Municipal Solid Waste Incineration in France: An Overview of Air Pollution Control Techniques, Emissions, and Energy Efficiency

Summary In France, municipal solid waste (MSW) is primarily incinerated. This study aims at providing a complete, up‐to‐date, description of French MSW incineration regarding its technological, environmental, and energy features, in a context where these features are decisive for robust life cycle assessments (LCAs) to be performed. Data relative to, respectively, air pollution control (APC) techniques, consumption of reagents, air emissions and energy consumption and recovery were collected with respect to 90 French MSW incineration plants, considering the period 2012–2015. The compiled data set is representative for approximately 73% of the total mass of MSW annually incinerated in France (10.65 million tonnes of MSW in 2012). The analysis of the collected data first enables to determine the most used APC techniques in the French MSW incineration sector, respectively distinguishing “dedusting + acid gas treatment” and “DeNOx + abatement of dioxins.” Moreover, the statistical parameters that characterize the consumption of reagents in the French MSW incineration sector are provided as a function of APC techniques. Furthermore, regarding eight pollutants usually considered (at least partly) “process specific” in the LCA of MSW incineration (NOx, dust, dioxins, NH 3 , CO, volatile organic compounds, HCl, and SOx), this study discusses the significance—in a statistical point of view—of differences in incineration air emission factors from one APC technique to the other. Finally, average energy consumption and energy recovery efficiency of the French MSW incineration sector are provided and discussed.