Leaching Implications of Postcombustion Consumer Batteries in Municipal Waste Incinerator Ash

Abstract

Municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) is a major form of municipal waste management worldwide that generates an ash product, or unburned material, composed of slags, metals, glass, ceramics, and trace amounts of unburned organics. Because the physical properties of MSWI ash are similar to traditionally used aggregates in construction, there is growing interest in the use of MSWI ash in civil engineering applications, such as a road base aggregate. An item commonly found in municipal waste is postconsumer batteries. This research investigated the environmental impact of postcombustion consumer batteries (PCCB) on an MSWI ash aggregate for road base. The leaching of trace metals from ash with increasing amounts of PCCB (1%, 2%, 5%, and 10% by mass) was examined using the Synthetic Precipitation Leaching Procedure (SPLP). PCCB leaching was also assessed separately (100% by mass). The leaching results suggest that presence of PCCB in ash at low mass percentages (1%–10%) does not contribute to the leaching of trace metals beyond the environmental risk thresholds used to evaluate beneficial use activities.