Plasma specialist Tetronics International has accused Defra of a U-turn over its decision to uphold a rule allowing waste companies to landfill hazardous waste materials from energy from waste plants.
And, the company’s group marketing manager, Mark Young, has launched an online petition calling for a review of the decision.
APC residue is typically a mixture of ash, carbon and lime. It is a hazardous waste which is currently disposed of at a hazardous waste landfill
The decision surrounds the disposal of Air Pollution Control (APC) residues – material left over after the removal of hazardous pollutants from the EfW process – which can be sent to some approved hazardous waste landfill sites under a derogation of hazardous waste rules.
The material can be accepted at these sites even where it is up to three times above the EU’s Landfill Directive waste acceptance criteria (3xWAC) on limits for the content of chemicals such as lead and chlorine.
The derogation allowing the landfilling of the material had been under review for a number of years, with the government having originally promised to remove the arrangement in its 2010 Hazardous Waste Strategy.
The measure was seen as a short term option to allow alternative treatment methods for the material to be developed.
However, this month Defra revealed that it now has no current plans to remove the landfill derogation, due to ‘limited availability’ of alternative treatment routes for the material (see letsrecycle.com story).
Tetronics
Tetronics International, which is based in Swindon, has worked to develop a plasma technology which can treat APC residues to Environment Agency inert WAC standards.
The technology was developed with the help of £1.19m of funding from the government’s Technology Strategy Board, which was used to finance the ‘plasma arc technology’ – a high temperature process which it says can transform the residue from a hazardous powder to an inert stone-like material that can form new materials for use in construction.
Trials of the process were carried out in order to assess the commercial viability of the plasma arc system as an alternative to landfill.
It is thought that Defra’s announcement this month could jeopardise future investment in alternative treatment routes for the APC material.
Challenging Defra’s decision not to phase out the landfill derogation over two years, Tetronics claimed that around 282,000 tonnes of APC residue is generated in the UK each year, a figure which could rise to 600,000 tonnes by 2020 as more waste is sent to EfW facilities.
APC residue is a hazardous byproduct of the EfW process
The business has contested Defra’s claim that there is a “lack of alternative disposal solutions” to phase out the derogation – citing a previous consultation process with industry.
It claims that a two-year transitional period had been recommended in order that management infrastructure and contracts could be developed, such as the plasma solution.
U-turn
The company has now accused Defra of conducting a ‘U-turn’ on the issue, and adds an alternative solution is urgently required as increased disposal of concentrated pollutants could damage the environment.
The company notes: “On the 7th February, Tetronics International were unfortunately informed that Defra Ministers have taken the decision, counter to industrial stakeholder opinion, not to remove the derogation that allows Air Pollution Control Residues (APCRs) that are three times above Landfill Directive waste acceptance criteria (3xWAC) to be landfilled.
“This is despite UK government investing £1m pounds of taxpayers money in R&D grant work, match funded by Tetronics, to demonstrate the suitability of Plasma Vitrification to solve the problem and eliminate the need for this hazardous waste stream to be sent to landfill.”
Petition
The petition to phase out the landfilling of APC residues will run for six months and has so far amassed 50 signatures.
The post Tetronics calls for phased end to APC residue landfilling appeared first on letsrecycle.com.
Source: letsrecycle.com Waste Managment
