Sepúlveda Olea, F.E., Burke, I.T. orcid.org/0000-0002-0484-568X, Mohammad, A. et al. (1 more author) (2024) Reuse potential of municipal solid waste incinerator bottom ash as secondary aggregate: Material characteristics, persistent organic pollutant content and effects of pH and selected environmental lixiviants on leaching behaviour. Waste Management, 187. pp. 262-274. ISSN 0956-053X
Abstract
Increasing municipal solid waste (MSW) production poses challenges for sustainable urban development. Modern energy-from-waste (EfW) facilities incinerate MSW, reducing mass and recovering energy. In the UK, MSW incineration bottom ash (MSW IBA) is primarily reused in civil engineering applications. This study characterizes UK-produced MSW IBA, examining its pH-dependent leaching behaviour and response to environmental lixiviants. Results show predominant components include a melt phase, primary glass and fine ash aggregations, and a chemical composition dominated by SiO2 (30–50 %), CaO (∼15 %), Fe2O3 (∼10 %), and Al2O3 (∼8%). X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) analysis shows that Zn and Cu are most likely oxygen-bound (adsorbed to oxy-hydroxides and as oxides) with some sulphur bound. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polychlorinated dibenzodioxins/furans (PCDD/Fs) are well below regulatory limits, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were undetectable. Leaching tests indicate trace elements mobilize at pHs ≤ 6. With a natural pH of 11.3 and high buffering capacity, significant acid inputs to the MSW IBA are required to reach this pH, which are improbable in the environment. Wood chip additions increase leachate's dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and reduce pH, but had minimal impact on metal-leaching behaviour. Synthetic plant exudate solutions minimally affect metal leaching at realistic concentrations, only enhancing leaching at ≥ 1500 mg l−1 DOC. This work supports MSW IBA's low-risk in specified civil engineering applications.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | MSW IBA; Metal leaching; Persistent organic pollutants; Circular economy; Environmental lixiviants |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Civil Engineering (Leeds) The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) > Earth Surface Science Institute (ESSI) (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 13 Aug 2024 12:25 |
Last Modified: | 13 Aug 2024 12:25 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.wasman.2024.07.026 |
Related URLs: | |
Sustainable Development Goals: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:215954 |
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