GeoMelt POPs Treatment Facility, Mie Prefecture, Japan Pre-Treatment Equipment Melt Container

Some features Organic compounds such as… pesticides and dioxin products cannot survive in the melt conditions Heavy metals that may be present in the soil/waste matrix are retained in the vitrified product where they are immobilised and effectively isolated from the surrounding ecosystems GeoMelt has been used also to treat radioactive waste. In this case, radionuclides are immobilized and isolated from the environment also. Only in the case of radioactive waste vitrification does GeoMelt vitrified product require landfill disposal Non-radioactive GeoMelt glass does not contain organic material nor leachable metals. It is not classified as dangerous, hazardous, or even as municipal waste in any country where it has been used It is analogous to naturally occurring volcanic obsidian which also does not require landfill disposal

GeoMelt POPs Treatment Facility, Mie Prefecture, Japan same block broken open for sampling Glass block as produced

Thermal Retorting: South Africa Primary Chamber

Thermal Oxidizers Cyclone Oxidiser Heater

Quench

Retort

Residue from pesticide waste

Iron balls

In Situ Thermal Desorption ISTD

ISTD

ISTD

ISTD

Status of these technologies

BCD In Australia: 2 commercial BCD operations treated 8-10,000 t PCBs and PCB contaminated oils, 25 tonnes of pesticide chemicals + pesticide waste, 15 tonnes of pesticide concentrates from soil remediation Mexico: 1998 till present a commercial system treated 1400 t of liquids + solids with PCBs BCD short-term projects in Australia, Spain + US. Applied in US in combination with thermal desorption for soil remediation. In Basque Country, Spain another system has been operating from 2000 to 2002 where 3500 tonnes of pure HCH waste has been converted to TCB, which was used by the industry. In Japan, a continuous process for oils with low contamination of PCB’s has been developed Spolana, Czech Rep: BCD treatment of both PCDD- and PCDF- contaminated soil + pesticide wastes. Now is treating 35,000 t of soil and building rubble contaminated with PCDD/F, HCB & HCH. In addition to treating more than 1000 tonnes of contaminated concentrate from the first stage thermal desorption process more than 200 tonnes of waste pesticide intermediates is also being treated. The full scale plant has been in operation since early 2006

GCPR COMMERCIAL GPCR SYSTEM OPERATED IN AUSTRALIA FOR MORE THAN 5 YEARS: >2,500 TONNES OF PCBS, DDT AND OTHER POPS. IN 1999 A FULL-SCALE TEST ON HCB WAS CONDUCTED IN JAPAN SEMI-MOBILE PLANT BUILT + OPERATED TO TREAT PCB WASTES. TRIAL RUN FOR PCB TREATMENT WAS PERFORMED IN OCTOBER 2006 IN US TESTED AS PART OF THE ACWA (ASSEMBLED CHEMICAL WEAPONS ASSESSMENT) PROGRAM FOR DESTRUCTION OF CHEMICAL WARFARE AGENTS IN ADDITION TO THE PERMIT IN AUSTRALIA, APPROVALS TO TREAT PCB + DIOXIN WASTE IN JAPAN, A TSCA PERMIT FOR PCBS IN THE USA + FOR PCBS AND OTHER TOXIC COMPOUNDS IN ONTARIO (CANADA)

PLASCON “In-flight” plasma arc PLASCON technology operating commercially since 1992. 10 commercial plants operating: 4 commercial 150 kW PLASCON units operating in Australia. In total 7000 t of waste destroyed over the years 2 units Agricultural Chemical industry, which treat the liquid waste stream from 2,4 D manufacture 4 plants in Japan for PCB destruction (1 year 500 t waste ) 1 plant United Kingdom for fire retardants, ODS now Mexico 1 plant in Ohio, US where ODS gases are destroyed In July 2007, over 12 000 tonnes of mentioned wastes have been destroyed by PLASCON systems POPs application: Pesticides such as HCB, DDT, Aldrin, Dieldrin, Lindane, 2,4 D, PCBs, Dioxins, furans and other compounds such as halons and chemical industry in-process waste streams

SCWO Commercial SCWO systems are operated in Japan, the US, the UK, Korea, and France. At present in Japan, 3 companies are working with SCWO systems. In Japan, a plant is currently operating processing university laboratory wastewater. In the US, one company is continuing to develop the SCWO technology for Government and Commercial markets. Since 1992, this company has built approximately 20 SCWO units for various Government and Commercial programs. As of Summer 2007, 3 additional SCWO units are under construction. Another SCWO plant consisting of three individual SCWO units will be fabricated at the Blue Grass Army Depot as part of the ACWA Program for the destruction of chemical warfare agents. This plant will have a total capacity of ~12000 t/y. In Korea, 1 SCWO unit is processing dinitrotoluene (DNT) production wastewater at a capacity of 1800 kg/hr. In France, 1 company is processing food industry wastewater at a rate of ~100 kg/hr. Also PCB destruction has been tested successfully

GeoMelt Since the mid 90s numerous projects have been completed in the US, Australia, and Japan. In the US, sites contaminated with pesticides, herbicides, solvents, PCBs, dioxins, furans, and heavy metals have been remediated with the GeoMelt process. To date, over 25,000-tonnes of contaminated soil and debris have been treated using the GeoMelt process The US Environmental Protection Agency has issued a National Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA) Permit to the GeoMelt process for remediation of sites with PCB-contaminated soils at concentrations up to 17,860-ppm (~1.8-wt%). In Australia, full scale tests using GeoMelt to treat HCB wastes have been executed. In Japan, the GeoMelt process has been deployed to remediate an incinerator and associated site materials contaminated with dioxins and furans and a fixed plant has been built to treat POPs and other wastes; this plant currently is in commercial operation.

MCD (Radical Planet) Mechanochemical Dehalogenation has made a substantial breakthrough in the last years. On the one hand, the treatment of soils has been implemented now in New Zealand where nearly 65000 m³ contaminated soils and sediments contaminated with DDT and other pesticides have been treated and now in US and Hong Kong trials are being executed to transfer the technology to these counties In Japan, the permission to apply the “Radicalplanet Technology” was officially granted April 1st, 2004 of the Environment Ministry under the law for special Measures in relation with the law for PCB (and POPs) waste disposal. Two commercial plants treating hazardous waste among other POPs and pesticides waste with small capacity of 125 and 250 tonnes per year are operated.

Thermopower Several thousand tonnes of soils contaminated with pesticides and more than 3000 tonnes of PCB waste or other similar waste around 1000 tonnes has been treated by this technology in South Africa. Since 2004, Thermopower is licensed to treat a wide range of hazardous wastes) at Midrand near Pretoria in South Africa.

Alternatives contra Incineration Any chance against a dino? alternatives . .ggggggg

How much obsolete POPs have been destroyed? Obsolete pesticides: last 7-10 years Incinerators in Europe 25-30 000 t Alternative technologies 5 000 t PCB’s: Incinerators in Europe 100 -115 000 t Alternative technologies 15 000 t Chlorphenols Alt tech 7000 t

Real Status More than 75-90% of all pesticides are destroyed by the dedicated incinerators mainly in Europe Major interest by international Cement industry to cut energy costs by co-incineration of waste and also POPs and pesticides in the future. Cement industry will start competition with hazardous waste incinerators, as they can save money on production costs for cement by co-incineration of high energy waste

Lesson learned on new technologies Future Any new technology needs a certain economy of scale A technology can be tested on several hundred of tons of POPs A technology can only be proven to work economically if it has been treating considerable amounts like several thousands of tons over a longer period Learning and optimizing the technology needs time and a proper learning curve over a period of years For example the big incinerators have gained a lot of experiences by treatment of large amounts over the years. Governments have invested billions on hazardous waste incinerators over the last decades This applies also for any other technology. Proper investment gives you chances of good results Need for both technologies: