Hazardous waste considered as an undesirable substance which characterized by ignitable, infectious, corrosion, explosion and toxicity(Environmental Protection and Heritage Council, 2010). It could be a solid, liquid, gasses, or sludges. It becomes dangerous to humans and the environmental health whether not treatment, storing, transportation or disposal properly(Western Australia Department of Environment and Conservation, 1996).
Scope of the report will be discussed,
1. Hazardous waste types.
2. The facility types.
3. What is the hazardous waste which receives by the disposal sites?
Objectives
1. To reduce the product of hazardous waste and induce the factories to reuse or recycle the waste.
2. How to handle with hazardous waste and treatment.
Sources
The sources of the report come from several sources as government and published articles,
Background
Hazardous waste is production by several factories, but a petroleum and chemical factories are most famous factories which hazardous waste production. According to United States Environment Protection Agency (USEPA), there are broad categories of hazardous waste. They are: Listed hazardous waste and Characteristic hazardous waste(USEPA, 2005).
Listed waste, can be further classified into(USEPA, 2005):
1. F-list: Waste comes from nonspecific sources, as spent dissolvent, and electroplate wastes, dioxins, the petroleum and hydrocarbons.
2. K-list: Waste from specific sources, such as pesticide, explosive makings,
• the U.S. economy consumes over 100 billion tons of raw materials per year; more than 90 percent of this, by weight, ends up as waste from extraction and production processes. that works out to about 1 ton of waste per person per day.2 • Solid and liquid industrial wastes (such as plastics and petrochemical wastes) disperse through groundwater, and airborne pollutants (such as acids) can travel hundreds or thousands of miles
Waste is a non-value adding activity. 7 types of wastes: Transportation, Inventory, (Excess) Motion, Waiting, Overproduction, Over-Processing, and Defects (TIMWOOD). 8th category: Unused creativity.
These chemical wastelands are a type of pollution that affect the environment. These things are harmful to humans and animals and kill plant life all around. Not only can the cause birth defects, it can also cause cancer. Areas with pollution/chemical waste have higher risks of cancer then safe clean
Identified wastes in the current processes using the seven wastes as a guide to what should be looked for. The question was asked, “Why did this waste occur?” and, “What can be done to prevent it?”.
Household hazardous waste is material that is considered dangerous or toxic for people and the environment. There are several hazardous waste disposal options in Eden Prairie.
The United States has always been known as the home of the brave and land of the free. We tend to think our country is dominant, advanced, and stable; we also like to overshadow our problems with our glorious recognition as almost the entire world has seen our patriotism in some sense. “Every year one American produces over 3,285 pounds of hazardous waste”; the total population in the United States is around 300,000,000. In other words, if we calculate the number of Americans living in the United States and the number of pounds each American produces, the total of hazardous waste is about 925,500,000,000. That is 115 times more waste than the entire population on Earth; China and India’s population exceeds 1,000,000,000. Just imagine how much waste is being produced on a global scale. This hazardous waste is not only destroying species but also their habitats, which are more important because they provide intrinsic value to our community as a whole. Together, we must preserve and conserve Earth’s natural ecological system and its citizens
Our society uses a lot of materials considered hazardous. They are used in, or are the byproduct of, industrial processes, power plants, the medical and pharmaceutical industries, and fuels. Much of the land transport of hazardous materials is the job of the trucking industry.
Waste trafficking refers to the traffic of hazardous wastes through illegal transnational business that involves a variety of criminal groups such as private entities, corrupt government officials, and organized crime groups (Liddick 134). According to environment professor Don Liddick, "By the late twentieth century transnational organized criminals, corporate polluters, and corrupt public officials have discovered the means to profit from the traffic in household garbage, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), and even radioactive waste – illicit industries that rival the international drug trade in scope and profitability” (Liddick 134). Waste is considered hazardous if it is explosive, reactive, flammable, irritable, harmful, toxic, or corrosive. Hazardous waste includes oily substances, batteries, medical waste,
The disposal of hazardous material is something that many waste management organization are well educated on when conducting every day operations. However, in the even the the Mercury Recovery Facility in which created a Federal Clean-Up site, initiated an multitude of issues that not only impacted the enviorment but also the people that lived in the surrounding areas. Though, there were many issues that caused these issues to happed due to weathering of materials and chemicals over time. The biggest mistake was the lack of accountability of personell as well as the dumping that was taking place at this site. Not only calling for federal relief, but also gaining social attention from the media as well as scientific professionals around the world.
A hazardous material is defined as elements, compounds, mixtures, solutions, and substances which, when released into the environment may present substantial danger to the public health or welfare or the environment. In the case of the entrance hall expansion project, the release of the toxic substances caused the Keith family’s young children to suffer from irreparable brain damage consistent with exposure to lead and other chemical contained in the refuse discarded in Mr. Bankfiend’s pit. In the case of the gasoline filling station, the leaching of the organic chemical in the water caused harm to the fish reproduction rates in the river, which is an extension to affecting the river (navigable water)
Such kind of waste emits radiations from tens to hundreds of years. These reactive radicals make the sand or the water contaminated. It is known as mixed waste. The mixture cause hazardous chemical reactions and leads to dangerous complications.
Nonhazardous industrial wastes are various levels of wastes that are as result of industrial activity of producing goods and products but are within manageable levels that are not harmful (Letcher & Vallero, 2011). The nonhazardous industrial wastes are in form of solid, liquid, semi-liquid or gaseous materials from the industries. The examples of nonhazardous industrial wastes include sludge from water supply treatment plant, wastewater treatment plant, and air pollution control facility.
Hazardous waste and its proper disposal have become a major sociological problem today due to its capability of contaminating the area in which we live and its potential to be lethal to all living things. In order for the United States and the rest of the world to save itself from a potentially life threatening problem they must fix the causes which lead to the improper disposal of hazardous wastes and like materials. Some reasons that hazardous waste has become a problem in the United States today is due to the breakdown in enforcing laws for the proper disposal of such wastes, a lack of initiative on big companies behalf to spend money on proper disposal, and the ease of disposing of such wastes illegally.
Waste Management, Inc., incorporated in 1968, had become a leader in the industry of waste management services ranging from industrial operations to curbside collection. This company had become synonymous with many different kinds of disposal services that allowed for the company to grow and grow with a solid base over the course of twenty-eight years. Finally in 1996, the company reported total assets of almost $20 billion with net income close to $200 million. However, even with this growth and solid base, the company was feeling competitive pressures and net income was on the decline.
Special hazardous USEPA pollutants include wastes, medical wastes, military wastes and the radioactive releases. The hazardous waste can be either a designated waste or a characteristic waste. A characteristic waste is named so because it exhibits one of the properties such as corrosiveness, reactivity, ignitability or radioactivity. A designated waste is the waste that is in the list of the USEPA.