Modern municipal incinerators represent an excellent option and come without significant emissions of toxic substances, according to a leading European toxicologist.
Speaking during a visit to Ireland this week Prof Dieter Schrenk said there were 53 municipal waste-incinerators currently operating in Germany, and in his view there were no indications of any health hazards from them.
He was invited to speak to county councillors on the impact of municipal waste incinerators (MWI) on human health by a consulting engineering firm, M.C. O'Sullivan, which was appointed by 26 local authorities in Ireland to prepare county waste-management plans and in some cases regional waste plans.
Prof Schrenk told The Irish Times: "I wouldn't mind living close to an MWI, but I would mind living near a landfill site."
So far, 17 local authorities have adopted their respective waste plans which in most cases incorporate a mixture of recycling, incineration and landfill. Prof Schrenk previously addressed Louth County Council which has yet to vote.
The professor, who is a medical doctor and toxicology expert at the Food, Chemistry and Environmental Toxicology at the University of Kaiserslautern, said MWIs were very sophisticated and associated emissions were extremely low.
He would not think that landfill was a solution. It was a waste of land, and the waste stayed there for centuries.
Also toxic compounds remained and would be emitted from the landfill.
There could also be a problem with recycling, for example, of aluminium cans, which required reheating, and this was a source of dioxin emissions, he said.
So alternative methods such as landfills or recycling, from a toxicological point of view, had their severe disadvantages and risks.
He accepted there were a number of examples where incineration of municipal waste in traditional incinerators, for example, in Japan, had resulted in contamination of the environment.
"In contrast, MWIs equipped with modern emission gas-cleaning technology meet high standards set by a number of countries including the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Germany," he said.
In landfill, constituents including dioxins and biologically hazardous substances may be released, he said.
"Modern MWIs, represent an excellent option to handle municipal waste without emissions of toxic substances relevant for the vicinity.
"Alternative methods such as landfills or recycling, from a toxicological point of view, have their severe disadvantages and risks," Prof Schrenk said.