

BIDDEFORD, Maine (AP) — Biddeford officials say a controversial industrial trash incinerator is closing down this week following 25 years of complaints about odor, pollution and truck traffic.

When the Maine Energy Recovery Co. plants shuts down for good, Mayor Alan Casavant says it will usher in a new era of economic development for the city.

The city is buying the trash-to-energy plant from Casella Waste Systems, which will dismantle the plant and clean up the riverfront property it’s located on. Only the smokestack will remain, with the city renting space on it to cellphone companies.

City officials and developers tell the Maine Sunday Telegram (http://bit.ly/WcLVdy ) they’ve seen an increase in the number of businesses and people interested in investing in Biddeford since the sale was announced.

Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/article/Biddeford-incinerator-close-to-shutting-down-4155734.php#ixzz2GvwbzSO1

download PDF : IncinProximCancerdeaths_opt_opt_opt

http://www.lynnnews.co.uk/news/latest-news/incinerator-council-agrees-to-new-groundbreaking-recycling-contract-1-4549277
INCINERATOR: Council agrees to new groundbreaking recycling contract

Published on Wednesday 5 December 2012 09:30

West Norfolk could be the best recycling district in the country after
councillors agreed a ground-breaking scheme in opposition to plans for a
waste incinerator.

Members of West Norfolk Council have voted to enter into a conditional
contract with Material Works to recycle the area’s rubbish from April
2014 – which will be an alternative to incineration.

This technology will turn 90 per cent of the area’s domestic and
commercial waste into wood replacement products to be used in the
construction and other industries.

Councillors agreed to go ahead with the scheme during a meeting on
Thursday – a day after the incinerator pre-inquiry.

Deputy leader Brian Long said: “This scheme moves the council to be one of
the biggest recycling authorities in the country.”

Before the vote, Valley Hill ward member Michael Tilbury asked for an
amendment to a clause which would allow the company to deal with waste
from other authorities.

Mr Tilbury voiced his support for the scheme but said parish councillors
had raised concerns about waste from elsewhere being sorted in West
Norfolk.

He said: “We don’t want Norfolk County Council bringing wagon loads of
rubbish across the county to West Norfolk. If the waste is coming to a
West Norfolk facility does that make it any less offensive than if it is
brought to a county council facility? What we are doing here is entering
into an contract which will make ammunition for the other side to fire at
us in the inquiry.”

Mr Long stated that the proposal follows the proximity principle, which
deals with waste in the area where it is collected. He said that
additional facilities could be built in different authorities.

The council agreed to a recommendation which was passed at the meeting.

WHAT WASTE WILL BE DEALT WITH BY MATERIAL WORKS

The company will sort all waste collected by the council including
domestic black sacks and any trade waste.

what will it mean for the ?Incinerator plans?

West Norfolk Council has put Norfolk County Council on notice that it will
no longer be sending black bin waste to the county for recycling. This
could make the proposed case for an incinerator near Lynn considerably
weaker as the town’s waste would not be sent to any future county council
burner

http://www.mrw.co.uk/news/britain-could-leapfrog-incineration-stage/8639658.article?blocktitle=Business-news&contentID=2187

A senior European official has said that Britain could “leapfrog the incinerator stage” when it comes to future waste reduction, by using a mixture of policy and strategic business decisions.

Alan Seatter, deputy director-general of environment at the European Commission, said: “Britain has the opportunity avoid overcapacity and can leapfrog the incinerator stage to cut waste generated in the first instance. To do that we need more landfill charges, to increase waste streams and to improve product design.”

Seatter said that the EU was planning a waste policy review in 2014, but were not planning to impose any new legislation on the industry because, if the revised Waste Framework Directive (rWFD) was implemented, it would create 500,000 jobs in the EU and landfill would decrease by 20%.

His comments came during a discussion on the future of EU waste policy organised by the Associate Parlimentary Sustainable Resource Group (APSRG), including strategies in Sweden and Norway which have resulted in an overcapacity for incineration.

In Sweden, only 1% of waste is sent to landfill, 33% is recycled and 51% is incinerated. Jonas Tornblom from the Envac Group based in Stockholm said: “In Sweden we need more recycling.”

Julie Hill, the chair of the Green Alliance’s Circular Economy Taskforce, told the meeting they had identified the Ecodesign Directive as a possible legislation that could help drive the circular economy, if it were amended to include labelling relevant to resource re-use or recyling.

Seatter said that the EU was looking at leading on EU-wide eco-labelling, which might include how resource efficient a product was, what proportion was made of recycled components, or how it was designed for disassembly or recycling.

He said this could lead to an amendment to the Ecodesign Directive, which currently refers to environmental perfomance of energy-related products, or a new eco labelling directive.

“Swiss, Norwegian, the United States, Japan, Korea [governments are] all interested in this topic… there is lots of potential for exporting. We believe this can stimulate demand for these [waste] products and offer a better choice to consumers.

“It’s is an experiment we are trying to undertake now. If it’s cheaper, if it’s simpler, if it leads to more uptake then maybe it will go into Ecodesign Directive or an eco labelling directive.”

Seatter also said that despite the fact the waste and recycling market was scheduled to double in size by 2030, especially in the developing world, the “financial system is broken and we have seen a decrease in lending especially to small firms”.

He said the EU is working to promote better venture capital schemes, and “increasing EU Investment Bank capital by 45-60m Euros, which are earmarked for resource efficiency in the next three years”.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/costs-adding-up-as-incinerator-ash-being-shipped-to-alberta/article5989220/

B.C. Environment Minister Terry Lake was not available for comment on Wednesday, but said in an interview earlier in the week that the long-term risks associated with the project were too great.

WASTE

Costs adding up as incinerator ash being shipped to Alberta

WENDY STUECK

VANCOUVER — The Globe and Mail

PublishedWednesday, Dec. 05 2012, 8:00 AM EST

Last updatedWednesday, Dec. 05 2012, 9:47 AM EST

Metro Vancouver is paying about $50 per tonne – potentially up to $500,000 a year – to ship fly ash from its Burnaby incinerator to a disposal facility in Alberta instead of to the Cache Creek landfill in the B.C. Interior.

And while Metro Vancouver is taking the position that any extra costs associated with shipping the material out of the province are to be borne by Covanta Energy, which operates the Burnaby incinerator, those arrangements have yet to be finalized.

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“We understand there are some additional costs to ship to the Hinton landfill and those are being borne by Metro at this point in time,” Matt Neild, facility manager for the Burnaby incinerator, said Tuesday. “The discussion about costs and apportioning those would be a conversation we would have in the future.”

Metro has said it believes Covanta should foot the bill for shipping fly ash to an Alberta facility that is approved to handle hazardous waste. “Metro’s position is that any additional costs would be Covanta’s responsibility,” Paul Henderson, Metro Vancouver’s manager for solid waste, said Monday in an interview.

The potential cost dispute follows concerns about potentially hazardous waste being trucked to a landfill that was not built or approved to accommodate the material.

Fly ash is particulate matter left over from the incineration process. In October, the province launched an investigation after concerns that about 1,800 tonnes of ash shipped to the Cache Creek landfill had exceeded guidelines for hazardous materials, including cadmium.

As that investigation continues, fly ash is being shipped to a facility near Hinton that is approved to handle hazardous materials.

Provincial Environment Minister Terry Lake has said he is confident there is no risk to public health or the environment and that it was a “non-compliance” issue.

The facility handles about 280,000 tonnes of garbage per year, or about 25 per cent of the region’s total, and produces steam and electricity.

On-site testing of individual loads of fly ash leaving the Burnaby facility showed normal readings, Covanta spokesman James Regan said Tuesday in an e-mail. “We are confident that none of the ash trucks leaving the facility exhibited a hazardous characteristic and that at this point, it is premature to conclude otherwise.”

But laboratory results from samples collected in July and August showed different, potentially higher levels, prompting the review.

The potentially hazardous shipments came to light after Wastech, the company that runs the Cache Creek landfill, requested test results that did not show up when expected. That gap was the result of internal reporting problems at Covanta’s Burnaby operation, Mr. Regan said in his e-mail.

“With regard to the reporting of the July/August 2012 composite test results, Covanta Burnaby’s internal reporting procedures failed to properly communicate to stakeholders. We deeply regret this human error and have put redundancies and training in place to ensure that it does not happen again,” Mr. Regan said.

The concern about potentially hazardous ash from the Burnaby incinerator comes as Metro Vancouver is considering another waste-to-energy plant in the region, where some municipal officials are against the idea over potential health and pollution concerns.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2012/12/06/health-impact-of-incinerators-must-be-studied-says-new-report-91466-32368938/

A major study on the potential health impacts of controversial waste incinerators should be carried out, a committee has recommended today.

The National Assembly for Wales’ Petitions Committee said the Welsh Government should consider contributing to such a study.

It made the call after it was given expert evidence that emissions from an incineration plant were likely to contain more contaminants than emissions from a conventional power plant.

Toxicologist professor Vyvyan Howard, of Ulster University, told AMs in May that incineration plants burned waste, including heavy metals and synthetic plastics that were likely to cause poisonous fumes.

And despite conceding that an official UK government study failed to establish convincing links between incinerator emissions and public health problems, the committee today says the Welsh Government should look into it.

The news comes as an incinerator planned for Cardiff has sparked major opposition locally.

Viridor Waste Management’s plant, which has gained planning permission to build in Splott’s Trident Park, is in pole position for the tender of Prosiect Gwyrdd, a partnership between five councils – Caerphilly, Cardiff, Monmouthshire, Newport and the Vale of Glamorgan – which aims to find a solution for their combined waste.

The collective waste of the councils makes up 40% of Wales’ overall waste.

Today’s report says the Welsh Government should consider helping explore potential risks associated with the release of very small particles from incinerators.

It added that by working with the UK government, the EU and other stakeholders, a major health review could help alleviate the fears of anti-incineration groups.

The committee chair, Mid and West Wales AM William Powell, said: “The committee has made this recommendation as a way to address the concerns of the petitioners who brought this issue to our attention.

“We recognise that the Welsh Government and local authorities need to find a reliable way to deal with the relentless stream of waste and we have no doubts that the debate surrounding its disposal will continue for some time.

“This is clearly an issue people feel passionately about and the committee is encouraged by the dedication of those petitioners who continue to seek more efficient and sustainable ways for us to live within our own ecological footprint here in Wales.”

The original petition calling for a review of waste disposal services, and in particular Prosiect Gwyrdd, came from Terry Evans, the chair of the United Valleys Action Group (UVAG), who successfully campaigned against a £400m energy-from-waste plant near Merthyr Tydfil last year.

He said there were “many, many better technologies” to treat waste than dioxin-producing incineration, such as mechanical biological treatment (MBT).

Mr Evans said: “That petition is very much relevant to the whole of Wales because incineration should be the last resort for the job of leftover waste.

“There are many, many better technologies for waste.

“There are still big question marks on health issues over incineration and in the last couple of years, things have come up about incineration and the health risks.

“Why should the Welsh Government take the risk of incineration when there are better methods safety-wise and better economical alternatives?

“We just don’t understand their blinkered approach.

“Let’s hope it goes to plenary in January or February and responsible AMs will ask questions of the government.”

Mr Evans added one of the biggest problems with the construction of incinerators was that they required lengthy contracts lasting 25 years.

He said with the Welsh Government committed to a target of 70% waste recycling by 2025, long-binding contracts for incineration didn’t make sense.

“The biggest damning thing about incinerators is that they require 25-year contracts of waste,” he said.

“Other technologies require about nine years.

“We are the only country in the world that is going up this road.

“Every other country is backtracking or other countries won’t have it at all and yet our government has chosen not to change it.

“They want to give companies contracts today on a tonnage that will not be there in 2025.”

Read more: Wales Online http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2012/12/06/health-impact-of-incinerators-must-be-studied-says-new-report-91466-32368938/#ixzz2EE5zfGtz