OF MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTES

Waste is an inevitable byproduct of our economy and must be managed in an environmentally sound and health protective manner. Few studies have compared and evaluated the health risks of landfills and waste combustion. Furthermore, experts continue to debate whether landfill disposal or waste combustion poses less risk to human health and the environment. As most of New York City’s (NYC) municipal solid wastes are sent to landfills and some to waste-to-energy (WTE) facilities, it is of interest to assess the health risks of these two waste management options. The present study attempts to compare the inhalation health risks of landfill disposal and WTE combustion in a NYC setting using principles of risk assessment and on the basis of a critical review of the literature on the respective emissions of these two methods. In addition to landfill and WTE combustor emissions, this study considers the health impacts from transporting wastes to waste transfer stations (WTS) and landfills. Both of these technologies have been improved in the last twenty years, landfills by means of the EPA Subtitle D rules and WTE facilities through the implementation of EPA Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) standards