Safety and emissions

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AVR strives for the maximum recovery of energy and raw materials from residual waste while operating safely and in accordance with the European emission regulations. As a company subject to the BRZO (decree on the risks of serious accidents) we are aware of our surroundings and the environment. We have an obligation to prevent any possible consequences of or nuisance from our processes on and around our site and to limit the risks to the surrounding area.

Flue gas scrubbing

Residual waste contains various substances that are released by incineration. Some of these substances are included in the flue gases 100% of which are captured and cleaned in the flue gas scrubbing installation. This is how we prevent harmful substances from entering the environment. The most important emissions are measured and constantly monitored – every second of every minute of every hour of every day, 365 days of the year. Harmless substances, including water vapour (26%), nitrogen (55%), oxygen (9%) and carbon dioxide (10%) make up 99.99994% of the released smoke. These substances are ‘normal’ components of our atmosphere. Around 10% of the flue gases is CO₂ and over 50% of that CO₂ has a biogenic or climate-neutral origin (organic waste, wood, paper). We focus all our attention on the very small portion (0.0006%) of the flue gases that comprises environmentally-harmful substances.

Emission of environmentally-harmful substances

AVR is very aware of the emission of environmentally-harmful substances. All our installations used for processing and incinerating residual waste and/or recovering energy are covered by the environmental licence. This licence specifies limits for the emission of environmentally-harmful substances. The emissions of the most important substances are continuously measured, compared with the standards and, when necessary, adjusted.

AVR is a sustainable company, so continuous monitoring is the order of the day.

Companies in the Netherlands are obliged to take into consideration and reduce the emission of Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC). Our water treatment process is currently being adjusted. This should result in increased reliability and robustness and reduced emissions. We want to ensure we continue complying with increasingly-stringent future demands and standards. An inventory of all our processes that looked at the use of auxiliary materials, the effectiveness of incineration, water purification and flue gas scrubbing was carried out in September 2020 and showed that incineration is a good way to remove SVHC from the living environment. Monitoring the residual emissions of these substances has been obligatory for many years. We are striving to reduce these emissions still further.

Ensuring safety

Twice a year a certified agency measures the emissions to ascertain whether the permissible emission levels are being exceeded. The measured values are recorded and reported to the DCMR environmental service (omgevingsdienst DCMR) or the ODRA environmental service. We also maintain good contacts with the Rotterdam-Rijnmond and Central Gelderland safety regions.

Stringent monitoring and control for a cleaner world.

We monitor and control all our processes to ensure our waste-to-energy plants operate as efficiently as possible. We also make sure we comply with the stipulations related to external safety and possible risks from the installations. Any exceeding of emission limits or deviations to operating processes are reported immediately. The website risicokaart.nl provides information regarding possible risks in the area. Because AVR wants to be open and considered a ‘good neighbour’ we maintain a continuous dialogue with our stakeholders and consultations with neighbouring companies in order to operate in a socially-responsible way and guarantee safety now and in the future.