The U.S. annual toxic dioxin emissions were examined over the
period 1987 to 2012. Dioxin emission data were compiled for 57
waste-to-energy plants, located in eighteen states of the Union
and representing 84% of the total U.S. WTE capacity. The average
dioxin concentration of these plants was 0.029 ng TEQ/dscm equivalent
(TEQ) per standard dry cubic meter of stack gas, i.e., only one
third of the E.U. standard (0.1 ng TEQ/dscm) for WTE plants. The
total amount of dioxins emitted by all U.S. WTE plants in 2012
was estimated at 3.3 g TEQ. The inventory of all U.S dioxin emissions
was divided into controlled sources, which in the period of
1987–2012 were reduced from 14.0 kg TEQ to 0.6 kg; and open
burning sources which have increased from 2.3 kg TEQ, in 1987,
to 2.9 kg TEQ in 2012.
The study showed that, by 2012, the dioxin emissions of the U.S.
WTE industry have been reduced to 0.54% of all controlled sources
and 0.09% of both controlled and non-controlled sources. An
estimated 89% of the U.S. total dioxin emissions is due to three
major non-controlled sources: landfill fires, forest and brush fires,
and backyard burning.