Yoshiro NABESHIMA

(Professor of Tamagawa University)

Abstract

In Japan, about 50 Mio tons Municipal Solid Waste is generated per year, and about 80% of this is disposed of by the incineration process. The incineration process has been widely used for various reasons such as difficulty in obtaining landfill sites, the higher volume reduction rate and a recovery of heat energy.

However, from the standpoint of preventing so-called secondary pollution, the combustion waste gas should be purified from various pollutants, such as particulate, NOx, SOx, HCl and furthermore micropollutants such as Dioxins and Furans.

For developing an effective and compact waste gas purifying system, the Japan Waste Research Foundation is conducting the Research and Development Programm as a 5-year project (FY1988-1992), in which the trend of emission regulations in foreign countries is investigated.

In this paper, the trend of emission regulation in foreign countries is reviewed with additional information regarding European Communities, from which we can learn our situation in the world. It will also contribute to investigating the direction of development in the exhaust gas purification process.

Key words: municipal solid waste, combustion control, particulate, pollutants, emission regulation