Inventory of twenty-six combustible wastes as sources of potentially toxic elements: B, Cr, Cu, Zn, As, Sb, Ba, and Pb

Municipal solid waste (MSW) is converted to various materials through treatment processes, which in turn distributes potentially toxic elements (PTEs) to recyclable materials. This study is focused on establishing an inventory of combustible wastes with the objective of identifying specific sources of PTEs (B, Cr, Cu, Zn, As, Sb, Ba, and Pb). The combustible wastes were classified into 26 components by the criterion, which can be conveniently identified by the public. Each component of the combustible wastes was ignited at 450 °C, to reduce organic matters and increase the proportional content of the target PTE, before undergoing inductively coupled plasma analysis. The inventory of PTE contents in the waste components was developed from the ash and the ignition loss of each component. The contribution of waste components to the total amount of PTEs was estimated based on the element content and the proportion in waste. Through this series of processes, specific sources of waste components containing PTEs were presented. This work can contribute to the reduction of toxicity of MSW and incineration residues that are to be recycled.