Waste Treatment Technologies in Japan, including Ash-Melting

Concern over dioxin emissions led the Japanese government to push forward novel gasification or pyrolysis systems, while ash recycling and disposal problems were addressed by melting this ash, followed by granulating the molten slag in a water quench. These programs also include tight emissions limits, investment in new efficient facilities with better emissions control technologies and alternatives to MSW combustion. Energy recovered from MSW, a consideration neglected in the past, is also ascending. In Europe and the USA the experience with such systems has been disappointing. In Japan, however, some current plants and processes operate quite reliably and one supplier (Ebara) is prepared guaranteeing an annual level of availability of 83.33 % for first realisations in Europe.