What To Know About Hazardous Waste Disposal

الثلاثاء، 12 يناير 2016

By Michelle Hamilton


Every day is the day that various forms of waste get produced in households and other places. One of those wastes is referred to as hazardous waste. This is waste that has the potential to pose threat to the environment or public health. As such, it must be disposed safely and sufficiently. In many countries, hazardous waste disposal is regulated by the government under strict laws.

In the US, RCRA handles the regulation of hazardous materials. The RARC Act places these materials into two major groups as either listed or characteristic wastes. Wastes of all forms, which have been verified to have capability of corrosivity, reactivity, toxicity, and ignitability, are placed below the characteristic category. On the contrary, listed wastes are ones relevant authorities feel like they should be listed as dangerous. They originate from non-specific sources, discarded chemical products, and specific sources.

The production of hazardous wastes occurs in both industrial as well as domestic settings. Although so, the amounts contributed by industrial sources by far outweigh those of domestic applications. Various domestic products contain hazardous wastes in different forms. Some of the products include paints and solvents, aerosols, ammunition, electronics, caustics, pesticides, refrigerant, radioactive wastes, and automotive wastes among many others.

Historically, most of these wastes ended up in landfills. Over time, it was discovered that a large amount of these wastes ended up in underground water. They then entered the natural hydrologic systems. To counter the seeping problem, counter-measures are being applied in landfills to prevent occurrence of the problem. One of the counter-measures used widely is the installation of barriers along the foundation and sides of landfills to contain the wastes within them.

Besides having bases of landfills installed with foundations, most wastes are stabilized and solidified before being disposed. The material of choice in the stabilization and solidification process is cement. This choice is made because is applicable on a multitude of wastes. Physical characteristics of materials are improved by stabilization and solidification as toxicity is reduced and ability for contaminant transmission is eliminated.

Flammable materials are recycled once they expire. For instance, recycling is done to most flammable materials where they act as industrial fuels. In addition, electronic circuit boards and lead-acid batteries get recycled in developed states on massive scales. Ash produced from the combustion of certain products gets used to fill pavements.

Incineration is another widely used method in disposal. This method is used on almost all kinds of wastes. It is safe and convenient, but requires heavy initial financial commitment. Most companies that produce a lot of wastes usually own their own incineration chambers for disposing the wastes they produce. Modern incinerators are very effective and relatively cheap to maintain.

Substances are burned in a large chamber during incineration. All substances are turned to ash by high temperatures the chambers operate at. The duration for combustion varies with the nature of substance in question. Emptying of the chamber is only done after enough time has been allowed for it to cool.




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