Environment The Future Lights on the Bay Koto-ku, Tokyo Waste Disposal Facility Development June 1996

Environment The Future Lights on the Bay Koto-ku, Tokyo Waste Disposal Facility Development June 1996

In the mid-1990s, Tokyo was faced with the triple burden of increasing waste generation, a tightening of final disposal facilities, and the emergence of the dioxin problem. Even under the financial constraints imposed by the bursting of the bubble economy, the compatibility of urban sanitation and environmental standards had to be addressed, and the raising of incineration capacity and tightening of exhaust gas regulations were proceeding simultaneously in a wide area of the Tokyo metropolitan area. The ongoing construction of a new facility in the bay area of Koto-ku is positioned within this context.

The core of the plan is a 15% increase in processing capacity and advanced heat recovery that simultaneously extracts heat and electricity. The furnace is envisioned to be a high-efficiency stoker type, which will burn at high temperatures for a long time to reduce carbon monoxide and unburned fuel, and generate electricity by extracting steam from the boiler, while the residual heat will be used to supply heat to the local community. Hot water and steam will be piped to nearby residences and public facilities to reduce the winter heating load, thereby boosting the energy efficiency of the entire city.

Air pollution control is a multi-step process. Dry or semi-dry exhaust gas treatment involves spraying lime to remove acidic components and collecting fine particles with bag filters. Activated carbon is used in combination to adsorb trace toxic substances such as dioxin and mercury, and nitrogen oxides are reduced by catalytic denitration. By integrating these processes, the system can deal with dust, acidic gases, heavy metals, and chlorinated organic compounds in a comprehensive manner.

No stone has been left unturned in ash treatment. Fly ash, which is at high risk of eluting heavy metals, is stabilized with chemicals, and the main ash is recycled by magnetic separation and sieving to be reused as pavement material or cement material. If there is sufficient capacity, the volume will be reduced by melting and solidification, which will contribute to extending the life of the final disposal site. For the delivery of the waste, we will take advantage of the bayfront location to prevent the diffusion of odors through the use of indoor pits and sealed receiving bays, and to reduce traffic and environmental impact in the city through the efficient flow of ships and large vehicles.

This series of design concepts goes beyond a simple increase in processing capacity. The novelty lies in the fact that the incineration plant will have two faces: one as an urban device for distributing heat and power to the district, and the other as a hub for waste distribution and environmental standards over a wide area. The target completion date is fiscal 1998. Koto-ku's plan was intended to anticipate the standards of the next era as a model for the bay area that would unite the three areas of sanitation, energy, and the environment.