Chamber and committees

Emissions of dioxins from waste incinerators are not controlled on the basis of a permitted maximum daily level. Except for very small incinerators burning animal remains, all industrial and commercial waste incinerators in Scotland are regulated by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) under the provisions of Part 1 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

Each incinerator is required to operate in accordance with an authorisation granted by SEPA. The authorisation sets down the conditions under which the incinerator is required to operate. Conditions in authorisations are designed to prevent, or where that is not practicable, minimise the release of substances, including dioxins, into the environment. Such conditions include specifying the types of waste that may or may not be burnt; the operating conditions under which incineration may take place; emission limits; and monitoring requirements. Where an incinerator is subject to EC Directives, SEPA is required to include the necessary requirements in the relevant authorisation. Authorisations, monitoring results and details of any enforcement action are available for inspection in the public registers held in SEPA offices.Emissions of dioxins from incinerators are required to be kept as low as possible and emission limits are set on a case by case basis. European legislation requires that the concentration of dioxins in the waste gases from new hazardous waste incinerators does not exceed 0.1ng/m³. Emissions of dioxins from all other types of incinerators are expected to be less than 1ng/m³.