COMBUSTION AND LAND APPLICATION CAN BOTH BE BENEFICIAL?

Both combustion and land application have played important roles in biosolids management practices for many decades. Land application in almost all of its forms has been proclaimed as beneficial use. By contrast, many have viewed combustion as a “disposal only” option, even if energy is recovered in the process and the resulting ash reused. These views and opinions are often proclaimed with no basis or criteria to support the conclusion. Five criteria are presented in this paper for judging whether a management practice is beneficial or not. When judged by these criteria, one can conclude that many combustion installations are beneifical. One can also conclude that land application is beneficial in most, but perhaps not all, installations.