Emissions to water by Waste management companies in the Netherlands, 1990-2001
Emissions to water by waste management companies are low, when taken over the country as a whole. Local emissions from landfills can lead to exceedances of the water quality standards.
| 1990 | 1995 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | of which | ||
| direct | indirect | ||||||
| Nutrients | 1 000 kg | ||||||
| Nitrogen (as N total) | 2 790 | 5 630 | 5 390 | 5 160 | 5 110 | 228 | 4 885 |
| Phosphorus (as P total) | 81.0 | 55.2 | 48.4 | 131 | 110 | 1.09 | 109 |
| Metals | |||||||
| Cadmium (Cd) | 0.0998 | 0.0695 | 0.0595 | 0.0578 | 0.0612 | 0.0204 | 0.0408 |
| Chromium (Cr) | 1.00 | 2.59 | 1.84 | 1.71 | 2.11 | 0.254 | 1.86 |
| Copper (Cu) | 0.602 | 2.82 | 0.97 | 1.51 | 1.30 | 0.172 | 1.13 |
| Mercury (Hg) | 0.0610 | 0.103 | 0.0445 | 0.0290 | 0.0576 | 0.0016 | 0.0419 |
| Lead (Pb) | 0.896 | 0.908 | 0.84 | 1.01 | 0.786 | 0.140 | 0.646 |
| Nickel (Ni) | 1.71 | 1.69 | 1.72 | 1.63 | 1.60 | 0.201 | 1.40 |
| Zinc (Zn) | 3.24 | 5.81 | 4.70 | 7.76 | 7.17 | 0.981 | 6.19 |
| Source: CCDM (2003). | CBS/EDC/Sep03/0161 | ||||||
No major contribution to emissions to water
The emissions of nitrogen, phosphorus and the heavy metals by Waste management companies amount to less than 10% of national emissions. The proportion accounted for by landfills (and old landfills in particular) is small but the concentrated nature of these emissions may result in local exceedances of the quality standards (VROM, 2001).
There are only a few companies that will fail to meet the emission requirements for specific substances for the Desired Quality Standard for Water in 2010. This means that measures for the target sector as a whole are not required and that action via the authorisation procedures will suffice.
What are direct and indirect emissions?
The table lists the emissions from the various sources. It shows both direct emissions to surface water and indirect discharges to the sewer system. Discharges to the sewer system only reach the surface water after treatment; they are therefore indirect. Since a portion of these substances is removed by water treatment plants, the ultimate burden on surface water is lower.
