Environmental assessment of incinerator residue utilisation

Abstract

Incineration ashes may be treated either as a waste to be dumped in landfill, or as a resource that is suitable for re-use. In order to choose the best management scenario, knowledge is needed on the potential environmental impact that may be expected, including not only local, but also regional and global impact. In this study, A life cycle assessment (LCA) based approach was outlined for environmental assessment of incinerator residue utilisation, in which leaching of trace elements as well as other emissions to air and water and the use of resources were regarded as constituting the potential environmental impact from the system studied. Case studies were performed for two selected ash types, bottom ash from municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) and wood fly ash. The MSWI bottom ash was assumed to be suitable for road construction or as drainage material in landfill, whereas the wood fly ash was assumed to be suitable for road construction or as a nutrient resource to be recycled on forest land after biofuel harvesting. Different types of potential environmental impact predominated in the activities of the system and the use of natural resources and the trace element leaching were identified as being relatively important for the scenarios compared. The scenarios differed in use of resources and energy, whereas there is a potential for trace element leaching regardless of how the material is managed. Utilising MSWI bottom ash in road construction and recycling of wood ash on forest land saved more natural resources and energy than when these materials were managed according to the other scenarios investigated, including dumping in landfill.

Life cycle assessment of resource recovery from municipal solid waste incineration bottom ash

“…the same order of magnitude); however, across the 100-year time horizon used in this instance, the impact of using BA as aggregate in road was slightly greater than the landfill case, thereby reflecting the lower L/S ratio reached in the landfill scenario. This result was in agreement with previous studies by Birgisdóttir et al (2007) and Toller et al (2009). Furthermore, in scenarios A and C, Cu made the greatest contribution to the impact on ET, as also reported by other authors (e.g.…”

“…Furthermore, in scenarios A and C, Cu made the greatest contribution to the impact on ET, as also reported by other authors (e.g. Toller et al, 2009). Cr dominated HTc impacts, while As and Zn (and Mo, to a lesser extent) were most important for the HTnc impact category.…”

“…The comprehensive scope of assessment methodologies such as life cycle assessment (LCA) is suitable for identifying environmental benefits, problem shifting and breakeven points, and criticality related to the management of MSWI BA. Several studies have applied LCAs to analyse specific aspects of MSWI BA valorisation as a support for the implementation of new sorting systems or utilisation options (Barberio et al, 2010;Birgisdóttir et al, 2007;Boesch et al, 2014;Margallo et al, 2014;Meylan and Spoerri, 2014;Muchova, 2010;Toller et al, 2009) or to compare waste management systems where incineration and MSWI BA management are included (Georgeson, 2006;Kuusiola et al, 2012). However, so far, critical aspects such as the influence of recovered metal quality have not been addressed in LCA studies, and often impacts related to pollutants released into the environment during BA utilisation have been disregarded.…”

Can the incineration of Municipal Solid Waste pose occupational and environmental radiation hazards?

“…Although immobilization of radionuclides by these disposal methods may not be eternal, in the light of current knowledge it seems to be an effective way of inertifying the ashes, slags, and radioelements they contain. However, it is also known that in several countries the valorization of waste from incineration is sought through the use of ash incorporation in other materials (Toller et al, 2009). As waste recycling is increasingly encouraged, the radionuclide content of ash should be determined and radiological risk assessed before application.…”

Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Waste Management—Assessment of Quantification Methods

“…9,23 The data and method of application are available in the supplemental materials (published at http://secure.awma.org/onlinelibrary/samples/ 10.3155-1047-3289.61.5.480_supplmaterial.pdf). Figure 3 using credits/emissions applicable to the scope of a municipal inventory (use of incineration residues for fertilization in forestry has been reported by Toller et al 26 ). Specifically, emissions included are those related to the collection and transportation of waste to treatment sites and those associated with the treatment options themselves.…”