Abstract for Initial inventory of new industrial POPs chemicals in waste from electrical and electronic equipment and waste from end-of-life vehicles in Macedonia
Keywords: inventory of new industrial POPs chemicals, PBDEs – polybrominated diphenyl ethers, c-OctaBDE, c-PentaBDE, Stockholm Convention, waste from electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), waste from end-of-life vehicles.
Authors: Slavjanka Pejchinovska – Andonova1 Ljubica Bavarchikj2, Suzana Andonova3, Emilija Kupeva – Nedelkova4
1 Engineering and Environmental science consultancy Company “EcoMosaic” dooel Skopje, Republic of Macedonia
2 Engineering and Environmental science consultancy Company “EcoMosaic” dooel Skopje, Republic of Macedonia
3 Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning, Republic of Macedonia
4 Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning, Republic of Macedonia
Title: Initial inventory of new industrial POPs chemicals in waste from electrical and electronic equipment and waste from end-of-life vehicles in Macedonia
According to the Stockholm Convention ratified in 2004 which provides the guidelines on reduction, replacement, ban and/or restricting usage of the persistent organic pollutants (POPs), the Republic of Macedonia prepared the First Inventory in 2005, identifying the quantities of POPs in different industrial sectors and measures were proposed to overcome the challenges in terms of prevention and mitigation of the negative impact of POPs chemicals on human health and ecosystems.
In 2012 the technical bodies of the Stockholm Convention extended the List of POPs chemicals with new industrial chemicals which include two major groups of compounds: a) PBDEs (polybrominated diphenyl ethers) and PFOS (perfluorooctane sulphonic acid and its salts) that were used in the past in developed countries in the production of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), in the transport sector and in various industries as surface-active component that have improved the characteristics of the products.
Almost 95% of the total historical application of c-OctaBDE has been in Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) polymer that was added during production of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) in content of 12-15%, and 90% – 95% of the c-PentaBDE usage was in the production of PUR foam (content ranged from 3-5% c-PentaBDE). Global data show that about 36% of this PUR foam is used in the transport sector.
In the period 1970-2005, 1.3-1.5 Mt of total PBDEs was produced worldwide. EU countries banned production of PBDEs in 1997 and the U.S. in 2005, but products containing PBDEs are still in use and it is expected that one day these materials and products will become a waste.
Products and materials containing PBDEs after completing their life span pose risk to the environment caused by improper waste management (disposal around rivers, agricultural lands, stockpiling of landfills and sediments, as well as reuse in the facilities for recycling of WEEE). Their decomposition directly affects the air, soil and water quality, impacting as well the food chain and indirectly the human health.
Large part of these materials is already in the global chain of recycling of electrical and electronic equipment and plastics from vehicles during production of new products, and they will still have use value. But we should be very careful of the quantity of products and materials containing PBDEs that ended up as unused waste and are improperly managed.
What is the situation in Macedonia with products containing PBDEs, which are priority sectors, what quantities of products containing PBDEs are used, whether there is a stockpile, what amount of waste is generated by products containing PBDEs and what are the quantities of PBDEs in our country? Do we know enough about the content and the potential risk of POPs on human health and the environment? Do we have the necessary infrastructure for the proper collection of end-of-life vehicles and waste of electrical and electronic equipment? Do we need a system for the identification and detailed inventory of products, obsolete stocks, waste and contaminated sites containing POPs? What are the socio-economic impacts of POPs chemicals?
For all these issues the team of authors of the paper attempted to find an answer.
In the period 2012-2013 the initial identification and inventory quantities of PBDEs (c-OctaBDE in electrical and electronic equipment and waste from electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) in the Republic of Macedonia was performed as well as the quantities of c-PentaBDE in the transport sector through their lifespan (including waste from end-of-life vehicles) were determined. This is a basis for defining the mitigation measures for reducing the adverse impact of waste containing PBDEs to the environment.
Abstract for Energy production from waste in the Northeast Region of the Republic of Macedonia
Keywords: Incineration of solid waste, incineration of waste, energy from waste, global warming potential, Strategic Environmental impact Assessment (SEA), Northeast Region of the Republic of Macedonia.
Authors: Liljana Peeva 1 Slavjanka Pejcinovska – Andonova 2, Zdravko Andonov3, Tanja Nikolovska4
1 The Engineering and Environmental science consultancy Company “EcoMosaic” dooel Skopje, Republic of Macedonia
2 The Engineering and Environmental science consultancy Company “EcoMosaic” dooel Skopje, Republic of Macedonia
3 The Engineering and Environmental science consultancy Company “EcoMosaic” dooel Skopje, Republic of Macedonia
4 The Engineering and Environmental science consultancy Company “EcoMosaic” dooel Skopje, Republic of Macedonia
Title: Energy production from waste in the Northeast Region of the Republic of Macedonia
The joint public company “ECO – ZONE Kumanovo”, established by a decision of the Municipal Councils of Kumanovo, Kratovo, Kriva Palanka, Lipkovo and Rankovce for Waste Management in the Northeast Region, plans construction of the waste incineration plant for municipal solid waste and other non-hazardous waste in KO Dobrosane, Municipality of Kumanovo with projected capacity of 160000 t / year.
The installation will use technology based on the best available techniques for waste incineration plants during design phase including the equipment purchasing, construction and operation of the plant. The plant will use the energy contained in the waste for producing electricity and heat. It will ensure the production of 95,200 MWh / year electricity of which 16800 MWh / year will be used for own purposes and 78,400 MWh / year will be delivered in the national power grid, and also thermal energy which in the beginning is planned to be deliver to external customers in total quantity of 175,000 GJ.
During the preparation of Environmental Impact Assessment Study (EIA Study) for the project prepared by the Engineering and Environmental science consultancy Company “EcoMosaic” from Skopje, the positive and negative impacts of the installation were identified and for the potential negative impacts the mitigation measures were proposed.
The key findings of the Study indicate that the emission of pollutants in all media and environmental areas will be significantly below the limit values proposed with the EU regulation and national legislation, including emissions of greenhouse gases (CO2, CO, N2O, NOx, CH4), and thus minimize the global warming potential of the installation. The emissions of carbon dioxide are optimized with high energy efficiency of the installation (at least 0.65), the CO, N2O, NOx with the design of the chamber for burning based on computer models of fluid dynamic and application of selective non – catalytic reduction (SNRC – Dediox / DeNOx method) and for CH4 with decompression of the bunker for waste storage and air intake in the incineration chamber.
Additionally, the installation will ensure reduction of the deposited waste, and thus reduced the required landfill space for 97% during recycling of the incineration residues (metal in the metal-processing industry and slag in construction). This will eliminate emissions of CH4 from the disposal of waste will be diverted to incineration and further reduced global warming potential of the installation.
Finally, the installation will ensure the implementation of national commitments for diverting the biodegradable municipal waste from landfill to processing installations (Directive 1999/31 on the landfill of waste and Rules for the quantity of biodegradable substances from the waste that could be deposited) and will contribute to achieving the national targets for waste processing established by the Law of Management of Packaging and Packaging waste and Law of Electrical and Electronic equipment and Waste Electrical and Electronic equipment.