CELEX: 51988PC0071(02)
Language: en
Date: 1988-03-01
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DIRECTIVE ON THE REDUCTION OF AIR POLLUTION FROM EXISTING MUNICIPAL WASTE INCINERATION PLANTS

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.
 ---pagebreak--- 23. 3. 88                               Official Journal of the European Communities                              No C 75/9
Whereas incineration of municipal waste gives rise to              2. 'Emission limit value' means the concentration and/or
emissions of substances which can cause air pollution                 mass of polluting substances which is not to be
and thereby harm public health and the environment;                   exceeded in emissions from plants during a specified
whereas in some cases this pollution may have trans-                  period.
boundary features;
                                                                   3. 'Municipal waste' means domestic refuse, commercial
                                                                      and trade waste and other waste equivalent to
Whereas the techniques for reducing emissions of
                                                                      domestic refuse.
pollutants from municipal waste incineration plants are
well established; whereas they must be applied                     4. 'Municipal waste incineration plant' means any
progressively in existing incineration plants, taking due             technical equipment used for the treatment of
account of the technical characteristics, rate of util-               municipal waste by incineration, with or without
ization and the length of the remaining life of the plant             recovery of the combustion heat generated, but
and of the need to avoid excessive costs; whereas they                excluding:
provide a means of attaining concentrations of pollutants
in the combustion gases not exceeding certain limit                   — combustion plants which are designed to use other
values;                                                                   fuels but which burn a fuel derived from municipal
                                                                          waste as a back-up,
Whereas all the Member States have laws, regulations                  — plants used specifically for the incineration of
and administrative provisions concerning the combating                    sewage sludge, chemical, toxic and dangerous
of air pollution from stationary plants; whereas several                  waste, hospital waste or other types of special
Member States have specific provisions on municipal                       waste, on land or at sea, even if these plants may
waste incineration plants;                                                burn municipal waste as well.
                                                                      This definition covers the entire installation
Whereas by fixing emission limit values and other                     comprising the incinerator, its waste, fuel and air
pollution prevention requirements the Community helps                 supply systems and the devices and systems for
increase the effectiveness of the action taken by the                 checking incineration operations and continuously
Member States to combat air pollution from municipal                  recording and monitoring incineration conditions.
waste incineration plants;
                                                                   5. 'Existing plant' means a municipal waste incineration
Whereas, in order to rapidly ensure an effective                      plant for which authorization to operate is granted
protection of the environment without imposing on the                 before the date specified in Article 12 (1) of this
undertakings concerned an excessive burden, appropriate               Directive.
time limits must be set for adapting existing incineration
                                                                   6. 'New plant' means a municipal waste incineration
plants to the best available technology not entailing
                                                                      plant for which authorization to operate is granted as
excessive costs; whereas, to this end, account must be
                                                                      from the date specified in Article 12 (1) of this
taken not only of the needs of the environment but also               Directive.
of the technical and economic constraints including
energy considerations; whereas in the long run all                 7. 'Nominal capacity of the incineration plant' means the
municipal waste incineration plants should observe the                sum of the incineration capacities of the furnaces of
same conditions, but in the interim less stringent                    which the plant is composed, as specified by the
requirements can be accepted at plants with only a short              constructor, on the basis of:
service life remaining;
                                                                      — the quantity of waste incinerated, the calorific
                                                                          value and other characteristics of the waste to be
Whereas the requirements imposed on existing plants                       treated,
must include an obligation to observe emission limit
values for the most significant pollutants and appropriate            — the factors which determine the lifespan of the
combustion conditions; whereas provision must be made                     plant, namely the technical characteristics and its
for appropriate measurements and verifications at the                     permissible rate of utilization.
incineration plants; whereas the public must be informed
of the results obtained,                                                                     Article 2
                                                                   As part of their policies and strategies for the gradual
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:                                        adaptation of existing industrial plants to the best
                                                                   available technology, as required by Article 13 of
                          Article 1                                Council Directive 84/360/EEC of 28 June 1984 on the
                                                                   combating of air pollution from industrial plants ('),
For the purposes of this Directive:                                Member States shall take appropriate measures to ensure
                                                                   that the operation of existing municipal waste incin-
1. 'Air pollution' means the introduction by man,                  eration plants is subject:
   directly or indirectly, of substances or energy into the
   air resulting in deleterious effects of such a nature as        (a) within five years from the date specified in Article
   to endanger human health, harm living resources and                  12 (1), to the conditions laid down in Articles 3 to 8
   ecosystems and material property and impair or                      of this Directive;
   interfere with amenities and other legitimate uses of
   the environment.                                                O OJ No L 188, 16. 7. 1984, p. 20.
 ---pagebreak---  No C 75/10                              Official Journal of the European Communities                                 23. 3. 88
 (b) within 10 years from the date specified in Article             2.    The carbon monoxide (CO) concentration laid
     12 (1), to the conditions imposed on new incin-                down in Article 4 (2) of this Directive is the limit value
     eration plants by Council Directive (. . .) of (. . .) on      for the daily average calculated by taking into account,
     the prevention of air pollution from new municipal             where appropriate, only the hours in which the plant is
     waste incineration plants.                                     actually in operation, including the start-up and shut-off
                                                                    periods.
The competent authorities shall ensure that         any adap-
                                                                    3.    In the case of total dust, wherever continuous
tation of existing plants decided after taking     account of
                                                                    monitoring is required under Article 6 of this Directive:
the length of their remaining life and of the      time limits
and conditions laid down in this Directive is      carried out
                                                                    (a) none of the monthly averages of the concentration
as soon as possible.
                                                                        values measured for these substances must exceed the
                                                                        corresponding limit value;
                          Article 3                                 (b) none of the daily averages of the concentration
Within the time limit laid down in Article 2 (a) of this                values measured for these substances must exceed the
Directive, the following emission limit values, stan-                   corresponding limit value by more than 30 %.
dardized at the following conditions: temperature 273 K,
pressure 101,3 kPa, 11 % oxygen or 9 % C 0 2 and dry                For the purposes of calculating the abovementioned
gas, shall apply to existing municipal waste incineration           average values, only the periods in which the plant is
plants:                                                             actually in operation shall be taken into account,
                                                                    including the start-up and shut-off periods.
(a) Plants whose nominal capacity is at least six tonnes
     of waste per hour                                              4.    In the case of total dust, wherever periodic
                                                             3
                                                                    measurements are required under Article 6 of this
     — total dust                               100 mg/Nm ;         Directive, the concentration values measured in
(b) Plants whose nominal capacity is less than six tonnes           accordance with the rules laid down by the competent
     of waste per hour, but at least one tonne per hour             authorities under Articles 6 (3), 6 (4) and 6 (5) must not
                                                                   exceed the limit value.
     — total dust                               150 mg/Nm 3 ;
(c) Plants whose nominal capacity is less than one tonne                                      Article 6
     of waste per hour
     — total dust                               600 mg/Nm 3 .       1.    Within the time limit laid down in Article 2 (a) of
                                                                   this Directive, the following measurements shall be
                                                                   required for existing incineration plants:
                          Article 4
                                                                    (a) concentrations of       certain   substances   in   the
1.    Within the time limit laid down in Article 2 (a) of               combustion gases
this Directive, existing municipal waste incineration
plants must be designed, equipped and operated in such                   (i) the following shall be continuously measured
a way that the gas resulting from the combustion of the                      and recorded:
waste is raised, after the last injection of combustion air,                 — at all existing plants, the concentrations of
in a controlled and homogeneous fashion and even in                              carbon monoxide (CO) and oxygen;
the most unfavourable conditions, to a temperature of at
                                                                             — at existing plants with a nominal capacity of
least 850 °C for at least two seconds in the presence of
at least 6 % oxygen.                                                             one tonne of waste per hour or more, the
                                                                                 concentration of total dust;
2.    Within the time limit laid down in paragraph 1 of                 (ii) the following shall be measured periodically:
this Article all existing municipal waste incineration                       — at existing plants with a nominal capacity of
plants shall observe a limit value of 100 mg/Nm 3 for the                        less than one tonne of waste per hour, the
carbon monoxide concentration in the combustion gases                            concentration of total dust.
while in operation.
                                                                   (b) operating parameters:
This limit value shall be standardized at the following
conditions: temperature 273 K, pressure 101,3 kPa,                       (i) the temperature of the gases in the area where
11 % oxygen or 9 % C 0 2 and dry gas.                                        the conditions imposed by Article 4(1) of this
                                                                             Directive are satisfied shall be continuously
                                                                             measured and recorded;
                          Article 5
                                                                        (ii) the residence time of the combustion gases at the
1.    The temperature and oxygen content laid down in                        minimum temperature of 850 °C specified in
Article 4 (1) of this Directive are minimum values to be                     Article 4 (1) of this Directive, under the most
observed at all times when the plant is in operation.                        unfavourable operating conditions envisaged for
 ---pagebreak---  23. 3. 88                                Official Journal of the European Communities                             No C 75/11
          the plant must be the subject of appropriate veri-                                  Article 8
          fications at least once after any adaptation of the
          plant and, under all circumstances, before the             1.    Should the measurements taken show that the limit
          time limit set in Article 2 (a) of this Directive.         values laid down in this Directive have been exceeded,
                                                                     the competent authority shall be informed as soon as
                                                                     possible. It shall day down appropriate emergency
 2.   The results of the measurements referred to in                 measures to ensure that the abovementioned limits are
 paragraph 1 of this Article shall be standardized at the            again observed. Plants which do not comply with these
 following conditions: temperature 273 K, pressure 101,3             provisions shall no longer be operated.
 kPa, 11 % oxygen or 9 % C 0 2 , and dry gas.
                                                                     2.    The competent authorities shall lay down the
 3.   All the measurement results shall be recorded,                 maximum permissible period of any breakdowns or
 processed and presented in an appropriate fashion so                stoppages of the purification devices during which the
 that the competent authorities can verify compliance                concentrations in the discharges into the air of the
 with the conditions laid down, in accordance with                   substances which these devices are designed to reduce
 procedures to be decided upon by those authorities.                 exceed the limit values laid down. Under no circum-
                                                                     stances may they exceed 16 hours uninterrupted
                                                                     operation; their cumulative duration over a year shall be
 4.   The sampling and measurement procedures,
                                                                    less than 200 hours.
 methods and equipment used to satisfy the obligations
 imposed by paragraph 1 of this Article and the location            The dust content of the discharges shall under no
of the sampling or measurement points shall require the             circumstances exceed 600 mg/Nm 3 during the periods
prior approval of the competent authorities.                        referred to in the preceding paragraph, and all the other
                                                                    conditions, in particular the combustion conditions, shall
 5.   For the periodic measurements, the competent                  be complied with.
authorities shall lay down appropriate measurement
programmes to ensure that the results are representative                                      Article 9
of the normal level of emissions of the substances                  The public shall be informed of the obligations imposed
concerned.                                                          in respect of existing incineration plants pursuant to this
                                                                    Directive. The public will also have access, in accordance
The results obtained must be suitable for verifying that
                                                                    with appropriate procedures and in the form decided
the limit values applicable have been observed.                     upon by the competent authorities, at sufficient intervals,
                                                                    to the results of measurements of pollutant emissions and
6.    The Council acting by a qualified majority on a               measurements relating to the plant operating conditions.
proposal from the Commission shall adopt the appro-
priate decisions concerning the steps to be taken to                                         Article 10
measure emissions of polychlorinated dibenzodioxins
(PCDDs)        and    of polychlorinated         dibenzofurans      Member States shall take the necessary measures to
(PCDFs) from new municipal waste incineration plants                ensure that compliance with the conditions imposed on
and the reference methods to be used for measuring                  existing incineration plants pursuant to this Directive is
these substances as soon as the state of knowledge in this          verified by the competent authorities.
field will permit it.
                                                                                             Article 11
                            Article 7                               Member States may adopt more stringent provisions than
                                                                    those of this Directive, where necessary, in order to
Within the time limit laid down in Article 2 (a) of this            protect health and the environment.
Directive, all existing municipal waste incineration plants
shall be equipped with auxiliary burners. These burners                                      Article 12
must be switched on automatically when the temperature
of the combustion gases falls below 850 °C. They shall              1.    Member States shall bring into force the laws,
also be used during plant start-up and shut-down oper-              regulations and administrative provisions necessary to
ations in order to ensure that the abovementioned                   comply with this Directive not later than 30 June 1989.
minimum temperature is maintained at all times during               They shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof.
these operations and as long as the waste is in the
combustion chamber.                                                 2.    Member States shall communicate to the
                                                                    Commission the texts of the provisions of national law
                                                                    which they adopt in the field governed by this Directive.
However, if the total utilization time of these burners
exceeds 5 % of the total plant operation time for seven                                      Article 13
consecutive days, appropriate measures must be taken to
restore adequate combustion conditions.                             This Directive is addressed to the Member States.