Environmental Impact Assessment for Waste Treatment Options

Seung Hoon LEE

Objectives and Structures

To overview the waste management system To introduce Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

for evaluation of waste management options To compare the potential impact assessment

by IWM-2 Model To predict the assessing impacts which may

be significant in relation to waste management options

Waste Management System

Waste is an inevitable part of our daily life NIMBY, PIMFY, BANANA Syndrome

Waste Management Hierarchy

• No scientific/ technical basis

• No economic assessment

• No environmental/ economic

comparisons between each other

Four stages in LCA

Goal and scoping

Impact Assessment

Improvement Assessment

Inventory Analysis

Source: SETAC 1999

Life Cycle Assessment for Waste Management

Waste Management Facility Life-Cycle

Design and Planning Permission and Licensing Construction Commission and Operation Closure or Decommissioning Post-Closure Monitoring

Waste Management Options Definition in EIA

Is there a need for the facility?

What management or disposal processes are in demand relative to the waste arising?

What is the current management and disposal capacity?

What size would the facility need to be, and does this represent an acceptable economic scale of activity?

Where would the facility best be located, in market terms?

Waste Management Facility Site Selection

To maximize conformance of the site characteristics with the project specification

To minimize environmental impacts To maximize acceptability of the project by

the local community To minimize the cost of the development

Factors Influencing Waste Management Options

Economic Factors

Technology

Environmental Considerations

Existing Waste Management

Politics and Legislation

Social Aspect

Waste Management Options

Sustainability Indicators for Waste ManagementShort term Long term

Economic AspectsEconomic AspectsInvestment cost, net operation, total net cost per collected ton, net annual total cost

Long term viability of collection and sorting operations and final disposal

Environmental AspectsEnvironmental Aspects

Quantity, quality of material recovered, local and regional health effects, residues, pollution, noise, landfill usage, natural resources used

Global impact: bio-diversity, global warning, acid rain: landscape, electricity consumption, waste produced, water usage

Social AspectsSocial Aspects Public acceptance, participation, employment

Welfare, natural resources availability

Technical AspectsTechnical Aspects Scale, flexibility, market potential

Potential for future development

Environmental Impact Assessment Stages

ScreeningScreening: regulatory authority to identify the need of EIA ScoopingScooping: identified key issues from a board range of potential concerns AssessingAssessing: direct, indirect, secondary, cumulative, short and long term, permanent, temporary, positive, and negative MitigationMitigation: reduce the undesirable impacts of a proposed action MonitoringMonitoring: environmental compliance with local regulations/effectiveness of the mitigation measures ReportingReporting: preparation of reporting ReviewingReviewing: reviewing before approval

Significance of Impacts for Different Options

LandfillLandfill IncinerationIncineration Biological Biological TreatmentTreatment

OdourOdour ooo oo ooo

Health RiskHealth Risk(Inhalation)(Inhalation)

ooo oooo o

Landfill GasesLandfill Gases oooo - -

LeachateLeachate oooo - -

TrafficTraffic oooo oo o

NoiseNoise oooo ooo o

Visual EffectVisual Effect oooo oooo oo

DustDust oooo o o

AccidentsAccidents ooo o o

O Increasing significance, - Negligible significance

Scoping of the Environmental Impact on Waste Management facilities

Potential issuesPotential issues Impacts on the environment

PopulationPopulation Perceived and actual public health risks nuisance

TransportTransport Traffic generated during construction, operation and restoration

Noise and vibrationNoise and vibration Increased noise levels during construction, traffic noise including reversing alarms

EcologyEcology Loss of habitat and protected species from restoration of minerals workings

Land and soilsLand and soils Land contamination, temporary loss of agricultural land

WaterWater Leachate from landfill – pollution of surface or groundwaters

Air and climateAir and climate Landfill gas, odour, dust and particulates, pollutants from incomplete combustion

Cultural heritageCultural heritage Loss of heritage features

LandscapeLandscape Change or loss of valued landscape

Public Health No human activity is risk-free Potential risks to the public:- Accidental emissions and discharges to air, water and

land - Emissions and discharges during routine operation by

poor design or operational practices- High level of noise, high dust level during constructing of

waste management facilities Appropriate management systemsAppropriate management systems:: prevention plans,

emergency plans, regular inspection Open management of waste management facilitiesOpen management of waste management facilities

disclose emissions data, discuss operations, encourage site visits, respond promptly to complaints

Transport Significantly increase road traffic: nuisance to residents

and road users (noise, fear) Risks of an accident involving hazardous wastes Air pollution: vehicle exhausts, dust/dirty from vehicle

carrying dusty waste/residues such as ash

Mitigation of Transport:- No transport routes through residential areas- Appropriate road condition for a significant increase in

heavy vehicle traffic - Speed restrictions on vehicles entering and leaving the

site

Monitoring and Auditing

Monitoring for noise, dust and odour issues Water quality of leachate, surface water and

groundwater Traffic management plan Air monitoring at source Visual impact, ecology, land restoration Any relevant public health indicators Any kind of social impacts

Public Consultation

Environmental awareness Understanding of environmental issues associated with

waste management options Critical to open decision-making and should begin as

early as possible in the EIA process Faithful public consultation process (conference format

rather than domenstration format) NIMBYY syndrome (concern over property value, visual

impact) Emissions: long term health effects

Conclusions EIA needs to be fully understood and taken into

account in order to prevent or minimize potential impacts on the environment.

EIA is quite comprehensive assessment because it requires possibly all kind of future impacts in the environment to be reviewed, mitigated, and monitored by professional expert.

Without proper implementing of EIA for waste management project, the future is unlikely to stray far from the common social syndrome known as “ NOT IN MY BACKYARD”.