Page 19 - SGG_220316_Teachers_Handbook_Module_2

3.4.2. Combustion

The controlled burning of chemicals in a confined space as a method of treating and
disposing of hazardous waste is known as combustion.

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For solid and liquid hazardous wastes, there are two types of combustion units:

- Incinerators are mostly used to destroy waste.
- Boilers and Industrial Furnaces (BIFs) are generally utilized for the recovery of energy and
materials. (www.tn.gov, n.d.)

Incineration
Incineration is a technology that involves burning commercial, residential, and hazardous waste, also
known as municipal solid waste.

Waste like:
• paper,
• plastics,
• metals, and
• food scraps are converted into ash, combustion gases, air pollutants, wastewater, and heat.
•

Why is it bad?

Burning waste harms not only the health and the environment but also the economy of many
communities. Thousands of pollutants are released by even the most technologically advanced
incinerators, contaminating our air, land, and water.

Newer incinerators, are equipped with air pollution control devices such as air filters to capture and
concentrate some of the pollutants, but they are still not eliminated.

The reason is that the captured pollutants are simply transferred to other by-products which are then
deposited in landfills and therefore released into the environment.

Although incinerators require a lot of fuel for their operation, the heat generated sometimes can be
used to generate electric power in a process called “energy from waste”. However, zero waste
practices such as recycling and composting could save a good amount of energy produced by waste
incineration. (Maxey, 2018)

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This communication reflects the
views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the

information contained therein.