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Characterization of Emissions from Open Burning of Meals Ready-to-Eat and their Paperboard Packaging
Citation:
Aurell, J. AND B. Gullett. Characterization of Emissions from Open Burning of Meals Ready-to-Eat and their Paperboard Packaging. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-16/220, 2016.
Impact/Purpose:
This report provides guidance on the effect of military food waste and packaging waste composition on emissions from open burning.
Description:
Emissions from burning current and candidate Meals Ready-to-Eat (MRE) packaging and shipping containers were characterized in an effort to assuage concerns that combustive disposal of waste at forward operating bases could pose an environmental or inhalation threat. Four types of container materials, both box and liners, including the currently used fiberboard, new corrugated fiberboard with Spektrakote polymer, new fiberboard without Spektrakote polymer, and the current fiberboard without wet strength were burned in an open burn test facility that simulated the burn pit disposal methods in Iraq and Afghanistan. MREs, including both current and proposed packaging materials, were added to a single container type to examine their effect on emissions. One quarter of the food was left in the packaging to represent unused meal components. The proposed packaging, consisting of a nano-composite polymer, was added in 25 % increments compared to traditional MRE packaging to create a range of usage levels. Emission factors, mass of pollutant per mass of burned material, were increased over the emission factors of the package containers themselves by the addition of the multi-component MREs, with the exception of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). In general, little distinction was observed when comparing emission factors from the four container materials and when comparing the four MRE compositions. The majority of Particulate Matter (PM) emissions were of particles that were below 1.0 µm in aerodynamic diameter for the fiberboard tests; PM2.5 and PM10 emissions increased five-sixfold when MREs were added to fiberboard packaging. Emission factors, particularly VOCs, were negatively correlated to modified combustion efficiency. As combustion quality improved, VOCs and, less notably, polychlorinated dibenzodioxins/polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDDs/PCDFs) declined.