TOXIC AND HAZARDOUS WASTE TREATMENT

CONTENT:

• What is waste?
• Characteristic of Hazard Waste
• Type of Hazard Waste
• What is waste management?
• Hazardous Wastes
• The purpose of waste management is to:
• Effect of hazardous waste to human
• Effect of hazardous waste to environment
• Hazard Waste disposal Method:
• Hazard Waste disposal Method Advantage and
Disadvantage
Solid, toxic and hazardous waste
Objectives identify the major components of waste stream

 Explain the difference between dumps, sanitary landfill, modern secure landfills
 Understand what hazardous and toxic waste are and how we dispose of them
 Outline some ways we can destroy or permanently store hazardous waste.
 Evaluate the options for hazardous wastes management.

WHAT IS WASTE?

Waste is rubbish, trash, garbage, or junk is unwanted or undesired material. There are a number of
different types of waste. It can exist as a solid, liquid, or gas or as waste heat. When released in the
latter two states the wastes can be referred to as emissions. It is usually strongly linked with pollution.
Waste may also be intangible in the case of wasted time or wasted opportunities. The term waste
implies things, which have been used inefficiently or inappropriately.

SOLID WASTE

Solid waste is generally made up of objects or particles that accumulate on the site where they are
produced. Solid waste includes domestic, commercial, industrial, agriculture, and mining waste. Solid
waste are primarily nontoxic.

HAZARDOUS AND TOXIC WASTE

Hazardous and toxic waste are injurious to both human health and environmental quality so it must be
recycled or detoxified. Hazardous and toxic waste are fatal to humans and animals, carcinogenic,
mutagenic or teratogenic, ignitable, corrosive and explosive.

HAZARDOUS WASTES (CHARACTERISTIC OF HAZARDOUS WASTE)

Hazardous wastes are highly toxic, chemically reactive, flammable, or corrosive and has the potential to
cause and unacceptable risk to:

─ Public heath
─ The environment

WASTE STREAM AND ITS COMPONENT

The waste stream is a term that describe the steady flow of varied waste. It is the final resting place of
toxic and non-toxic wastes. Waste stream is the combination of organic material, food waste, junked
car, worn out furniture, newspaper, magazines, metal, glass, plastic food and beverage container, wood,
concrete, bricks, spray paint can, pesticides, batteries, cleaning solvent, smoke detector, pcbs and plastic
that produce dioxins. Waste stream is the source of valuable resource but due to improper disposal
methods valuable things are mixed and crushed with the toxic material.

TYPE OF HAZARD WASTE:

1. Nuclear Waste

2. Electronic Waste

3. Universal Waste

4. Medical Waste

5. Waste from construction

Nuclear waste is the radioactive waste left over from nuclear reactors, nuclear research projects, and
nuclear weapons. Nuclear waste is divided into low, medium, and high-level waste by the amount of
radioactivity the waste produces. Although nuclear waste can be very dangerous, and should not be
handled by anyone without professional training.

Electronic waste, e-waste, e-scrap, or Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) describes
loosely discarded, surplus, obsolete, or broken electrical or electronic devices.
Universal waste is generated from a large variety of sources and consists of products that serve both
commercial and personal use. Two of the prime examples of universal waste are batteries and light
bulbs.

Medical waste as hazardous, it definitely can cause health problems if it is not properly managed.
Discarded needles and blood products have the potential to spread diseases and cause injury. Most
medical waste streams are regulated at the state and local level.

Waste from construction sites can be hazardous. Asbestos tiles and insulation, lead pipes and certain
chemicals used in maintenance all fall into this category. The construction industry needs to be aware of
these hazards and vigilant in their safe disposal.

WHAT IS WASTE MANAGEMENT?

Waste management is the collection, transport, processing (waste treatment), recycling or disposal of
waste materials, usually ones produced by human activity, in an effort to reduce their effect on human
health or local aesthetics or amenity. A sub focus in recent decades has been to reduce waste materials'
effect on the natural world and the environment and to recover resources from them. Waste
management can involve solid, liquid or gaseous Substances with different methods and fields of
expertise for each.

THE PURPOSE OF WASTE MANAGEMENT IS TO:

1. Protect people who handle waste items from accidental injury.

2. Prevent the spread of infection to healthcare workers who handle the waste.

3. Prevent the spread of infection to the local community.

4. Safely dispose of hazardous materials

5. Open piles of waste should be avoided because they are a risk to those who scavenge and
unknowingly reuses contaminate items.

EFFECTS OF HAZARDOUS WASTE TO HUMAN HEALTH:

─ Cancer
─ Respiratory Problems
─ Heath disease
─ Heart disease

EFFECTS OF HAZARDOUS WASTE TO ENVIRONMENT

─ Global warming
─ Air Pollution
─ Water Pollution

WASTE DISPOSAL METHODS

OPEN DUMPS

It release the hazardous and toxic material in to the air and water. Most developed countries forbid the
open dumping but illegal dumping is still a problem. It is a dominant method of waste disposal in the
developing countries.

OCEAN DUMPING

It is a chronic problem and it is nearly uncontrollable.

LANDFILLS

Historically it was a convenient and inexpensive waste disposal method but now a days it become less
convenient and more expensive method. Rising land prices, shipping costs as well as increasingly
demanding landfill construction and maintenance requirements are making this a more expensive
method.

SANITARY LANDFILLS
In the sanitary landfill waste disposal is regulated and controlled and refuse is covered with a layer of
dirt .An impermeable clay or plastic lining underlies to prevent the seepage of toxic material in to the
ground water.

SECURE LANDFILLS

The first line of defense in the secure landfills is the compacted clay layer in the bottom which is
impermeable to the ground water and safely contain the waste. A layer of gravel is spread over the clay
liner and perforated drains pipes are laid in a grid to collect any seepage that escape.

EXPORTING WASTE

Industrialized nations in the world export the hazardous and toxic waste to the less develop countries.
Although the industrialized nation agreed to stop shipping hazardous and toxic waste to the less develop
country but the practice still continued.

INCINERATION

It is a type of waste disposal method in which hazardous and toxic waste is burnt this technology is also
known as energy recovery or conversion of waste into energy the steam generated in incineration
process is converted into electrical energy.

Types of incinerator

Refuse derived fuel: In this process refuse is sorted and burnable and unburnable material are
separated from each other before combustion.

Mass burn: In this process each and every thing is burnt present in the waste stream.

CONCERN ABOUT INCINERATION PROCESS

The incinerator ash contain high level of dioxin, lead, cadmium and other toxic material which is threat
for environmental contamination. Incineration process produces energy but also causes pollution.

Shrinking the waste stream

RECYCLING

It is the re processing of discarded materials into the new useful products in some recycling process
reuse the material for the same purpose but some recycling process turn old material into entirely new
products .

Benefits of recycling

It save money, energy, raw material and land space while also reducing pollution. It encourage the
individual awareness and responsibility for the refuse produce it also reduces the volume of waste
stream and litter. it also reduces our demand for raw resources .

Drawbacks of recycling

Contamination is the problem associated with the recycling. A principle obstacle to the recycling is weak
or unstable markets for recycled plastic, paper, and other materials.

COMPOSTING

It is a large scale recycling which allow aerobic decomposition of the organic debris and converted into a
nutrient rich soil amendment. Compost is a useful material but its market value is low.

DEMANUFACTURING

It is an additional strategy to reduce the waste stream. It is necessary for the appliances and electronic
waste such as TV sets, computers, refrigerators, air conditioners, cell phones, printers. Demanufacturing
is a key to reducing the environmental cost of electronic waste and appliances.

Reusing
Reusing is more efficient than recycling and it is the reuse of materials in their present form it also save
the cost and energy of remaking the reusable refillable bottle is the most efficient beverage container
we have. This is better for the environment than remelting and more profitable for the local community.

Superfund

It is a revolving fund to finance the cleanup of some of our worst hazardous waste sites. The superfund
was established by the comprehensive environmental response, compensation, and liability act
(CERCLA) of many sites on the superfund's national priority list are abandoned factories or dumps
without this fund, sites would languish for years or decades while the courts decided who was
responsible to pay for the cleanup. This fund was financed by taxes on producers of toxic and hazardous
waste. Industries opposed this tax because the current manufacturers are not responsible for the
original contamination. In 1995 the congress agreed to lead the tax expire.

Brownfield

It is the large area of contaminated properties that have been abandoned or not being used up to their
potential because of suspected pollution. For years no one was interested in redeveloping the
brownfields because of liability risk. It present both liability and opportunity. Who would buy a property
knowing that they might be forced to spend years in litigation and negotiation and be forced to pay
millions of dollars for the pollution they did not create. Even if a site has been cleaned to the current
standard there is worry that the additional pollution might be found in the future. Some experts
recommended that the best solution is to simply cover the surface with clean soil and enclosed the
property with fence to keep the people out. The reusing contaminated properties can play a significant
role in rebuilding old cities and creating jobs and preventing the needless destruction of open space.

Processing of hazardous waste

Hazardous waste must be processed. We can reduce the waste generation in our home by choosing less
toxic materials. Buy only those things which we need.

PRODUCE LESS WASTE

The safest and least expensive way to avoid the hazardous waste problem is to avoid creating the waste
in the first place. Manufacturing process can be modified to reduce or eliminate the waste production.
Recycling and reusing also eliminate the pollution and hazardous waste. Many waste products of one
process or industry are valuable commodity in another.

CONVERT TO LESS HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES

There are several process available to convert the hazardous substances to less toxic substances Physical
treatment isolate the substance. Charcoal absorb toxin. Distillation separate the hazardous component
from the aqueous solution. Precipitation and immobilization in ceramics, glass, or cement isolate toxin
from the environment so that they become essentially non-hazardous. One of the few ways to dispose
of metal and radioactive material is to fuse them in silica at high temperature to make a stable and
permeable glass that is suitable for long term storage. Incineration is a quick way to dispose of many
kinds of hazardous waste. Chemical processing transform the material into nontoxic form. Chemical
processing include neutralization, removal of metal or halogen and oxidation. Biological processing
include bioremediation, phytoremediation and biodegradation etc.

Store permanently

There are various materials that cannot be destroyed completely. We have to store them properly.
There are various methods to store the waste material.

Retrievable storage

Retrievable storage mean placing the waste storage container in a secure building, salt mine, or bed rock
cavern where they can be inspected periodically and retrieved.

Toxic substances in our Weed killers Nickel cadmium batteries

home
Insect poison Paints with lead or mercury
Bug spray
Mercury thermometers Hair spray
 ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES

Recycling o May lose money for items such as glass

o Reduces pollution and most plastics
o Saves energy o Reduces profits from landfills or
o Reduces mineral demand incinerators
o Reduces greenhouse gas emission o Source separation is inconvenient
o Reduces solid waste
o Important part of economy

Gasoline fuel oil and brake Nail polish remover Copper cleaner lemon juice
fluid
Fertilizers Furniture polish rub in olive
Furniture polish
Glass cleaner Ceramic tile cleaner baking
Metal cleaner soda
Alternatives to hazardous
Paint thinner house hold chemicals Pest control soap and water
solution
Glue with solvent Chrome cleaner use vinegar
Waste Incineration o Expensive to build
o Reduces trash volume o Costs more than hauling to a landfill
o Less need for landfills o Difficult to site because of citizen
o Less water pollution opposition
o Concentrates hazardous material into ash o Some air pollution
o Sale of energy reduces cost o Output approach that encourages waste
o o Modern controls reduce air production
pollution
Landfills o Noise and traffic
o No open burning o Dust
o Little odor o Groundwater contamination
o Built quickly o Slow decomposition
o Low operating cost o Discourages recycling, reuse, and waste
o Can handle large amounts of waste reduction
o o Land can be used for other
purposes
Deep Underground Wells o Leaks or spills at surface
o Safe method if sites are chosen carefully o Leaks from corrosion of well casing
o Wastes can be retrieved if problems o Existing fractures or earthquakes can
develop allow wastes to escape into groundwater
o Easy to do o Encourages waste production
o Low operating cost
o Low cost
Surface Impoundment o Groundwater contamination from leaking
o Low construction costs liners(or no lining)
o Low operating costs o Air pollution from volatile organic
o Can be built quickly compounds
o Low operating cost o Overflow from flooding
o Wastes can be easily retrieved if necessary o Disruption and leakage from earthquakes
o Can store wastes indefinitely with secure o Promotes waste production
double liners