Understanding the emission pattern and source contribution of hazardous air pollutants from open burning of municipal solid waste in China

Abstract The open burning of municipal solid waste (MSW) is common in China. Therein, low–temperature anoxic combustion results in the emission of hazardous air pollutants. This study employed a dilution sampling system to conduct open burning testing on MSW samples from different functional urban areas. Additionally, modified combustion efficiency was used to distinguish smoldering and flaming combustion in two of the most common open burning practices in China: pile–up burning and barrel burning. The sampled pollutants included gaseous pollutants (e.g., CO2, CO, SO2, and NOx) and fine particles (PM2.5). This study also analyzed the carbonization compounds, 9 water–soluble ions, and 8 toxic heavy metals in PM2.5. Emission factors of air pollutants from open burning of different MSW compositions and burning modes were determined. The composition of PM2.5 from MSW open burning comprised average 43.9%, 22.5%, and 0.4% of organic carbon (OC), water–soluble ions, and toxic heavy metals (THMs), respectively. OC was found to be the primary component of PM2.5. Based on localized emission factor database, the emissions and source contribution of open burning of MSW in China were quantified. The open burning of MSW can contribute averaged 8.7%, 16.7%, 3.8%, 1.3% of PM2.5, OC, THMs, and gaseous air pollutants of reported emissions of anthropogenic sources, respectively. This work can complement current anthropogenic emission inventory and assist policy–making.