SWANA Applied Research Foundation (ARF) has released a new report, Advanced Air Pollution Control at Waste-to-Energy Facilities. This report provides a state-of-the-art review—supplemented by case studies—of commercially proven, new and emerging nitrogen oxide (NOX) and carbon dioxide (CO2) control technologies that can potentially be deployed in existing WTE facilities.
As discussed in the report, WTE emissions have significantly declined over the last 30 years with seven of the nine regulated pollutants reduced by an average of 95% due to the investment of over $1 billion in air pollution control systems. Despite these accomplishments, WTE facilities are often targeted by environmental groups to further reduce their emissions since they are often among the largest point source of NOX and CO2 emissions in a community, even though the largest source by far of these emissions is generally the transportation sector.
It is SWANA’s hope that this report will serve as a valuable and timely reference document for WTE facility managers as they consider the benefits and costs of investing in additional NOX control technologies and CO2 capture systems to further reduce emissions from their facilities. The report also serves as a useful resource for state and local governmental officials evaluating WTE facilities.
Jeremy O’Brien, SWANA’s Director of Applied Research, is quick to recognize the key role that the ARF subscribing organizations play in the ARF research program, stating that “SWANA would like to thank the fourteen ARF subscribing organizations who identified this research topic and provided funding to support this research through their ARF subscriptions.” 1