Spain once again leads pollution from emissions from waste incineration in Europe

Spain once again leads pollution from emissions from waste incineration in Europe

• A new report published by Zero Waste Europe on biomonitoring research into emissions from waste incinerators in Spain, the Czech Republic and Lithuania reveals high levels of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the vicinity of waste incinerators.
• For the second consecutive year, the most contaminated area in this investigation is located in the Spanish State, specifically in the area around the Valdemingómez incinerator, in the city of Madrid.
• Ecologists in Action, the Regional Federation of Neighborhood Associations of Madrid (FRAVM) and the Environment Action Group have collaborated with the ToxicoWatch Foundation in taking samples from the Valdemingómez environment.

Biomonitoring research commissioned from the ToxicoWatch Foundation has analyzed the deposition of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in biomarkers such as free-range chicken eggs, pine needles and mosses. This is a European project coordinated by Zero Waste Europe (ZWE).

The project has been carried out simultaneously, during 2021 and 2022, in Spain, the Czech Republic and Lithuania. The ToxicoWatch Foundation, based in the Netherlands, participates as a scientific partner along with three environmental and neighborhood organizations in Spain (Ecologists in Action of the Community of Madrid, the Regional Federation of Neighborhood Associations of Madrid-FRAVM and the Action Group for the Environment-GRAMA), an organization in the Czech Republic (Hnutí DUHA) and another in Lithuania (Žiedinė Ekonomika).

The areas included in the research have been those located in the surroundings of the waste incinerators: UAB Kauno Cogeneration Power Plant (Kaunas, Lithuania), the incinerator of the Valdemingómez Technology Park (Madrid, Spain) and ZEVO Chotíkov (Pilsen, Czech Republic ).

The research reveals that:

• The majority of eggs from free-range chickens for self-consumption, in the vicinity of the three incinerators, exceed the EU legal limits for bioassay (DR CALUX) and chemical analysis (GC-MS) regulated in Regulation 2017/644 of the EU.
• Analysis of vegetation, pine needles and mosses shows dioxins in high concentrations in areas close to waste incinerators in the three countries by DR CALUX bioassay.
• High amounts of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are found, through FITC-T4 bioassay measurements, in mosses, pine needles and eggs from domestic free-range chickens in the three areas around the waste incinerators.
• High levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are found in mosses, and pine needles around the three bioassay waste incinerators (PAH CALUX).

Valdemingómez, in Madrid, the most contaminated area

The most contaminated area in this biomonitoring research is in Madrid, in the area of Valdemingómez, one of the oldest waste incinerators in Europe. The highest levels of dioxins measured in ToxicoWatch biomonitoring studies in Europe have been those of Valdemingómez mosses. Something similar happens for evergreen trees (pine and cypress), dioxins and PAHs once again register the highest level in this research, just as happened in the biomonitoring study in 2021. The report indicates that the high levels located at southwest of the facilities may be related to the deposit of ash bags, some of them broken, as environmental and neighborhood groups reported last October. Finally, for chicken eggs, in 2022 biomonitoring has shown higher levels of dioxins, most likely with brominated dioxins.

Need for biomonitoring

The study also highlights the limitations of POP measurements based on chemical analysis, required by EU legislation, as they do not measure the total toxicity of (thousands) of toxic substances (PCDD/F, dl-PCB, PAHs and PFAS) emitted by waste incinerators. Furthermore, the data currently available on POPs emissions is based on calculated figures and averages, which provides a misleading picture of actual emissions.

Janek Vähk, coordinator of the Climate, Energy and Air Pollution Program at ZWE, said: “Waste combustion facilities emit toxic substances that persist in the environment, bioaccumulate in ecosystems and have significant negative effects on human health. and the natural environment. Thousands of people live near these combustion facilities across Europe. To date they have not been informed of the health and safety risks of these facilities nor are they entitled to compensation for the harm they suffer when these facilities fail to comply with the law.”

Carlos Arribas, spokesperson for Ecologistas en Acción, points out the need to promote biomonitoring to understand the situation of population and environmental health regarding emissions from waste incinerators. Remember that, in the case of Spain, the Strategic Health and Environment Plan, approved in 2021, includes implementing human biomonitoring strategies as a tool to monitor the relationship between exposure and potential health effects. But to date they are not being carried out.

Taking into account the results of the research, ZWE, Ecologistas en Acción, FRAVM and GRAMA recommend taking advantage of the current review of the Industrial Emissions Directive to:

• Mandate the use of bioassays to control POP emissions from waste combustion facilities.
• Oblige operators to publish all emissions data, even in raw values (not just calculated figures, averages...), as well as original laboratory analysis reports.
• Guarantee rights to compensation for damages caused when these facilities fail to comply with the law.
• Establish the “strictest possible” POP emission limit values consistent with the “lowest achievable emissions” through the application of Best Available Technologies (BAT).

IV March for the closure of the Valdemingómez incinerator

On January 22, the Working Group for the closure of the Valdemingómez incinerator, formed by Ecologists in Action of the Community of Madrid, the FRAVM and GRAMA, will organize the IV march from Ensanche de Vallecas to the Valdemingómez incinerator to demand the closure of this facility.

Report