Study on the Accumulation and Leaching of Heavy Metals in the Bottom Ash Samples from Municipal Solid Waste Incinerators

Recently, incineration is a popular treatment method for municipal solid waste, which generates a large amount of ash containing toxic heavy metal components, causing environmental pollution. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the accumualtion and leaching of heavy metals in the bottom ash samples collected from municipal solid waste incinerators in Vinh Phuc and Hung Yen under different pH conditions. In addition, some of the physicochemical properties (pH, EC, moisture, volatile solid…) of bottom ash were also determined. The results indicated that Cu and Zn are the most common elements existed in the bottom ash samples. The total contents of Sb in both bottom ash samples were higher than the allowable limit for hazardous waste (QCVN 07:2009/BTNMT). However, the low mobility of the heavy metals was observed.