CELEX: 51988PC0071(01)
Language: en
Date: 1988-03-01
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DIRECTIVE ON THE PREVENTION OF AIR POLLUTION FROM NEW MUNICIPAL WASTE INCINERATION PLANTS

No C 75/4                                Official Journal of the European Communities                                                        23. 3. 88
                                                                 II
                                                         (Preparatory Acts)
                                                   COMMISSION
              Proposal for a Council Directive on the prevention of air pollution from new municipal waste
                                                        incineration plants
                                                        COM(88)     71 final
                                (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 9 March 1988)
                                                           (88/C 75/05)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                             W h e r e a s Council Directive 7 5 / 4 4 2 / E E C of 15 July 1975
                                                                     on waste (6) provides that waste must be disposed of
                                                                     w i t h o u t e n d a n g e r i n g h u m a n health a n d w i t h o u t h a r m i n g
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European                the e n v i r o n m e n t ; w h e r e a s , to this e n d , the same
Economic Community, and in particular Article 130 S                  Directive stipulates that a n y installation o r u n d e r t a k i n g
thereof,                                                             treating waste must obtain a permit from the c o m p e t e n t
                                                                     authority relating, inter alia, t o the precautions to be
                                                                     taken;
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
                                                                     W h e r e a s Council Directive 8 4 / 3 6 0 / E E C of 28 J u n e
Having regard       to    the  opinion    of   the   European        1984 on the combating of air pollution from industrial
Parliament,                                                          plants (7) provides that prior authorization shall be
                                                                     required to operate n e w industrial installations a n d in
                                                                     particular waste incineration plants; whereas this a u t h -
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and                     orization m a y be issued only w h e n all appropriate
Social Committee,                                                    preventive measures against air pollution have been
                                                                     t a k e n , including the application of the best available
                                                                     technology n o t entailing excessive costs;
Whereas the 1973 O . 1977 (2), 1983 (3) and 1987 (4)
European Community action programmes on the en-
                                                                     W h e r e a s the a b o v e m e n t i o n e d Directive 8 4 / 3 6 0 / E E C
vironment stress the importance of the prevention and
                                                                     stipulates that the Council, acting unanimously on a
reduction of air pollution;
                                                                     proposal from the Commission, shall, if necessary, fix
                                                                     emission limit values based o n the best available tech-
Whereas the Council Resolution of 19 October 1987 on                 n o l o g y n o t entailing excessive costs a n d suitable
the action programme on the environment for 1987 to                  m e a s u r e m e n t techniques a n d m e t h o d s and whereas it is
 1992 states that it is important for Community action to            advisable to avoid that the limit values fixed entail an
concentrate, inter alia, on implementation of appropriate            excessive energy c o n s u m p t i o n ;
standards in order to ensure a high level of public health
and environmental protection;                                        W h e r e a s incineration of municipal waste gives rise t o
                                                                     emissions of substances which can cause air pollution
                                                                     and thereby harm public health a n d the e n v i r o n m e n t ;
Whereas Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June                      whereas in some cases this pollution m a y have trans-
 1985 on the assessment of the effects of certain public             b o u n d a r y features;
and private projects on the environment (5) provides that
an environmental impact assessment shall be carried out
                                                                     W h e r e a s the techniques for reducing emissions of
 in the case of installations for the disposal of domestic
                                                                     pollutants from municipal waste incineration plants are
waste where Member States consider that their charac-
                                                                     well established; whereas they can be applied reasonably
teristics so require;
                                                                     economically in n e w incineration plants; whereas they
                                                                     provide a means of attaining concentrations of pollutants
                                                                     in the combustion gases n o t exceeding certain limit
                                                                     values;
 C)  OJ No  C 112, 20. 12. 1973, p. 1.
 O   OJ No  C  139, 13. 6. 1977, p. 1.
 O   OJ No  C 46, 17. 2. 1983, p. 1.
 (4) OJ No  C 328, 7. 12. 1987, p. 1.                                 (6) OJ N o L 194, 25. 7. 1975, p. 39.
 (5) OJ No  L 175, 5. 7. 1985, p. 40.                                 O OJ No L 188, 16. 7. 1984, p. 20.
 ---pagebreak--- 23. 3. 88                               Official Journal of the European Communities                              No C 75/5
Whereas all the Member States have laws, regulations                      waste, on land or at sea, even if these plants may
and administrative provisions concerning the combating                    burn municipal waste as well.
of air pollution from stationary plants; whereas several
Member States have specific provisions on municipal                   This definition      covers the entire installation
waste incineration plants;                                            comprising the incinerator, its waste, fuel and air
                                                                      supply systems and the devices and systems for
Whereas the Community by fixing emission limit values                 checking incineration operations and continuously
and other pollution prevention requirements helps                     recording and monitoring incineration conditions.
increase the effectiveness of the action taken by the
Member States to combat air pollution from municipal               5. 'New plant' means a municipal waste incineration
waste incineration plants;                                            plant for which authorization to operate is granted as
                                                                      from the date specified in Article 14 (1) of this
Whereas in order to ensure an effective protection of the             Directive.
environment, an assessment of the environmental impact
of larger municipal waste incineration plants should be            6. 'Nominal capacity of the incineration plant' means the
required and requirements and conditions should be laid               sum of the incineration capacities of the furnaces of
down before authorization is granted for any new                      which the plant is composed, as specified by the
municipal waste incineration plant; whereas these                     constructor, on the basis of:
requirements must include an obligation to observe
emission limit values for the most significant pollutants             — the quantity of waste incinerated, the calorific
and appropriate combustion conditions; whereas                            value and other characteristics of the waste to be
provision must be made for appropriate measurements                       treated,
and verifications at the incineration plants; whereas the
public must be informed of the conditions imposed and                 — the factors which determine the lifespan of the
of the results obfained,                                                  plant, namely the technical characteristics and its
                                                                          permissible rate of utilization.
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
                                                                                             Article 2
                          Article 1                               Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 4 of
                                                                  Council Directive 84/360/EEC of 28 June 1984 on the
For the purposes of this Directive:                               combating of air pollution from industrial plants,
                                                                  Member States shall take the necessary measures to
1. 'Air pollution' means the introduction by man,                 ensure that the conditions laid down in this Directive
   directly or indirectly, of substances or energy into the       shall be attached to the prior authorization required to
   air resulting in deleterious effects of such a nature as       operate all new municipal waste incineration plants
   to endanger human health, harm living resources and            under Article 3 of the abovementioned Council Directive
   ecosystems and material property and impair or                 84/360/EEC and under Article 8 of Council Directive
   interfere with amenities and other legitimate uses of          75/442/EEC of 15 July 1975 on waste.
   the environment.
                                                                                             Article 3
2. 'Emission limit value' means the concentration and/or
   mass of polluting substances which is not to be                1.    The following emission limit values, standardized at
   exceeded in emissions from plants during a specified           the following conditions: temperature 273 K, pressure
   period.                                                        101,3 kPa, 11 % oxygen or 9 % CO* and dry gas, shall
                                                                  apply to new municipal waste incineration plants:
3. 'Municipal waste' means domestic refuse, commercial
   and trade waste and other waste equivalent to                       Total dust
   domestic refuse.                                                    — nominal capacity equal to or
                                                                           greater than 5 tonnes per hour       50 mg/Nm 5 ;
4. 'Municipal waste incineration plant' means any                      — nominal capacity less than 5
   technical equipment used for the treatment of                           tonnes per hour                     100 mg/Nm 5 ;
   municipal waste by incineration, with or without
   recovery of the combustion heat generated, but                      Heavy metals
   excluding:                                                         —    Pb + Cr + Cu + Mn                     5  mg/Nm 5 ,
   — combustion plants which are designed to use other
                                                                      —    Ni + As                               1  mg/Nm 3 ,
       fuels but which burn a fuel derived from municipal             —    Cadmium (Cd)                        0,1  mg/Nm 3 ,
       waste as a back-up,                                            —   Mercury (Hg)                         0,1  mg/Nm 3 ;
   — plants used specifically for the incineration of                  Hydrochloric acid (HC1)
       sewage sludge, chemical, toxic and dangerous                   — nominal capacity equal to or
       waste, hospital waste or other types of special                    greater than 5 tonnes per hour        50 mg/Nm 3 ;
 ---pagebreak--- No C 75/6                             Official Journal of the European Communities                                   23. 3. 88
     — nominal capacity less than 5                              2.     The carbon monoxide (CO) concentration laid
        tonnes per hour                      100 mg/Nm 5 ;       down in Article 4 (2) (a) of this Directive is the limit
                                                                 value for the daily average calculated by taking into
     Hydrofluoric acid (HF)                                      account, where appropriate, only the hours in which the
     — nominal capacity equal to or                              plant is actually in operation, including the start-up and
        greater than 5 tonnes per hour         2 mg/Nm 3 ;       shut-off periods.
     — nominal capacity less than 5
        tonnes per hour                        4 mg/Nm 3 ;
                                                                 3.     In the case of the other substances to be
     Sulphur dioxide (S0 2 )                 300 mg/Nm 3 .       continuously monitored under Article 6 of this Directive:
2.    Where appropriate, the competent authorities,
taking due account of the composition of the wastes to           (a) none of the monthly averages of the concentration
be incinerated and of the characteristics of the incin-               values measured for these substances must'exceed the
eration plant, shall lay down emission limits for                     corresponding limit value;
pollutants other than those mentioned in paragraph 1 of
this Article which could also give rise to significant           (b) none of the daily averages of the concentration
emissions in the specific case under consideration. For               values measured for these substances must exceed the
the purposes of laying down these emission limit values,              corresponding limit value by more than 30 %.
the authorities shall take account of the potential
harmful effects of the pollutants in question on human
health and the environment and of the best technology            For the purposes of calculating the abovementioned
available not entailing excessive costs.                         average values, only the periods in which the plant is
                                                                 actually in operation shall be taken into account,
                                                                 including the start-up and shut-off periods.
                          Article 4
1.    All new municipal waste incineration plants must be
designed, equipped and operated in such a way that the           4.     In the case of substances to be measured period-
gas resulting from the combustion of the waste is raised,        ically under Article 6 of this Directive, the concentration
after the last injection of combustion air, in a controlled     values measured in accordance with the rules laid down
and homogenous fashion and even in the most unfa-                by the competent authorities under Articles 6 (3), 6 (4)
vourable conditions, to a temperature of at least 850 °C         and 6 (5) must not exceed the limit value.
for at least 2 seconds in the presence of at least 6 %
oxygen.
                                                                                             Article 6
2.    All new municipal waste incineration plants shall
                                                                 1.     The following measurements shall be taken at new
observe the following conditions when in operation:
                                                                 municipal waste incineration plants:
(a) the concentration of carbon monoxide (CO) in the
     combustion gases must not exceed 100 mg/Nm 3 ;              (a) concentrations of         certain   substances   in   the
(b) the concentration of organic compounds (expressed                 combustion gases:
     as total carbon) in the combustion gases must not                 (i) concentrations of total dust, HC1, CO          and
     exceed 20 mg/Nm 3 .                                                   oxygen shall be continuously measured          and
                                                                           recorded;
The limits stipulated in subparagraphs (a) and (b) of this
paragraph shall be standardized at the following                      (ii) concentrations of the heavy metals referred to in
conditions: temperature 273 K, pressure 101,3 kPa,                         the second indent of Article 3 (1) of this
11 % oxygen or 9 % C 0 2 and dry gas.                                      Directive, HF, SOa and organic compounds
                                                                           (expressed as total carbon) shall be measured
3.     Exemptions from the conditions laid down in                         periodically;
paragraph 1 of this Article may be authorized if inno-
vative techniques are used in the incineration furnaces or       (b) operating parameters:
combustion-gas treatment equipment, provided that the
competent authorities have satisfied themselves that, with             (i) the temperatures of the gases in the area where
the use of these techniques, the levels of polychlorinated                 the conditions imposed by Article 4 (1) of this
dibenzodioxins (PCDDs) and of polychlorinated diben-                       Directive are satisfied and the water vapour
zofurans (PCDFs) emitted will be equivalent to those                       content of the combustion gases shall be
obtained with the technical conditions laid down in the                    continuously measured and recorded;
first paragraph of this Article.                                      (ii) the residence time of the combustion gases at the
                                                                           minimum temperature of 850 °C specified in
                          Article 5                                        Article 4 (1) of this Directive must be the subject
                                                                           of appropriate verifications at least once when
1. The temperatures and oxygen content laid down in                        the incineration plant is brought into service and
Article 4 (1) of this Directive are minimum values to be                   the most unfavourable operating conditions
observed at all times when the plant is in operation.                      envisaged.
 ---pagebreak---   23. 3. 88                           Official Journal of the European Communities                               No C 75/7
 2.    The results of the measurements referred to in            2.    The competent authorities shall lay down the
 paragraph 1 of this Article shall be standardized at the        maximum permissible period of any breakdowns or
 following conditions: temperature 273 K, pressure 101,3         stoppages of the purification devices during which the
 kPa, 11 % oxygen or 9 % C02 and dry gas.                        concentrations in the discharges into the air of the
                                                                 substances which these devices are intended to reduce
                                                                 exceed the limit values laid down. Under no circum-
 3.    All the measurement results shall be recorded,
                                                                 stances may they exceed 16 hours uninterrupted
 processed and presented in an appropriate fashion so
                                                                 operation; their cumulative duration over a year shall be
 that the competent authorities can verify compliance
                                                                 less than 200 hours.
 with the conditions laid down, in accordance with
 procedures to be decided upon by those authorities.
                                                                 The dust content of the discharges shall under no
                                                                 circumstances exceed 600 mg/Nm 5 during the periods
 4.    The sampling and measurement procedures,                  referred to in the preceding paragraph, and all the other
 methods and equipment used to satisfy the obligations           conditions, in particular the combustion conditions, shall
 imposed by paragraph 1 of this Article and the location         be complied with.
 of the sampling or measurement points shall require the
 prior approval of the competent authorities.
                                                                                           Article 9
 5.    For the periodic measurements, the competent              Besides the publicity required by Article 9 of Council
 authorities shall lay down appropriate measurement              Directive 84/360/EEC of 28 June 1984 ('), the public
 programmes to ensure that the results are representative        shall have access, in accordance with appropriate
 of the normal level of emissions of the substances             procedures and in the form decided upon by the
 concerned.                                                     competent authorities, at sufficient intervals, to the
                                                                results of measurements of pollutant emissions and
The results obtained must be suitable for verifying that        measurements relating to the plant operating conditions.
the limit values applicable have been observed.
                                                                                          Article 10
6.     The Council acting by a qualified majority on a
                                                                Exemptions from some of the conditions laid down in
proposal from the Commission shall adopt the appro-
                                                                this Directive may be allowed when authorization to
priate decisions concerning the steps to be taken to
                                                                operate is granted to new incineration plants with a
measure emissions of polychlorinated dibenzodioxins
                                                                nominal capacity of less than one tonne of waste per
and of polychlorinated dibenzofurans from new
                                                                hour used for the disposal of municipal waste streams
municipal waste incineration plants and the reference
                                                                characterized by very considerable seasonal variations, in
methods to be used for measuring these substances as
                                                                particular in winter or summer tourist areas and where,
soon as the state of knowledge in this field will permit it.
                                                                because of the size of the plant and the way in which it
                                                                is operated, these provisions cannot be complied with
                         Article 7                              without entailing excessive costs.
All new municipal waste incineration plants shall be            In such cases, the provisions of Article 4(1) and 4 (2) of
equipped with auxiliary burners. These burners must be          this Directive must be complied with and the following
switched on automatically when the temperature of the           emission limit measured and interpreted in line with
combustion gases falls below 850 °C. They shall also be         Articles 5 and 6 of this Directive and standardized at the
used during plant start-up and shut-down operations in          following conditions: temperature 273 K, pressure 101,3
order to ensure that the abovementioned minimum                 kPa, 11 % oxygen or 9 % C 0 2 and dry gas, shall apply:
temperature is maintained at all times during these oper-
ations and as long as the waste is in the combustion
                                                                — total dust                                   350 mg/Nm 3
chamber.
                                                                                          Article 11
However, if the total utilization time of these burners
exceeds 5 % of the total plant operation time for seven          1.    In the framework of the verification required by
consecutive days, appropriate measures must be taken to         Article 11 of Directive 84/360/EEC and also in relation
restore adequate combustion conditions.                         to the provisions of Article 4 of the same Directive,
                                                                Member States shall take the necessary measures to
                                                                ensure that compliance with the conditions relating to
                         Article 8                              new incineration plants pursuant to this Directive is
                                                                verified by the competent authorities.
1.     Should the measurements taken show that the limit
values laid down in this Directive have been exceeded,
the competent authority shall be informed as soon as            2.     Provisions of this Directive are without prejudice to
possible. It shall lay down appropriate emergency               the requirement of Article 12 of Directive 84/360/EEC
measures to ensure that the abovementioned limits are           for Member States to revise, where necessary, the
again observed. Plants whicn do not comply with these
provisions shall no longer be operated.                         (') OJ No L 188, 16. 7. 1984, p. 40.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 75/8                                Official Journal of the European Communities                                  23. 3. 88
conditions imposed in the authorization granted to an                                        Article 14
incineration plant.                                                  1.    Member States shall bring into force the laws,
                          Article 12                                 regulations and administrative provisions necessary to
                                                                     comply with this Directive not later than 30 June 1989.
In Annex I, point 9 of Council Directive 85/337/EEC of               They shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof.
27 June 1985 on the assessment of the effects of certain
public and private projects on the environment the
following phrase is added: 'and municipal waste incine-              2.    Member States shall communicate to the
ration plants the nominal capacity of which exceeds five             Commission the texts of the provisions of national law
tons of waste per hour'.                                             which they adopt in the field governed by this Directive.
                          Article 13
Member States may adopt more stringent provisions than                                       Article 15
those of this Directive, where necessary, in order to
protect health and the environment.                                  This Directive is addressed to the Member States.
              Proposal for a Council Directive on the reduction of air pollution from existing municipal waste
                                                        incineration plants
                                                        COM(88) 71 final
                                (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 9 March 1988)
                                                           (88/C 75/06)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                             Whereas Council Directive 75/442/EEC of 15 July 1975
                                                                     on waste (s) provides that waste must be disposed of
                                                                     without endangering human health and without harming
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
                                                                     the environment; whereas, to this end, the same
Economic Community, and in particular Article 130 S
                                                                     Directive stipulates that any installation or undertaking
thereof,                                                             treating waste must obtain a permit from the competent
                                                                     authority relating, inter alia, to the precautions to be
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                   taken;
Having regard       to   the   opinion    of   the   European
Parliament,                                                          Whereas Council Directive 84/360/EEC of 28 June
                                                                     1984 on the combating of air pollution from industrial
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and                     plants (6) provides for the Member States to implement
Social Committee,                                                    policies and strategies, including appropriate measures,
                                                                     for the gradual adaptation of existing plants to the best
                                                                     available technology; whereas these provisions apply in
Whereas the 1973 O , 1977 (2), 1983 (3) and 1987 (4)                 particular to existing municipal waste incineration plants;
European Community action programmes on the en-
vironment stress the importance of the prevention and
reduction of air pollution;
                                                                     Whereas the abovementioned Directive 84/360/EEC
Whereas the Council Resolution of 19 October 1987 on                 stipulates that the Council, acting unanimously on a
the action programme on the environment for 1987 to                  proposal from the Commission, shall, if necessary, fix
 1992 states that it is important for Community action to            emission limit values based on the best available tech-
concentrate, inter alia, on implementation of appropriate            nology not entailing excessive costs and suitable
standards in order to ensure a high level of public health           measurement techniques and methods and whereas it is
and environmental protection;                                        advisable to avoid that the limit values fixed entail an
                                                                     excessive energy consumption;
(>) OJ No C 112, 20. 12. 1973, p. 1.
(2) OJ No C 139, 13. 6. 1977, p. 1.
(3) OJ No C 46, 17. 2. 1983, p. 1.                                   (5) OJ No L 194, 25. 7. 1975, p. 39.
(4) OJ No C 328, 7. 12. 1987, p. 1.                                  (*) OJ No L 188, 16. 7. 1984, p. 20.