Is HCl emitted when PVC is incinerated?
Yes, but HCl is easily suppressed with the existing technology (eg NEUTREC). Much investigation has gone into this question over the years and the conclusions are that sulphur dioxide, produced mainly by power stations, and nitrogen oxide, produced mainly by motor vehicles, account for around 98 % of the total potential acidity in the atmosphere. The remaining two per cent is hydrogen chloride. Of this, 0.5 per cent can be attributed to municipal waste incinerators. As incinerators are fitted with efficient gas scrubbers, this figure will fall further. The contribution to all the acid gases from the burning of PVC, is less than 0.25 per cent.
