Waste not, want not?
Stephen O’Grady
THE plan is to make it ‘the energy showroom of the world’ within 20
years. At present the Amagerforbraendingen Incineration Plant handles
the waste of 535,000 and 36,000 companies in the municipality of
Copenhagen, treating 400,000 tonnes of waste per year, generating
electrical heat for 140,000 households in the region.
“We are trying to give a service that takes into account people’s
needs,” explained Mr Uffe Juul Andersen, Environmental Manager of the
plant to members of Mayo County Council’s Strategic Policy Committee
for the Environment. The ten-strong delegation was in the Danish
capital last week on a three-day study tour of waste management
practices in a country whose first incinerator was constructed in 1901
and where a group of landowners established R98, a non-profit refuse
collection company, in 1798. Denmark is light years ahead of Ireland,
not only in terms of physical waste management, but in terms of
attitudes towards the industry.
“No problem at all,” replied a slightly bemused Mr Andersen, when
questioned about anti-incinerator objections to incineration. “We
started this in the 1970s when no-one thought about the environment at
all. We were steps ahead. Waste handling has to be looked at
holistically.”
In the Copenhagen region 73 percent of waste is incinerated, 25 percent
recycled and a meagre 0.2 percent is deposited in landfill sites which
may never be filled as initially anticipated. The 375DK tax on
landfill, compared with a 350DK tax on incineration, hints at where
their priority lies. The absence of any tax on recycling confirms the
direction the Danish authorities wish to take.
“The whole purpose of our existence is to make waste collection as
cheap as possible for the customer,” insists Mr Jes Konig, Development
Manager of R98. “One of our objectives is to handle waste as a valuable
raw material.”
R98 highlights consultation as a key factor in how it deals with the
waste of its 600,000 customers, amounting to some 310,000 tonnes per
annum. Its recycling process began 25 years ago when they started
collecting glass separately, followed by distinct paper collections
three years later. Mr Konig admits that this educational process is
ongoing and remains a challenge, even in a State as environmentally
attuned as Denmark.
The waste management mentality is perhaps best exemplified by the
manager of the RGS90 Recycling Centre at the Kalvebod Environment
Centre on the outskirts of the capital. “Sometimes we come upon a waste
that we don’t know how to handle,” muses Mr Jens Nejrup. “Then we have
to close our eyes and think what can we use this for?”
Mr Nejrup outlines how 93 percent of construction waste is recycled,
with the emphasis on reducing the levels of pollutant materials going
into landfill and affecting ground-water. More than 30,000 truckloads
of polluted soil are tipped at the centre each year, with most of this
recycled into an improved material which is sold on. Only eight percent
of demolition waste is incinerated, but every type of material that is
roasted at temperatures in excess of 850 degrees in the giant kiln at
Amagerforbraendingen is considered a raw material in the annual
generation of 150,000 mg/Wh and 3,000TJ of heat for the district.
“It seems to be the brainy way to go,” observed Cllr Johnnie O’Malley,
chairman of the SPC. “By the sounds of it, we are burying a resource.”
Uffe Juul Andersen does not bat an eyelid when inquiries about
emissions are put to him. He outlines how emissions of dioxins have
consistently dropped during the past ten years and have remained
comfortably within the realm of EU regulations through the
efficiently-operated chimney-flue filtering system. He explains how
emission samples are taken four times a year for analysis by an
independent regulating body, and how levels of dust, water and smells
are continually monitored, and it is clear that while Denmark operates
in the Champions League of waste management that Ireland is situated in
a League of Ireland which wastes too much time by comparison.
Representatives of the Mayo County Council SPC who attended were Cllr
Johnnie O’Malley (chairman), Cllr Margaret Adams, Cllr Seamus Weir,
Cllr Johnny O’Malley, Cllr Mark Winters (Ballina Town Council), Dave
Breen (ICTU), Michael Biggins (IFA Mayo), Patsy Bourke (Senior
Executive Engineer, Mayo County Council), Maria O’Connell (Mayo County
Council), Mary Barrett (Mayo County Council).
What some of the visitors thought of the Danish system …
Johnny O’Malley
FG Councillor, Westport Electoral Area
“I wouldn’t be afraid of incinerating at all after I saw what they can
do. I don’t think anybody thought they would be generating electricity
with an incinerator, but that they would be just burning and getting
rid. But to think that they are generating electricity and selling it
off. If it was a thing that Mayo County Council was to consider putting
up an incinerator and having a recycling centre, I think it would be
the right thing to do to form a committee in each area and bring people
out to see it. I don’t think we could get the message across to people
without them actually seeing exactly the way it works. For anyone
that’s afraid of incineration I suppose they would want to see that
operation to see how efficient and how effective it is and how well it
can be done.
“Another thing that impressed me is the way that they get rid of the
toxins after they have everything incinerated. Lime is liquidised and
sprayed into it. Lime, down the years, was known as something to kill a
lot of germs and bugs, and to think that that’s what they’re using to
take the toxins out of the fumes after incineration was amazing.
“What struck me most is how they recycle broken-up concrete. If an old
building is pulled down, it’s recycled and turned into gravel. The
asphalt up the road is recycled, that amazed me. We’re at least 20
years behind them. What we’re filling into the land is ridiculous. The
only thing that should be going into landfill is clay, soil, earth.
Concrete, asphalt and that sort of thing shouldn’t be going into
landfill.”
Michael Biggins
Chairman, IFA Mayo
“The people there seem to be quite willing to live within the shadow of
the incinerator. They are talking about building a new housing estate
on the same site as the incineration plant, which is unbelievable. And
the way they are talking it is not going to be low-cost housing but one
which looks at the royal residence a mile-and-a-half across the
waterfront.“I honestly believe that we can’t keep going the way that we
are going and pretending that burying our waste in landfill is the way
to do it. Because it’s buried under ground it’s out of sight and [we
assume] it’s not affecting the atmosphere. But it can be affecting
ground water, there can be methane coming off it, which all could be
doing as much damage as the incineration process.“Before I went out
there I would have been of the opinion that if an incinerator was to go
into the west of Ireland they would probably have to pick some remote
area. But to get the full benefit of it, it needs to be in a large
urban area.
“We’re going to have to face up to the fact that we can’t afford to be
wasting this energy. There were lessons to be learned there and we are
going to have to change our mindset as regards incineration, and deal
with facts not fiction. That plant was 30 years old and I presume a new
plant would be a lot more efficient. If we’re going down that road, the
technology that is there now has been proven. We won’t be working with
trial and error.”
Mark Winters
Balllina Town Council
“Denmark highlighted just how intensively waste is managed and how
waste is treated as a raw material there, whereas in Ireland - where we
are years behind - waste is treated as a problem we have to get rid
of.“Diminishing landfill capacity, spiralling disposal costs and a
shift in government waste policy has encouraged the development of
other forms of waste management technologies such as recycling,
composting, digestion. Incineration with energy recovery will have to
be considered here. Used collectively, these technologies form a modern
Integrated Waste Management System. This is the overall term used to
describe a system of dealing with waste materials, which focuses more
on regeneration than disposal. In an integrated approach, a number of
systems are put into place with a view to recovering much of the waste
we currently dispose of and turning it into a new resource.“How we deal
with our waste has a direct impact on how we deal with the environment.
For the most part, our decisions as consumers will help or hinder the
environment. After years of throwing so much away, we are now realising
that out of sight is not out of mind. What we throw in the bin, onto
the tip, or down the drain is part of our responsibility and affects
the environment.”