欧盟含氟温室气体管控政策及对我国相关进出口管理的启示

《关于消耗臭氧层物质的蒙特利尔议定书》(简称《议定书》)的《基加利修正案》(简称《修正案》)是继气候变化《巴黎协定》后又一里程碑式的重要文件。本文总结了《修正案》的核心要素,介绍了欧盟利用新修订的《含氟温室气体法规》对氢氟碳化物(HFCs)类物质开展管理的主要措施和制度,分析了该法规执行以来的效果和过程中存在的问题,提出了欧盟HFCs管控政策对我国进出口管理的政策法规、进出口禁令和配额管理等的管控启示。     

Comprehensive modeling of HFC-23 incineration in a CDM incinerator

Considering that a significant part of used refrigerants have to be destroyed in an environmentally friendly manner together with the high global warming potential (GWP) of HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons), the development of a proper incineration method of HFCs becomes one of the viable methods in the refrigeration and air-conditioning industry. To this end, in this study, the development of a comprehensive modeling of CHF₃ (HFC-23 or R-23) incineration is made to assist in the proper design and determination of optimal operating condition of a practical HFCs incinerator, since the refrigerant of CHF₃ is one of typical HFCs. For this, numerical investigation was performed by the development of a predictive model for the thermal destruction of the CHF₃ using CH₄–air flames in an incinerator designed for CDM (clean development mechanism) project. First of all, comparison between calculation and operation data was made to evaluate the program developed in this study. Numerical calculation of CHF₃–CH₄–air flame predicts successfully the operation data of a CDM incinerator such as temperature, CHF₃ destruction rate more than 99.99 % and other species concentrations such as CO and NO at the exit of the incinerator. Further parametric study was performed also in terms of important variables such as excess air, amount of steam and incinerator size. In general, the results obtained appear physically acceptable and give a clear physical insight into the role of the important variables. Further work is strongly recommended for the development of a general turbulent reaction model for the thermal destruction of HFCs, especially for the condition of non-equilibrium turbulent reaction dominance.     

Development of a leaching assessment framework for the utilization of coal ash at South Korean mine reclamation sites

Coal-based power generates large quantities of coal ash in South Korea. However, coal ash recycling is still inactive and most wasted coal ash is buried in landfills. Recently, beneficial uses of coal ash such as in mine reclamation sites has been increasingly considered; however, as a result of legal limitations due to environmental concerns, the utilization of coal ash at mine reclamation sites has procrastinated. Consequently, to resolve this issue, the relevant environmental impact of coal ash must be considered. Therefore, a leaching assessment framework to assess the environmental impact of coal ash utilization at South Korean mine reclamation sites is presented. The framework was used to identify leaching mechanisms and support an assessment of the environmental impact of coal ash usage at mine reclamation sites in South Korea. This framework could provide guidance with regard to designing more realistic leaching procedures appropriate for all mine conditions and could support the development of regulations and protocols for future environment-friendly coal ash usage.     

The status of flood wastes treatment and future tasks in South Korea

Natural disasters such as typhoon, flood, and heavy rainfall cause damage in South Korea every year during the summer season. After each rainy season, South Korea suffers not only from flood wastes but also from debris that pile up at dams and stagnate at the estuary of the river. Thus, it is very important to handle these types of wastes as quickly as possible to recover from flood damages and to prevent environmental contamination such as offensive odor and water contamination by the leachate from flood wastes. Other countries such as Japan or USA have established and implemented regulations and guidelines for flood waste. Note, however, that South Korea did not establish practical guidelines; hence, the urgency of establishing practical measures for flood waste. In this study, we suggested various ways of making environmentally sound guidelines including the method of reducing the amount of flood waste by environmentally sound treatment process for flood waste, and the method of setting up and operating the temporary storage site for purposes of efficient separation and treatment of flood waste.     

Cost effective waste management through composting in Africa

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per person from urban waste management activities are greater in sub-Saharan African countries than in other developing countries, and are increasing as the population becomes more urbanised. Waste from urban areas across Africa is essentially dumped on the ground and there is little control over the resulting gas emissions. The clean development mechanism (CDM), from the 1997 Kyoto Protocol has been the vehicle to initiate projects to control GHG emissions in Africa. However, very few of these projects have been implemented and properly registered. A much more efficient and cost effective way to control GHG emissions from waste is to stabilise the waste via composting and to use the composted material as a soil improver/organic fertiliser or as a component of growing media. Compost can be produced by open windrow or in-vessel composting plants. This paper shows that passively aerated open windrows constitute an appropriate low-cost option for African countries. However, to provide an usable compost material it is recommended that waste is processed through a materials recovery facility (MRF) before being composted. The paper demonstrates that material and biological treatment (MBT) are viable in Africa where they are funded, e.g. CDM. However, they are unlikely to be instigated unless there is a replacement to the Kyoto Protocol, which ceases for Registration in December 2012.     

Policy options to reduce consumer waste to zero: comparing product stewardship and extended producer responsibility for refrigerator waste.

Today, over-consumption, pollution and resource depletion threaten sustainability. Waste management policies frequently fail to reduce consumption, prevent pollution, conserve resources and foster sustainable products. However, waste policies are changing to focus on lifecycle impacts of products from the cradle to the grave by extending the responsibilities of stakeholders to post-consumer management. Product stewardship and extended producer responsibility are two policies in use, with radically different results when compared for one consumer product, refrigerators. North America has enacted product stewardship policies that fail to require producers to take physical or financial responsibility for recycling or for environmentally sound disposal, so that releases of ozone depleting substances routinely occur, which contribute to the expanding the ozone hole. Conversely, Europe's Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive requires extended producer responsibility, whereby producers collect and manage their own post-consumer waste products. WEEE has resulted in high recycling rates of greater than 85%, reduced emissions of ozone-depleting substances and other toxins, greener production methods, such as replacing greenhouse gas refrigerants with environmentally friendly hydrocarbons and more reuse of refrigerators in the EU in comparison with North America.     

A short review on hydrothermal liquefaction of livestock manure and a chance for Korea to advance swine manure to bio-oil technology

Due to the abundant supply and suitable physicochemical characteristics of livestock manure, it may be a useful biomass to produce biofuels, such as “bio-oil.” Hydrothermal liquefaction is a promising method for converting such wet biomasses into a liquid fuels and has attracted attention worldwide. In this review, the current state of research on the hydrothermal liquefaction of livestock manure biomasses is summarized. The effect of operating parameters on the yield of bio-oil is also reviewed. The fundamental characteristics of raw manure biomasses and converted oils are outlined and discussed in the paper. To reduce the use of fossil fuel and nuclear energy, the South Korean government has pledged to increase renewable energy. Based on findings from a literature review, it can be concluded that there is a chance for Korea to advance bio-oil production from the abundant and tremendous energy potential of swine manure by a hydrothermal liquefaction process.     

Korea's policy instruments for waste minimization

This paper considers the current status of waste generation and waste treatment trends, and introduces a wide variety of policy instruments for waste minimization at every stage of economic activity in Korea, i.e., production, distribution, and consumption. At each stage, the Korean government has imposed a policy mix of direct regulations and economic incentives. These policy instruments have made definite contributions to a reduction of waste generation and an increase in the recycling rate. Despite these fruitful outcomes, there are still some shortcomings with respect to efficiency and equity. Among other aspects, this paper examines three representative economic incentives – the charge system, the volume-based-collection fee system, and the deposit–refund system – and identifies shortcomings in each. Some suggestions are made for the creation of better systems of economic incentives. However, many experts insist that this kind of piecemeal change in each policy instrument is not enough to achieve the ultimate goal of resource circulation and an environmentally friendly society, especially in Korea, which is a country with little land, a high population density, and a high economic growth rate. Among experts, special emphasis is placed on the activation of recycling industries to achieve these goals. Received: April 2, 2001 / Accepted: September 10, 2001     

Sustainable solid waste management: An integrated approach for Asian countries

Solid waste management (SWM) has been an integral part of every human society. The approaches for SWM should be compatible with the nature of a given society, and, in this regard, Asian countries are no exception. In keeping with global trends, the systems are being oriented to concentrate on sustainability issues; mainly through the incorporation of 3R (reduce, reuse and recycle) technologies. However, degree and nature of improvements toward sustainability are varying and depend on the economic status of a country. High-income countries like Japan and South Korea can afford to spend more to incorporate 3R technologies. Most of the latest efforts focus on “Zero Waste” and/or “Zero Landfilling” which is certainly expensive for weaker economies such as those of India or Indonesia. There is a need to pragmatically assess the expectations of SWM systems in Asian countries. Hence, in this paper, we analyze the situation in different Asian countries, and explore future trends. We conceptually evaluate issues surrounding the sustainability of SWM. We propose a multi-pronged integrated approach for improvement that achieves sustainable SWM in the context of national policy and legal frameworks, institutional arrangement, appropriate technology, operational and financial management, and public awareness and participation. In keeping with this approach, a generic action plan has been proposed that could be tailored to suit a situation in a particular country. Our proposed concept and action plan framework would be useful across a variety of country-specific scenarios.     

Extension of EU Emissions Trading Scheme to Other Sectors and Gases: Consequences for Uncertainty of Total Tradable Amount

Emissions trading in the European Union (EU), covering the least uncertain emission sources of greenhouse gas emission inventories (CO₂ from combustion and selected industrial processes in large installations), began in 2005. During the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol (2008–2012), the emissions trading between Parties to the Protocol will cover all greenhouse gases (CO₂, CH₄, N₂O, HFCs, PFCs, and SF₆) and sectors (energy, industry, agriculture, waste, and selected land-use activities) included in the Protocol. In this paper, we estimate the uncertainties in different emissions trading schemes based on uncertainties in corresponding inventories. According to the results, uncertainty in emissions from the EU15 and the EU25 included in the first phase of the EU emissions trading scheme (2005–2007) is ±3% (at 95% confidence interval relative to the mean value). If the trading were extended to CH₄ and N₂O, in addition to CO₂, but no new emissions sectors were included, the tradable amount of emissions would increase by only 2% and the uncertainty in the emissions would range from −4 to +8%. Finally, uncertainty in emissions included in emissions trading under the Kyoto Protocol was estimated to vary from −6 to +21%. Inclusion of removals from forest-related activities under the Kyoto Protocol did not notably affect uncertainty, as the volume of these removals is estimated to be small.     

Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) management in Korea: generation, collection, and recycling systems

In Korea, generation of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), or electronic waste (e-waste), has rapidly increased in recent years. The management of WEEE has become a major issue of concern for solid waste communities due to the volumes of waste being generated and the potential environmental impacts associated with the toxic chemicals found in most electronic devices. Special attention must be paid when dealing with WEEE because of toxic materials that it contains (e.g., heavy metals, polybrominated diphenyl ethers, phthalates, and polyvinyl chloride). If managed improperly, the disposal of WEEE can adversely affect the environment and human health. Environmental regulatory agencies; electronic equipment manufacturers, retailers, and recyclers; environmental nongovernmental organizations; and many others are much interested in updated statistics with regard to how much WEEE is generated, stored, recycled, and disposed of. In Korea, an extended producer responsibility policy was introduced in 2003 not only to reduce the amount of electronic products requiring disposal, but also to promote resource recovery from WEEE; the policy currently applies to a total of ten electrical and electronic product categories. This article presents an overview of the current recycling practices and management of electrical and electronic waste in Korea. Specifically, the generation rates, recycling systems and processes, and recent regulations of WEEE are discussed. We estimated that 1 263 000 refrigerators, 701 000 washing machines, 1 181 000 televisions, and 109 000 airconditioning units were retired and handled by the WEEE management system in 2006. More than 40% of the products were collected and recycled by producers. Four major producers’ recycling centers and other WEEE recycling facilities are currently in operation, and these process a large faction of WEEE for the recovery of valuable materials. Much attention should still be paid to pollution prevention and resource conservation with respect to WEEE. Several suggestions are made in order to deal with electronic waste management problems effectively and to prevent potential impacts.     

Experimental and numerical calculations of waste R-134a thermal decomposition for energy and fluorine material recovery

Considering the global warming potential of R-134a (C₂H₂F₄) with the substantial generation of this refrigerant as waste material in various industrial sectors, the development of proper thermal destruction method of R-134a is of great practical significance. For this, experiment and numerical calculations have initially made for a tubular-type furnace in order to figure out the basic combustion characteristics of R-134a. A series of experimental investigations for the thermal decomposition of R-134a have been made as a function of wall temperature of tubular furnace and important reacting species such as O₂ and H₂O necessary for the decomposition of C₂H₂F₄ into HF, CO₂ and H₂O. In general, the thermal decomposition of R-134a is successfully made for the condition of temperature above 800 °C with the supply of stoichiometric amount of O₂ and these results are well agreed with numerical prediction. And this information is employed for the simulation of a full-scale, practical incinerator used for the CDM project. For this, numerical investigation has been made for a commercial-scale incinerator using CH₄–air flames for the proper destruction C₂H₂F₄ together with the control of pollutants such as CO and NO. In general, the destruction rate of C₂H₂F₄ appears more than 99.99 % and the generation of CO and NO species appears rather sensitive to the operational condition such as amount of water vapor. The numerical method of HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons) thermal treatment shows high possibility as a viable tool for the proper design and optimal determination of the operational condition for a HFCs incinerator.     

对我国新化学物质管理的建议

介绍了我国新化学物质管理工作的进展，并针对存在的问题提出一些建议:编制我国的新化学物质环境管理法规，要从我国实际情况出发，可以借鉴国外的经验，但不能照搬国外的法规;我国新化学物质的管理应纳入整个化学物质管理之中，充分利用现有的化学物质管理组织机构来监管新化学物质，执行现有的危险化学物质、有毒化学物质、危险废物的储存、运输、生产方面的相关规章制度。     

International comparative study of 3R and waste management policy developments

Reduce, reuse, and recycle (3R) policies form the basis of waste management and global warming countermeasures globally, so we conducted a comparative study of 3R and waste management policies in the European Union (EU), USA, Korea, Japan, China, and Vietnam. An international workshop for 3R and waste management policymakers was held in Kyoto, Japan, and a bibliographic survey was also conducted to collect data. 3R policies are clearly given priority in the hierarchy of waste management in every country studied. Thermal recovery, which includes power generation from waste heat and methane gas collected from organic waste, is also a priority; this is consistent with the increased use of countermeasures to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In the EU, waste management is characterized by practical and effective 3R policies through the development of realistic regulations and by the policymakers??desire to simplify management systems. The policy ideal in China, however, is the development of a circular economy that targets reductions in the amount and hazardousness of waste. Limits on the number of final disposal sites, strategies for procuring resources, and GHG emission countermeasures are closely linked with 3R policies, and further development of 3R policies in parallel with such issues is expected.     

Non-Uniform Regulations of Underground Storage Tanks in the United States: Calls for a National-Scale Revision

Leaking underground storage tanks (USTs) are one of the major sources of ground water contamination. United States federal regulations for USTs were established in September of 1988. Since that time little or no amendments have been made to these regulations. In order to protect sensitive areas such as aquifer recharge zones for public water supply wells and wetlands, different states have been obligated to apply more stringent standards than the federal UST regulations. This practice however, has led to a non-uniform application of regulations for USTs throughout the country. In this article, United States regulations for USTs are reviewed and its deficits are highlighted. Based on these regulations and the experience of northeastern states of United States, a sequence of leak and spill preventive measures for USTs is proposed. Application of the proposed measures could substantially reduce the possibility of UST failure and would be more protective of the subsurface environment.     

A Global Outlook to the Carbon Dioxide Emissions in the World and Emission Factors of the Thermal Power Plants in Turkey

World primary energy demand increases with increases in population and economic development. Within the last 25 yr, the total energy consumption has almost doubled. For the purpose of meeting this demand, fossil energy sources are used and various pollutants are generated. CO₂ is also one of these gases, which cannot be removed like other pollutants, and it causes greenhouse effect and climate change. Reducing the CO₂ emission is very important because of the environmental concerns and regulations, especially the Kyoto Protocol. This paper reviews the estimated world carbon emissions, Turkey's situation in electrical energy production, emission amounts estimated until the year 2020 and emission factors for dust, SO₂, NO_x and CO₂. The estimated results show that CO₂ emissions from thermal power plants in Turkey will make about 0.66 % of the global CO₂ emissions in 2020.     

Greenhouse gases accounting and reporting for waste management – A South African perspective

This paper investigates how greenhouse gases are accounted and reported in the waste sector in South Africa. Developing countries (including South Africa) do not have binding emission reduction targets, but many of them publish different greenhouse gas emissions data which have been accounted and reported in different ways. Results show that for South Africa, inventories at national and municipal level are the most important tools in the process of accounting and reporting greenhouse gases from waste. For the development of these inventories international initiatives were important catalysts at national and municipal levels, and assisted in developing local expertise, resulting in increased output quality. However, discrepancies in the methodology used to account greenhouse gases from waste between inventories still remain a concern. This is a challenging issue for developing countries, especially African ones, since higher accuracy methods are more data intensive. Analysis of the South African inventories shows that results from the recent inventories can not be compared with older ones due to the use of different accounting methodologies. More recently the use of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) procedures in Africa, geared towards direct measurements of greenhouse gases from landfill sites, has increased and resulted in an improvement of the quality of greenhouse gas inventories at municipal level.     

Efforts to develop regulations in Korea similar to the US maximum achievable control technology (MACT) regulations for hazardous waste incinerators

The development of regulations patterned after the United States’ requirement for maximum achievable control technology (MACT) to control hazardous air pollutants from major industrial sources in Korea is in progress. Current management practices and installed air pollution control devices were surveyed; emission tests and continuous emission data collected from facilities under operation were assessed considering other MACT requirements such as reporting, report keeping requirements. Emission sampling and air pollutant analysis were carried out at representative hazardous waste incinerators installed with wet-type and dry-type air pollution control devices. Korean and United States Environmental Protection Agency methods were used for sampling and analysis. The major heavy metals emitted were Zn, Ni, Pb, and Cr. The heavy metal removal efficiency of existing air pollution control devices was greater than 99%. The average mercury removal efficiency was more than 30%. Toluene; m,p-xylene; o-xylene; benzene; dichloromethane; styrene; ethylbenzene; 1,3-dichlorobenzene; and 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene were the major volatile organic compounds emitted. The emissions from field tests were compared, reviewed, and analyzed with respect to MACT regulations to check applicability. Finally, draft guidelines were suggested for effective hazardous air pollutant management in Korea.     

EU strategies and policies on soil and waste management to offset greenhouse gas emissions

Climate change has become an important political priority in the environmental field, and beyond. To revert the increase in the Earth’s temperature, developed country parties to the Kyoto Protocol committed to limit their greenhouse gas emissions. The 15 Member States that made up the European Community in 1997 have a combined reduction target of 8% in CO₂-equivalent emissions in the period 2008–2012 compared to 1990. The role of soil, both as a source and a sink for carbon, is particularly important. How can soil organic matter be maintained or increased? There is no single answer, and a broad range of options need to be explored. Among the different measures proposed, the promotion of organic input on arable land (crop residues, cover crops, farm yard manure, compost, sewage sludge) has been mentioned. The challenge is to ensure that organic wastes of good quality are used to increase soil organic matter in carbon depleted soils and that appropriate monitoring is established. On the waste management front, the European Commission intends to produce guidance for Member States on the management of biowaste that will take into account all related environmental issues, including soil aspects. As for monitoring, the European Commission has put forward legislation according to which Member States would have to identify the areas at risk of soil organic matter decline in their national territory. Such legislation should be regarded as a major step forward for Europe, as it would ensure a high level of soil protection across the Community. This development will have the potential to enable the kind of estimation, measurement or modelling of crop or grazing land management needed for accounting under Article 3.4 of the Kyoto Protocol.     

An overview of municipal solid waste management in China

Municipal solid waste management (MSWM) in China warrants particular attention as China has become the largest MSW generator in the world and the total amount of MSW it produces continues to increase. In recent years, central and local governments have made great efforts to improve MSWM in China. New regulations and policies have been issued, urban infrastructure has been improved, and commercialization and international cooperation have been encouraged. Considering these developments, an overview is necessary to analyze the current state as well as new opportunities and challenges regarding MSWM in China. This paper shows that since the late 1990s, the amount of MSW collected has been largely decoupled from economic growth and incineration has become an increasingly widespread treatment method for MSW. We identify and discuss four major challenges and barriers related to China’s MSWM, and propose an integrated management framework to improve the overall eco-efficiency of MSWM.