ISTEAC

Getting away from air pollution and the dumping of resources

Recycling of all waste is not always the economically and ecologically best option. Incinerating waste in modern plants with energy recovery is not just burning it. It is a possibility to lower the hazardous potential inherent to untreated waste, reduce the amount that need to be deposited and to save conventional fuels at the same time. Until today, waste incineration is stigmatized as being a dangerous and polluting technology, however. One objective of the ISTEAC project and study tour on best practice examples was to give access to alternative waste management solutions and overcome the one-sided views which often still exists in this respect.

Because of stringent regulations and realtime flue gas control waste incineration plants in Germany are no longer significant in terms of emissions of dioxins, dust and heavy metals. With the help of highly efficient filter units emissions are kept much below the limits stipulated by statutory law, giving this technology the chance of rising acceptance among the public. A guided tour through the thermal waste treatment plant in Lauta gave the project group the opportunity to get first hand impressions and answers on the most critical issues associated with waste incineration and made the participants from Asia and Greece gain a totally new experience in comparison to the perceptions existing in their places for this technology.