The Toulouse incinerator is the biggest polluter in France
According an article of the worldprotractor a compilation work of the association Zero Waste Toulouse, the Toulouse household waste incinerator released 322 tonnes of nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere in 2020. This is more than double that of Calce, in the Pyrénées-Orientales, which is nevertheless the second most major emitter in France (156 tonnes emitted). Between 2015 and 2020, the plant’s discharges jumped by 60% while its incineration capacity remained stable, notes Le Monde.
In 2021, the incinerator exceeded the regulatory concentration limit value (200 mg/Nm3) six months of the year, in March, April, July, September, October and November. In March, a peak of 251 mg/Nm3 was reached. An exception in France because the ten largest French incinerators have average annual concentrations below the bar of 80 mg/Nm3, still relates Le Monde.
Due to its dilapidation and obsolescence, the Toulouse plant will not have to comply with this European standard implemented in 2019 and applicable in 2023. A threshold of 150 mg/Nm3 has been granted to it. Its future is divided into three options: renovation, reconstruction and maintenance. “The first two scenarios resulted in commissioning in 2032 (at a cost of between 259 and 286 million euros for the first . . .