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The Effect of Developing Nations’ Municipal Waste Composition on PCDD/PCDF Emissions from Open Burning
Citation:
Lundin, L., B. Gullett, W. Carroll Jr., A. Touati, S. Marklund, AND H. Fiedler. The Effect of Developing Nations’ Municipal Waste Composition on PCDD/PCDF Emissions from Open Burning. ATMOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENT. Elsevier Science Ltd, New York, NY, 79:433-441, (2013).
Impact/Purpose:
The purpose of this effort was to determine whether PCDD/PCDF emission factors determined for uncontrolled burning of residential waste in developed nations would be applicable to developing nations. A secondary purpose was to determine whether differences in the laboratory setup had a significant effect on the emission factors.
Description:
Open burning tests of municipal waste from two developing nations, Mexico and China, showed composition-related differences in emissions of polychlorinated dibenzodioxin and dibenzofuran (PCDD/PCDF). 26 burn tests were conducted, comparing results from two laboratory combustion facilities. Waste was shredded to isolate composition-specific effects from those due to random waste orientation. Emissions ranged from 5 to 780 ng toxic equivalency/kg carbon burned (ng TEQ (kg Cb)-1) with an average of 140 ng TEQ (kg Cb)-1 (stdev = 170). The waste from Mexico (17 ng TEQ (kg Cb)-1) had a statistically lower average emission factor than that from China (240 ng TEQ (kg Cb)-1. This difference was attributed primarily to waste composition differences, although one time-integrated combustion quality measure, ΔCO/ΔCO2, showed statistical significance between laboratories. However, by far, waste composition differences were more determinant than which laboratory conducted the tests, illustrated using both statistical techniques and comparison of cross-over samples (wastes tested at both facilities). Comparison of emissions from combustion of waste from developed nations, Sweden and the U.S.A, showed emission factors within the range of those determined for Mexico and China waste. This suggests that for laboratory-scale combustion, historical emissions data and methodologies from developed nations are generally applicable to developing nations.
