Incineration of solid waste, however, is not a mandatory action. Incinerators require large initial capital investments and their construction usually takes from three to five years. To take up this task, the authorities must make sure that their area needs the energy generated in this way, and fully consider the environmental impact of such a facility.
Air pollution remains the main problem. Incinerator emissions contain solid particles and volatile particles of unburned substances such as hydrochloric acid, nitrogen oxides, dioxins and furans. There are many special devices that can capture these components. The effectiveness of wastewater treatment plants and the effects of chemicals on the environment and human health are still the subject of widespread discussion, and much more research is needed in this area.
The problem of soil pollution is also of concern, since the ash remaining after waste incineration is usually disposed of in landfills. In some states, there is a rule that ash and slag from incinerators must be checked for toxic substances. If an increased content of toxins is found in the ash, then in accordance with the Act on Saving and Reuse of Resources, it should be treated as a life-threatening substance. Some ashes after solid waste incineration contain concentrations of lead and cadmium that are dangerous to human health, but the ambiguity in the interpretation of federal laws makes it possible not to subject solid household waste to testing for hazardous substances. If the disposal of ash after waste incineration is carried out according to the rules applicable to hazardous substances, then incineration technology would indeed become too expensive. An acceptable solution would be the construction of landfills specifically designed for the disposal of ash generated after the incineration of solid waste.
The uncertainties associated with the use of incineration technology highlight the task of saving resources and recycling secondary raw materials. But even after the minimal amount of household waste has been collected, recycled and incinerated, the remains, amounting to at least 20% of the initial amount, must be buried in landfills. Thus, landfills are a necessary link in the general waste disposal system.
The technology of solid waste disposal in landfills is developing slowly. Until 1970, such landfills were allocated the most convenient places from the point of view of this technology on the cheapest land plots. The hydrogeological conditions and possible consequences for the environment were not considered. Such landfills, as a rule, were set up on moist soils, swamps, abandoned mines, quarries where gravel was mined, and places of old open-pit mining. No environmental protection measures were taken, except that the dumped waste was covered with earth to reduce the stench, rodent breeding and littering of the nearby area.
Many people involved in these events did not realize that pollutants from landfills covered with earth or exposed could be transferred to other places. Initially, rainwater or liquids contained in the waste itself acquire acidic properties due to biochemical processes. Seeping through the mass of waste and dissolving the various elements and compounds present in them, they form a concentrated solution called alkaline hydrolysate. Over time, the alkaline environment in the dumped waste becomes predominant. If the landfill can no longer hold moisture, the alkaline hydrolysate enters the environment in unpredictable amounts, concentrations, and directions. Reservoirs, aquifers, and the entire ecosystem located in the surrounding area are often poisoned by alkaline hydrolysate and destroyed. https://mega-moolah-canada.com/
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