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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 19 April 2018 to Question 131978, how can residents who live near an incinerator find out the amount of (a) PM2.5, (b) PM1 and (c) PM0.1 particulate matter emitted by the incinerator.

There is currently no accurate method by which the exact amount of PM2.5, PM1 or PM0.1 emitted from incinerators can be determined. This is because total particulate matter (TPM) emissions from modern incinerators are so low that quantifying the amount of the smaller particles with any level of accuracy is not possible using currently available technology.

However, there are European air quality standards for both PM10 (which will include PM2.5, PM1 and PM0.1) and PM2.5 (which will include PM1 and PM0.1) and the Environment Agency will not permit an incinerator if its emissions could cause these standards to be exceeded.

Documents which explain how the Environment Agency makes its permitting decisions (including its assessment of the impacts from particulate matter) are available on the public register for all incinerators.