Environmentally Sound Disposal of POPs Waste

—Technology and Foresight—

Abstract

Waste from persistent organic pollutants (i. e. POPs waste) must be properly disposed of due to its hazardous properties. Collection, storage, and transport of waste, monitoring of the waste stream, and treatment technology are all needed in order to achieve the environmentally sound disposal of POPs. In this manuscript, we provide an overview of conventional technologies related to thermal and chemical destructions, which apply to legacy POPs. In addition, the applicability of such technologies to new POPs, such as short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) and decabrominated diphenyl ether (DeBDE), are summarized and a framework for future tasks is also put forward. We conclude that particular attention must be given to unintentional production by thermal treatments and we acknowledge that an applicability assessment of conventional chemical treatments into new POPs is an area that still remains to be studied. We hope that a regulatory system will be established for the application of each of these technologies as the environmentally sound management of POPs waste is now required at a crucial level.