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Waste Incineration — A Potential Danger?

Bidding Farewell to Dioxin Spouting

In the eighties of the previous century, waste incineration plants (WIPs) came to be the symbol of environmental contamination: citizens were beginning to put up a fight against the throw-away society and 'dioxin spouting' on the outskirts of cities. That protest was a success. Today, more than half of all household waste (55%) is recycled as bio-waste, waste paper, waste glass, or packaging waste. Since June 1, 2005, untreated waste is no longer landfilled. And because of stringent regulations (cf. the chapters at the end of this paper), waste incineration plants are no longer significant in terms of emissions of dioxins, dust, and heavy metals.