WASTE INCINERATION Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

WASTE INCINERATION - Assignment Example The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations (2005) 7. The Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations (2006). (UK Waste†¦) It should be noted that the above list is not exhaustive. The purpose of all these legislation is to protect the environment and all natural substances such as air, water, land, animal, plants and surroundings, from the ill effects of hazardous chemicals and industrial wastes. The Risks Associated with Existing Incineration Sites Incinerations are not a right waste disposal technique for the following reasons. Destroying Valuable Resources Incineration of waste simply means that materials have been used only once and then are destroyed. It is a fact that all natural resources that we make use of have finite supplies. All natural resources whether it is iron, aluminum, copper, plastic, glass do not have unlimited supplies then why are we not thinking on recycling of these natural resources? Precious natural habitats and forests in Indonesia, Brazil, Malaysia, and Myanmar were exploited on mass scale for the supply of timber and production of pulp for paper mills. This is also the reason why some of the species have become extinct and natural ecological system has been put in jeopardy. Wood and paper recycling is need of the day to save our forest area. For that matter recycling of all natural produce is a necessity in these ever increasing consumer demands. A small study on SELCHP Incinerator It is a myth that incinerators finish the waste. Einstein’s principle holds true here also that matter cannot be destroyed but are only transformed from one form to another. Essentially, incinerators do not destroy them they just convert it into gases and ash. Household waste which is a cocktail of many harmful substances when burnt in incinerator produce many harmful gases and part of it gets released into atmosphere through chimney. The residue known as ash goes for landfill. Incinerators burn the wastes that create toxic fumes. Though the norms are made by regulatory authorities; often they are violated by the incinerator operators. Two incinerators that are in operation in south London (SELCHP) and North London (Edmonton) were fined for infringements innumerable times in the last 15 years. It is known that domestic waste contains fluorescent tubes and bulbs which have mercury in it, plastic materials, cadmium and many other harmful compounds. Besides, some of the electrical appliances contain cadmium, chromium and lead. They cause more volatile compounds in the heat of incinerator and generate dangerous vapors which get escape from chimneys of the incinerator into the atmosphere polluting natural environment and air. (SELCHP INCINERATOR 2002) Dioxin–a most Potent Threat to the Mankind The plastic materials like PVC, CPVC which contain bound chlorine with them and release dioxins when gets burnt. Dioxin, most toxic substan ce second only to radioactive waste, falls under the class of super-toxic chemicals that forms during burning of plastics and organic chemicals. In the past, people were made to leave the places such as Love Canal and Times Beach, Missouri due to excessive contamination of dioxin. Various plasticizers used in production processes of plastic are also