LONG-TERM SLUDGE DISPOSAL POLICY IN THE NETHERLANDS

The disposal of sewage sludge in The Netherlands will change in the coming ten years from predominantly beneficial use to landfill after optimum volume and solids reduction by technical means. A new regulation prohibits the beneficial use of sludge, even when pollutants are present in very small quantities. Compared with limit values that are regarded as acceptable in regulations elsewhere in the world, the new Dutch standards are very stringent. Unfortunately the flue gas standards for sludge incineration are also more severe than in other countries, necessarily requiring high tech facilities to achieve these limits. As a result sludge treatment costs will rise immensely in the future. A secondary effect is that studies on the development of alternative technologies for sludge treatment, besides drying, composting and incineration, once again become meaningful. Such alternatives include melting and wet oxidation.