 Coalition for
Responsible Waste Incineration
CRWI PLAYS LEAD ROLE IN COMBUSTION RESEARCH
Waste streams are inevitable by-products of modern
civilization. Along with recycling and reuse, high temperature
combustion plays a significant role in managing our nation's -- and the
world's -- hazardous waste challenges.
The public's apprehension toward combustion stems largely from
perceived health risks from the by-products of the combustion process.
In recent years, significant progress has been made in reducing
emissions from hazardous waste combustors to trace levels of organic
compounds and heavy metals.
An increased understanding of the factors leading to emissions
has spurred improvements in design and operation of combustors to the
extent that modern, well-operated units have emissions four orders of
magnitude lower than those older units which were the cause of concern.
As a result of these technological improvements, combustion offers an
environmentally sound and often superior method for hazardous waste
management.
However, completely controlling trace levels of toxic air
emissions and developing efficient continuous emissions monitoring
systems are two of the most significant challenges facing industry
today. Ongoing research, therefore, must play an important role in
developing these increasingly sophisticated emissions reduction and
monitoring technologies.
The Coalition for Responsible Waste Incineration is playing a
lead role in establishing national, as well as international,
combustion research priorities. Through CRWI's Academic Committee,
faculty from nearly a dozen leading academic institutions are guiding
CRWI in identifying combustion research needs and priorities, sharing
important research advancements in combustion and determining practical
applications for technological advancements.
CRWI's sponsorship of the Fourth and Fifth International
Congresses on International Toxic Combustion By-products brought
together combustion experts from around the world to focus attention on
techniques that prevent emissions of all by-products into the
environment, instead of end of the pipe measures that just transfer
pollutants to another media. In addition, CRWI annually participates in
a variety of seminars and workshops in the United States and abroad on
combustion research needs.
Ongoing dialogue among CRWI's industry and academic
membership, as well as the federal government, is vital to focusing
research efforts on real industry needs and ensuring that resulting
technological solutions are applicable to real world combustion systems.
CRWI will continue to encourage advancements in combustion
technology in order to make high temperature combustion of hazardous
waste an even more environmentally sound option in the overall waste
management hierarchy.
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