How they work, what are the differences compared to older generation systems and why they are so hampered.

When you want to exploit public opinion against the issue of a waste incinerator to be built in a certain location, fueling the NIMBY phenomenon (not in my yard), it can be a winning card to tell dangers that, today, are no longer real.

Frightening the population about possible pollutants that could leave the plant, with a negative impact on public health, is a way of doing politics that does not seem objective and constructive .

Household waste is an incredible resource that we can use to create thermal energy and, at the same time, it does not itself become a problem if not consumed.

We remind you that miles of tons of precious waste are packaged and shipped abroad, paying more for disposal and transport.

Telling the public opinion that the new waste-to-energy plants are polluting and dangerous to health is not correct, as we are not talking about plants 30 years ago or more , where the emissions of pollutants were higher.

It is in fact scientifically recognized that the new generation incinerators have filtering capacities for emissions, such as heavy metals, dioxins and furans that are not comparable to the past.

A well-designed and correctly managed waste-to-energy plant involves low quantities of pollutants, which do not exceed 0.03% of PM10, 0.007% of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and 0.2% dioxins and furans (commercial and residential combustion emit 53.8%, 78.1% and 37.5% for each item).

Let's see some comparisons with other everyday activities.

With regard to PM10, the contribution of incinerators is only 0.03% (against 53.8% of commercial and residential combustion), for Polycyclic Hydrocarbons Aromatics (Ipa) is equal to 0.007% (against 78.1% of residential and commercial combustion) and for dioxins and furans it is 0.2% (against 37.5% of residential and commercial combustion).

85% of the bottom ashes produced by combustion are now entirely sent to recycling processes, with further improvements in environmental impacts compared to the use of virgin materials in activities such as the production of cement and the construction of road foundations.

If we also consider that the production of energy is, alternatively, produced with gas or coal, we cannot fail to consider that these types of fuels bring with them the release of pollutants that contribute to the greenhouse effect.

Let's see how a waste-to-energy plant works

Non-recyclable waste is delivered to the incinerator and discharged into the collection and mixing tank. From there they are loaded into the boilers of the combustion lines, whose temperature is regulated at over 1,000 degrees, for the complete oxidation of the waste.

The heat produced by combustion generates high pressure steam, which is fed into a turbogenerator for the production of electricity and, subsequently, used to heat the water which feeds the city's district heating network.

Each combustion line has a dedicated fumes treatment and already in the combustion chamber the fumes are treated with ammonia, to reduce nitrogen oxides.

They then pass through a catalytic system for the further reduction of nitrogen and ammonia oxides.

Outgoing from the boiler circuit, they arrive at a purification and filtration system, which retains micro-pollutants, including heavy metals, dioxins and furans.

The purified fumes pass through bag filters, which retain all suspended dust, and then conveyed to the chimney.

Automatic translation. We apologize for any inaccuracies. Original article in Italian.