INCINERATION

TO BURN OR NOT TO BURN

Presentation to Portfolio Committee 03 March 2008

INTRODUCTION
 Some NGOs and community members requested incineration and recovery of waste from energy to be explicitly banned in the Waste Bill on account of, inter alia, the following:
The formation of dioxins and furans and resultant health impacts. Effect of incineration and co-processing on recycling. Non-existent Laboratory capacity to measure dioxins and furans Toxicity of residues from incineration Governments inability to monitor and enforce standards and permit conditions. Impacts of currently high levels of cement dust on communities adjacent to cement plants / kilns.
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BACKGROUND
 In the 1970s 80s emissions from incinerators were high in relation to current emissions and there was little understanding of the effects of emissions on human health during this time.  International emission standards for incineration are extremely low, with technologies for further reduction continuously being developed and explored.  Internationally incineration as a waste management technology is on the increase, contrary to submissions made by NGOs.  In developing countries the co-processing of waste in cement production is rapidly increasing.  Internationally NGOs no longer oppose co-processing of hazardous waste

In South Africa general waste and 90% organic hazardous waste is land-filled in about 1000 landfill sites.

Landfills contribute > 2 % of greenhouse gas

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emissions in SA annually

CLIMATE CHANGE AND WASTE MANAGEMENT

 Important link between Waste management and Climate change  Landfills produce methane which is 20 times more powerful than CO2 as a Greenhouse gas (GHG).  EU has placed restrictions on landfilling of organic waste in order to reduce methane generation.
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CLIMATE CHANGE AND CEMENT INDUSTRY

 Cement industry in SA produces 4 million tons per annum of clinker, which contributes 4 million tons per annum of CO2.  Cement industry accounts for 1% in SAs 440 Mt/a global CO2 emissions.  Cement making is an energy & resource intensive process which consumes 200-300 million tons of coal per annum makes cement industry a large contributor to global warming

Cement industry locations in SA

DEAT POLICY DEVELOPMENT PROCESS AND CEMENT INDUSTRY

 For the past 12 months DEAT has been working on a policy on:  Incineration of hazardous waste (as a treatment solution for hazardous waste management)  Use of selected general and hazardous waste as a substitute for fuel in cement kilns, alternatively termed coprocessing  Cement companies had to undertake the EIA process for the use of waste as fuel substitute.  The lack of national policy produced inconsistent EIA decisions by provinces, resulting in unhappiness in cement industry.  DEAT undertook extensive research into incineration and coprocessing in order to come up with an informed policy.  This policy development process is almost complete and has been approved by MINTECH.
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Incineration technology is used for waste management internationally

Country Netherlands Italy Germany France Denmark Austria No of incinerators 13 50 66 130 32 8 Metric tons of waste per annum 39.7 30 52 35.5 3.6 4.9 Metric tons /annum incinerated 3.2 2.8 11.1 11.3 2.0 1.4

Incineration technology is used in: Finland, Sweden, UK, Belgium, Spain, USA, Nigeria, Angola, South Africa, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Poland, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, China, Switzerland, Norway,

Co-processing
 Since early 70s Alternative fuels and raw materials (AFRs) have been used in cement industry  Some kilns in SA are already using AFRs (spent pot-liners, ash, slag)  Since been demonstrated that performance of cement plants is not impaired by co-processing  Cement kilns can destroy organic hazardous wastes in a safe and sound manner  Co-processing presents opportunity to substitute fossil fuels by alternative fuels, thereby reducing overall output of thermal CO2 and conserving non-renewable fossil energy.  Co-processing presents a cheaper treatment option than land-filling or dedicated incineration for waste and will reduce costs of cement production  Co-processing is practised internationally: Brazil, Vietnam, Egypt, El Savador, Sri-Lanka, Thailand & Philipines, Venezuella, China.  In Norway, co-processing is the only option for hazardous waste and has been for 25 years  France, Germany and most EU countries make use of cement kiln technology for hazardous waste management
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Co-processing of hazardous waste in cement kilns can make substantial savings in raw material and coal usage and can treat approx. 99% of organic waste currently being land-filled in SA

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DIOXINS & FURANS: INCINERATION AND CO-PROCESSING

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Dioxin & Furan Emissions from various sources

Processes Emissions per year in g TU (toxicity units) *1 1990 Metal extraction and processing Waste Incineration Power Stations Industrial Incineration Plants Domestic Firing Installations Traffic Crematoria Total emissions, air 740 400 5 20 20 10 4 1,200 32 3 15 15 4 2 330 1994 220 40 0,5 3 <10 <10 <1 <2 <<70 2000

Other sources include : Veld fires, wood stoves, uncontrolled open burning of waste, the Sunday braai,etc
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Dioxins & Furans: What we know today

 The effects of dioxins and furans are now known and have been considered when drawing up emission standards for sound operation of incinerators and cement kilns coprocessing hazardous wastes  Stockholm Convention requires reductions or elimination of POPs  World Business Council conducted a study in 2006 on POPs emissions from cement industry, which showed:  Most modern cement kilns can meet emission standard (0.1ng TEQ/Nm3)  Co-processing of alternative fuels and raw materials does not affect emission of POPs

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Waste Management in the EU

Management Option Recycling and Recovery Incineration Land-filling Current level (%) 36 17 47 Year 2020 42 (increase) 25 (increase) 35 (decrease)

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RECYCLING, INCINERATION & COPROCESSING

 The figures demonstrate that even in countries where large amounts of the waste stream are recycled and these rates will increase, incineration still fulfils a waste management function.  Theres a saturation point for industry to absorb recyclables .  The move away from landfill has been a specific goal in the EU, dedicated legislation namely the waste directive has been passed to completely move away from land-filling of organic waste, for both environmental as well as climate change considerations.  DEAT is continuously exploring ways of diverting specific waste streams away from land-fill to other uses

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TYRE RECYCLING: Presently in SA there are limited waste management options for Tyres tyres cannot be compacted so they take up a lot of space in landfills The tyre industry is proposing a waste management plan using kilns

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Laboratory Capacity & Toxic Residues from incineration

 Laboratory capacity currently does not exist because there is no demand.  Demand for dioxin testing laboratories will increase if incineration is allowed Dept of Science and Technology already supportive of funding the establishment of an accredited lab.  Residues from incineration must be disposed off in High Hazardous landfills. The 90% reduction in volume due to incineration solves the problem of large volume of hazardous waste (99%)going to landfills.  Methane gas production is also reduced because the residues have a very low organic load so generation of methane will be eliminated.
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Governments ability to enforce standards and permit conditions

 Even though the Waste hierarchy is the overarching in the Waste Bill, not much has been done to provide alternatives to land-filling.  Alternatives will drive overall improvement in capacity.  Green Scorpions have had resounding success in a very short space of time  Green Scorpions have shut down two commercial incinerators in the last 3 years, owing to permit violations.  capacity will be built over time
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IF INCINERATION IS ALLOWED
 Achieve 90% reduction in volume of waste  Can use heat generated through incineration to power generators for electricity production.  Mitigation against climate change  Dioxin and Furan emissions control will be enhanced - in SA incineration is the only process in which the dioxin and furan emissions are currently controlled through legislation  Waste hierarchy upheld - Energy recovery and incineration are higher in the waste hierarchy than land-filling.

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IF INCINERATION IS BANNED
 Allowing continuation of increased emissions from
landfills- more emission are released from landfill than incineration (this includes dioxins and furans)  Disallowing safe treatment of pathological waste Incineration is the preferred option for the safe disposal & treatment of pathological waste in the health care waste stream.  Disallowing cremation - The definition of incineration includes cremation.  Closing opportunity to reduce coal input in energy generating power stations
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IF CO-PROCESSING IS ALLOWED
 Mitigation against Climate Change
 Reduction in CO2 emissions as a result of substitution of fuel  Further reduction in CO2 emissions are realized by diverting organics from landfill reduce methane.

 Immediate reduction of 40mg/m3 (33%) of cement dust realized in two years if proposed emission standards are applied for co-processing in cement kilns.  Proposed emission standards for co-processing cement kilns are aligned to international best practice  Environmental performance of cement industry will improve proposed emission standards are a big improvement to current standards  New job opportunities through new blending platform industry that will be created.  DEAT will be able to identify & prioritize waste streams for diversion to recycling or other forms of reuse or treatment since hazardous waste will be taken care of

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CONCLUSION AND REQUEST TO PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE

 Incineration & co-processing
 Can be managed in SA  Presents a n important opportunity for hazardous waste management  Can reduce fossil fuel usage  Can create new jobs  Represent a shift up the waste hierarchy

 Therefore Portfolio Committee is requested to:

 Support the regulated use of incineration as an option for consideration for the treatment of waste in SA  Support the use of cement kilns for AFR co-processing and the treatment of hazardous waste as a viable waste management option in SA.  Do not support banning incineration and use of alternative fuels in Waste Bill.

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Thank You

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