Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will require the operators of waste incineration sites to (a) monitor the emissions of PM 10 and PM 2.5 particles at their sites and (b) publish the results of such monitoring.

Waste incineration sites are required to continuously monitor emissions of total particulate matter (TPM) in line with the requirements of the European Industrial Emissions Directive. TPM includes PM 10 and PM 2.5 as well as other sizes.

There is no commercially available equipment for the continuous monitoring of PM 10 and PM 2.5. There is no requirement for waste incinerator operators to specifically monitor for PM 10 and PM 2.5 on a regular basis, and there are no plans to require such monitoring in the future.

However, all new waste incinerators must carry out a one-off monitoring exercise after the plant is commissioned to determine the relative amount of PM 10 and PM 2.5 in the exhaust gases, and the results of this monitoring are published on the public register.