Report: Atmospheric pollutants discharged from municipal solid waste incineration and gasification-melting facilities in Japan

Abstract

This article reports on the discharge of particulate matter, acid gases, nitrogen oxides, and dioxins from 107 municipal solid waste incineration and gasification-melting facilities in Japan between the years 2001 and 2003; the pollution control methods and the operational data are summarized. The knowledge on amounts of slaked lime used and the emission of acid gases is reported, the emission concentrations did not exceed the limit values in all facilities. In Japan, the regulation of dioxin emissions by the revised Waste Management and Public Cleansing Law (Ministry of the Environment, Government of Japan 2007) has been enforced since December 1997. Bag filters have been installed in all facilities constructed after this time, and catalytic reactors have been installed in 66% of these facilities. The regulated values for combustion temperature, the cooling temperature of gases discharged from furnaces and the concentration of carbon monoxide in the gases discharged from stacks were satisfactory in almost all facilities. In facilities constructed since December 1997, the dioxin concentrations in the discharged gases were considerably lower than in those constructed before this time. All facilities met the emission limit values for particulate matter, acid gases, nitrogen oxides and dioxins.