Bridging the relationship between energy benefit of waste incineration and risk of trace persistent organic pollutant emissions

Summary Incineration has been the globally controversial and concerned method of solid waste disposal. Energy recovery and volume reduction are the benefits from waste incineration, but risk due to release of persistent organic pollutants is the major public concern in the world. In this study, the emission of organic pollutants including dioxins and polychlorinated naphthalenes from solid waste incineration in China was comprehensively evaluated, and a relationship between energy benefit and pollutant emission was firstly established. The results show that production of medical and industrial waste was smaller than that of municipal waste but yielded comparable or even higher emission of dioxins. The energy benefit-to-emission index for organic pollutants (EBEIOP) for evaluation of solid waste management on a local or regional scale was proposed. Significant correlations between net energy benefit and pollutant emission for provinces with higher EBEIOP values were found. Furthermore, higher EBEIOP values were associated with economic factors while lower values were influenced by emission from incineration of medical and industrial waste. We suggest that an EBEIOP value of ≥60 can serve as a reference for “profitable” solid waste management, assisting decision making during energy benefit and environmental risk assessment.