Incineration of hazardous wastes

Abstract

Glaxo has practiced incineration of liquid and gaseous wastes for over twenty years and currently operate eleven liquid and gas incinerators in the United Kingdom and Singapore. The liquid incinerators burn, as their main streams, those solvents that cannot be recovered and recycled within the processes. The early installations were for readily combustible solvents only. However, there has been a progressive move into the destruction of more difficult and hazardous wastes, with the consequential requirements for more sophisticated technology, in the belief that the responsible destruction of waste should be tackled near to its source. The eventual aim is to be self-sufficient in this area of waste management. The incineration of hazardous liquid and gaseous waste has presented a series of design, operational and monitoring problems into account which have all been successfully overcome. The solutions take into account the environmental consequences of the operations from both liquid and gaseous emissions. In order to ensure minimal environmental impact and safe operation the best practicable technology is employed. Environmental assessment forms part of the process development and permitting procedures.