Emirates Journal for Engineering Research, 11(2), 19-36 (2006) (Review Paper)

SOLID AND LIQUID WASTE MANAGEMENT

S. SYED
Atomic Energy Research Institute, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, P.O Box 6086, Riyadh-11442, Saudi Arabia. E-mail address: sabirsyed2k@yahoo.com (Received March 2006 and accepted November 2006)

. . . . .
Solid and liquid wastes generated from both animal and domestic sources can significantly impair drinking, irrigation, recreational water and other water sources in rural and urban areas. Waste as a management issue has been evident for over four millennia. Disposal of waste to the biosphere has given way to thinking about, and trying to implement, an integrated waste management approach. This paper reviews the history of solid and liquid waste operations and summarizes the current environmental monitoring program and its major findings. Various problems of wastes in past and present, environmental ecology, general aspect of recycling and materials recovery are defined. Keywords: Waste management, Waste problem, Environmental ecology, Materials recovery

1. INTRODUCTION
Environmental degradation-with accompanying threats to health and disruption of ecosystem is not a new phenomenon. Nevertheless, with the advent of industrial revolution and large scale adoption of technology, man now diverts vast amount of energy and materials flowing through the natural ecosystems to his own use. Industries constitute a formidable source of pollution with large quantities of waste products in the form of solids, liquids, gases, heat, noise etc. Which are discharged into the environment? Many of these pollution problems are inherent in the technology and a considerable amount of research and developmental efforts are needed to overcome these drawbacks [1-4]. Industrial research should not be limited only to the development of materials, methodologies and their management but it should also include investigation on the effective methods of waste disposal, more so, recycling of waste for productive purposes. The reasoning is quite simple recycling will not only be cost effective, but, also will reduce to a considerable extent contamination to our environment-pollution of air, water and land, three modern aspects with which every one is most concern.

2. THE "WASTE" PROBLEM: PAST AND PRESENT

Man has always generated waste materials which are either bye-product of his activities, for which he could not find any use, or products which have reached the end of useful life. Although this was going on throughout the ages, it was not a problem until recent times because natures own waste treatment processes like dispersion, dilution and degradation, which took care of these problems. From the smoke of the caveman's fire till the 'smog' (the word 'smog' is coined in the 20th century) of the last century, the problem, went unnoticed. Wastes dumped into the rivers were washed away quickly and diluted to the point where no effect on water purity could have been observed. Wastes left on land, decayed by spontaneous chemical and degradation process thereby: the balance of nature was maintained. The situation today is not so simple. The problem is due to both quantitative and qualitative nature of the wastes we are producing. The natural degradation processes are slow and can take care of only a limited amounts and specific kinds of wastes. The obnoxious fumes produced today by the so called civilized society are too much for the atmosphere to get dispersed, especially in urban environment. The rivers are not able to dilute and degrade sufficiently the vast amount of industrial effluents dumped every

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day into them. And one would have to wait a long time for heaps of junk metallic material dumped to blend in with the earth's crust again as ores. This will not happen because we are dumping wastes faster than nature can degrade and absorb them. Further, many of the modern waste materials like plastics and detergents are non biodegradable. All these are going to cause serious threat to our ecosystem.

3. ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

Environment is the sum total of everything that directly influences the animal's chances of survival or reproduction. The intimately close and immediate surroundings of the organism are known as microenvironment. The sum total of the physical and biotic condition existing external to the organism and its micro environment is called macro-environment. Ecology by itself is a multi discipline in nature which includes subjects like physical and chemical sciences, engineering, law, medicine, demography, energy conversion, automation, chemical technology and environmental analysis. It is through the blending of chemical technology and environmental analysis that a new area called environmental analytical chemistry has arisen as a core subject area for the ecologist. Ecology is the science of interactions among individuals, populations, and communities and it also involves the interrelations between living (biotic) components with their non-living (abiotic) counterparts or environment. Thus, ecology may be defined as "A multi disciplinary science which deals with organism and its place to live and which focuses on ecosystem". In the present context the term organism refers to an individual unit constituted to carry on the activities of life.

4. ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT: A MULTIDISCIPLINARY CHALLENGE

Environmental management is the technology that aims at eliminating or reducing the harmful effects of the emissions generated by human activities. Environmental management has three legs' on which to stand. Firstly, it must take into consideration the environment that is, the ecosystem and attempt to provide management which will maintain a reasonably, close to the natural balance for this system; secondly, it most reflect on the best attainable long term conditions for human society, including its socio-economic conditions; and finally, it must determine which solutions are technically and economically feasible and which are not. The problems of environmental management are related to the emissions of energy and mass from human systems. Such emissions have been taking place ever since the time of the earliest human settlements. Now, however, they have reached such

proportions that not only our natural environment is affected but its vital processes, including the very existence of life on this earth surface is endangered. This is the reason we refer these emissions as pollution, and we are most concerned about their effects on nature, it we cannot completely eliminate pollution, it is our concern to see how can we at least reduce it, and how can we support nature in absorbing the part that is unavoidable?. Environmental management must draw upon many disciplines and professions. For the consideration of natural balance of our ecosystem it requires a good knowledge of ecology, particularly of systems ecology where the properties of the entire ecosystem are in focus. The knowledge of zoology and botany including that of general microbiology are of essential prerequisites. As the emission from human society consists, besides energy, of various complex chemical compounds, chemistry becomes vital for a complete understanding of environmental management. This has given rise to a separate sub discipline called Environmental Chemistry. In this context, we are particularly more concerned in what may be called, to use a self explanatory term, biogeochemical reactions. In addition, various physical processes, the transport of energy and pollutants in the ecosystem also demand the application of physics in our study. The pollution problems have originated from the human societies, and if this dominant species, Homo sapiens, were to disappear from the earth, then all pollution problems would also disappear. It is our prime necessity to see that human societies are maintained on this earth and, to a reasonable extent, keep them an integrated part of nature. These societies must therefore be properly understood and must be taken into account in the context of any environmental management strategies. This implies that socio-economic factors and legislation will also have to be included in environmental management. When we turn to find solutions to environmental problems, we may come across still further disciplines which have to be drawn up and include. 4.1 Principles of Ecology and Environmental Science The principles underlying ecology and environmental science have been developed during the twentieth century, particularly in the last two decades and the time is now ripe for the application of these principles. Furthermore, tools such as ecological modeling have also been developed and with the advent of high speed computers, such modeling have been refined and may offer the possibility of quantifying even complex ecosystems, and showing how they operate as a whole.

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Solid and Liquid Waste Management

4.2 Environmental Engineering The most important tasks of environmental engineering are how to quantity emissions and their effects, and how to select appropriate environmental technology to overcome the problems caused thereby. Environmental engineering must not be confounded with sanitary engineering, which exists as an autonomous technical discipline for the last 60 years or so. Sanitary engineering mainly focuses on sewage systems, water supplies and sewage treatment. On the other hand, environmental engineering encompasses such areas as the treatment of solid wastes and various other associated air pollution problems. Moreover, it also considers sewage water and water supplies, along with industrial waste water, but on the other hand the construction and maintenance of sewage systems are not under the purview of environmental engineering. 4.3 Eco-Technology Eco-technology has emerged as a new discipline during the 1980s. It had been indeed applied even earlier, but only now, it has become acknowledged and accepted as a separate discipline by its own right, with a full-fledged scientific explanation for its fundamental concepts and principles. Eco-technology is defined as the design of human society within its natural environment, for the benefit of both. As is the case with the older technological disciplines; ecological engineering and eco-technology have been supplied with a basis within the Theory of science. 4.4 Environmental Technology Environmental technology is concerned with technical approach for overcoming or reducing the various harmful effects of emissions. Although it is mainly based on chemical engineering, but still also requires as do almost all technological disciplines assistance from process regulation, mechanical and electrical engineering and, of late from computer engineering also. While striving towards pollution abatement during the 'Seventies and 'Eighties it has clearly shown that environmental technology and legislation, even when they are at their best alone cannot by themselves solve the pollution problems. It is necessary to integrate what is termed ecotechnology in the management strategy. 4.5 Relation to Other Fields The relation between environmental management and the various areas (Fig.1)[5]. Environmental legislation (2) may primarily assist environmental technology (3) to regulate emissions (1), or with eco-technology to reduce the impact (5). Combinations results from environmental management, (4) and (6). Impact is assessed by means of environmental impact assessment (EIA) and/or modeling, see (7) and (8) in Fig. 1.

Industries / Society

(1) Emissions (9) (4)

(2) Environmental Legislation (6)

(5) Impact

(3) Environmental Technology

Ecosystems

(7) (7) A. EIA I. E

(8) Environmental Modelling

(4)+(6) Environmental Managment

Figure 1. Environmental management as related to other fields.

Emissions and impact are closely related to each other (9), and environmental management attempts to determine the permissible limit of emission to ensure an acceptable impact (10). To avoid or control emissions completely ('Zero discharge') is not feasible. However, by the judicious amalgamation of environmental technology, ecotechnology and environmental legislation, we may build up the kind of environmental management that will be able to maintain our environment in a very near to ecological balance. Obviously, this type of environmental management will become rather complicated. But it should not come as a surprise that this complexity concerning a complex system requires a solution, which will be more complex in nature. Good environmental management system must find and apply a wide spectrum of solutions simultaneously. One of the reasons for this is that all ecosystems are different and perform differently, and this is true even for different ecosystems representing the same types of lakes, forests, savannahs, etc. In addition, wide spectrums of environmental technologies are needed. There is no one universal technology for all problems: each pollution situation is different from the other. The chemical composition of the emission is different, the environmental condition is different, the associated emission are different, therefore we need specific individual solutions which will most often be different from each other too, and will differ from case to case. The fortunate thing is that environmental technology and eco-technology have by now reached such a high standard that we do have a wide spectrum of choices at our disposal. It is a challenge to find a good environmental management solution to a complex environmental problem. But as resources available to solve environmental problem are usually limited, it is of prime necessity to examine the complexity of the problem carefully and consider various solutions available at our disposal before a final management decision is taken. In addition, this

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practice may ensure economy is considering the solution of other problems. As mentioned earlier by its very nature a 'zero discharge' situation is unrealistic. There being more than five billion people inhabiting this earth, we cannot think of an environment without being affected. But we have to differentiate between damaging the ecological balance and only influencing it slightly. It is important in this context to emphasize that certain ecosystems are crucial and must at all costs be maintained totally undisturbed, or almost in undisturbed condition, whereas there are certain other ecosystems which may be influenced by human activity to a greater extent. Such a distinction between the ecosystems leads to a management approach which requires proper planning. A planning of all human activities under consideration, thereby keeping their effect on our environment under control, is a key to a more comprehensive solution of the environmental crises that we are facing towards the end of the 20th century. Unfortunately, there are numerous examples of poor planning of management which have damaged the environment severely, even without any profit being realized by anybody. And there are several examples of poor environmental planning that have led to a short term profit but a long term economic disaster. As this review has tried to explain, environmental management is a multifaceted problem which must play on many strings: Planning of all human activities with respect to their effects on the environment. Formulation of an unambiguous and comprehendsive environmental legislation, and equally important are the measures for the enforcement of this legislation. Use of a wide spectrum of already existing environmental technologies and ecotechnologies, and the combination thereof. Development of 'new and alternative technologies; which most often implies technologies with little or no pollution involved. Ecological agricultural and integrated agriculture are examples of such technologies. Recycling of raw materials and waste materials to the greatest possible extent. Recycling is a very useful method of solving pollution problems: what is recycled is not emitted, and at the same time resources are saved. Knowledge about the interdependency between society and the ecosystem, and about how all parts of the system interfere with each other is important because a solution to one problem may lead to greater problems somewhere else in our society or in the environment. This adds to the difficulty of environmental management and prompts the manager to apply a macroscopic view.

Analysis

Environmental Management Evaluation Control

Figure 2. Dynamics of three components of environmental management.

4.6 The Dimensions Environmental management has three dimensions: first, it takes into consideration the environment itself that is, the ecosystem and attempts to provide management to maintain a reasonable, close to the natural balance for this system, second, it reflects on the best attainable long-term conditions for human society, including its socio-economic conditions; and third, it determines the solutions which are technically and economically feasible. In brief, Environmental management is the art and science of preparing, organizing and directing human efforts to analyze, evaluate and control the factors responsible for environmental degradation and utilize the manmade and naturally occurring materials for the benefit of mankind with least disruption to the ecosystem. A model is shown in Fig. 2 [6]. The consideration of the natural balance of ecosystem requires a good knowledge of ecology.

5. CLASSIFICATION OF WASTE
Wastes are numerous in kind and defy easy definition. It is difficult to evolve a universal classification for 'waste'. However, roughly there are three basic classification methods, which are combined to form a waste classification system [7]. They are: Physical classification, Chemical classification and Thermal classification. The last one is directly related to thermal processing requirements and focuses on the information needed to select, design, and operate a thermal processing system. 5.1 Physical Classification This classification identifies the physical state of waste. It is needed for the selection and design of waste handling systems and the choice of processing equipment. Based on physical characteristics, typical waste materials are classified as: gaseous, liquid, slurry, sludge, solid and containerized waste. In the

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present context, solid and liquid wastes will be discussed in the succeeding section. Nevertheless the classification of liquid waste demands separate treatment which will be dealt in detail in sections 10 to 11.3. 5.1.1 Solid Waste Solid wastes are those which arise from human and animal activities that are normally solid and are usually discarded as useless or unwanted. The term as used in this context is all inclusive, and it encompasses the heterogeneous mass of throwaways from the urban community as well as the more homogeneous accumulations of agricultural, industrial and mineral wastes [8]. In discussing solid waste, generally and traditionally certain categories of wastes are well recognized as they are very common. For example, solid wastes include domestic, commercial, industrial, (due to construction and demolition) agricultural, institutional and miscellaneous. Many times domestic and commercial wastes cannot be differentiated and are considered together as urban wastes. Included in this category are the garbage materials which result from food preparation both in the homes and restaurants, and also the rubbish which is produced in residences and commercial establishments. Generally, the garbage consists of rapidly decomposable materials while the rubbish is either slowly decomposable or non-degradable. A second major category of waste is industrial, the refuse produced by industrial processes. Generally the character of the refuse produced in any manufacturing or processing operation will depend very much on the type, amount, or the character of wastes produced by the industry. Obviously, the wastes produced by steel manufacturers will differ considerably from those produced in the chemical industry. Usually the wastes produced by any food processing operation, the paper and plastics industries are almost similar to the paper and plastic packaging materials found in domestic rubbish. On the other hand, the metal processing industry will obviously generate metallic wastes, but in addition will also produce large quantities of slags, processing chemicals, and other residues, many of which are used in air pollution control and water pollution control activities. The wastes produced by chemical industries or other more specialized industries will in general depend upon the specific nature of the end product of the manufacturing process. 5.2 Chemical Classification It is the key to selection of proper process design parameters, selection of materials of construction, choice of concentration equipment, design of incinerator hardware, the possibility of bye-product recovery, and the requirement of fuel gas and discharge water treatment systems. Based on this

classification, the waste materials are broadly classified as clean waste and hazardous waste. 5.2.1 Clean Waste This group covers hydrocarbons which contain only carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. The oxidation products are considered clean and can be discharged into the environment. 5.2.2 Hazardous Waste The problem with hazardous wastes is that there is still no internationally accepted definition of a hazardous waste. However, technical criteria such as toxicity, flammability, corrosivity, ignitability and reactivity have been proposed and used to some extent to identify and designate the waste as hazardous. Though the hazardous wastes account for only a small proportion of all wastes generated by the industries, their impact can be disastrous as they not only affect the physical environment but also the biotic components. The United States alone generates about 60 million tones of hazardous waste every year, and the European Economic Community about half of that quantity. Roughly 10 to 20 per cent of the total waste produced can be considered as potentially hazardous. In general, there are industries like metallurgical, iron and steel, fertilizers, thermal power production, etc. generating large quantities of solid and liquid wastes containing low concentration that is at the trace level of hazardous constituents. On the other hand, there is another group of industries such as chlor-alkali, pesticides, dyestuffs, electroplating, photographic chemicals, fine chemicals, etc. which generate comparatively small quantity of wastes, but they are highly toxic and hazardous. Approximately one million tonne of solid waste is generated annually by the 131 industrial units surveyed. Nearly 22% of wastes from these industries are hazardous. It has been estimated that about 94% of these wastes are generated by process oriented (generating during the processing of raw materials to get the finished products) industries and 6% of it is pollution control oriented (generated from the treatment of gaseous and liquid effluents) industries. Maximum amount of hazardous waste is generates by chlor-alkali, dyes and pigment, organic chemicals, pesticide and plating industrial sectors. The inorganic chemical sector on the other hand, generated low volume-high toxic wastes. The synthetic drug manufacturing units in drugs and pharma sector generate maximum quantity of hazardous wastes. Thus, hazardous waste may be further classified into waste generating gaseous contaminants, waste containing alkali and alkaline earth metals and waste containing heavy metals.

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5.3 Thermal Classification This is used in the determination of energy requirements for processing and in the selection of system configuration. Based on the thermal properties, typical waste materials are classified as follows: Combustible wastes: This group includes wastes which will sustain oxidation reaction without additional energy requirements. Noncombustible wastes: This group represents low-Btu value wastes, which will not sustain oxidation reaction without additional energy supply. These wastes may be further classified into following two categories.
noncombustible wastes with no low The volatiles (the organics in the wastes contain no low volatiles which, when heated, will evaporate) and noncombustible waste with low volatiles (the organics in the waste are heat sensitive and readily vaporized when heated). Table 1. Basic data on waste
Parameter Ultimate analysis Metals Halogens Others Heating value Solids Liquids Gases Organic composition Special data Disposable rate Water content Species C, H, O, N, H2O, S and ash Na, K, Ca, Mg, Cu, Au, Ag, Ni, Pb, Sn, Cd, Hg, V, Bi, etc., F, CI, Br, l P, B, etc Btu/lb Size, form and quantity Viscosity, specific gravity Density % compound Corrosiveness, reactivity, flammability, decomposition, polymerization Peak, average, normal, minimum % water

Raw materials Manufacturing Processing and recovery Consumer Final disposal Waste materials

Residual Debris Residual waste material Secondary Manufacturing

Raw material product and recovered materials

Figure 3. Materials flow and the generation of solid wastes in a technological society.

It is apparent from Fig. 3 that one of the best ways to reduce the amount of solid wastes that must be disposed of is to limit the consumption of raw materials and to increase the rate of recovery and reuse of waste materials. Although, the concept is simple, effecting this change in a modem technological society has proved extremely difficult.

7. GENERAL ASPECTS OF RECYCLING

It is obvious from the previous sections that significant savings in costs for solid and liquid waste management can be achieved if reductions in collection requirements are made. Additionally, compositional analyses have shown that significant amounts of highly valuable materials such as gold, silver and other metals from the solid and liquid waste stream could be recovered. Therefore, the separation from the stream and reuse of such materials would also yield significant salvage and income by resale. Thus "recycling" seems to be a one word solution to a large part of the current solid and liquid waste problem. In discussing the reuse and recycling of materials which now appear in the solid and liquid waste stream several facts are to be considered: The predominant material in recyclable solid and liquid waste is paper. Of the materials in the solid and liquid waste stream a large portion of the materials is recoverable. Vast potential exists for enhancing the current resource recovery rate. The amount of solid and liquid waste produced has increased phenomenally during the 1980s and 1990s and will continue to show this trend. There is no simple solution or simple way to recycle and reuse solid and liquid waste materials.

These two categories provide important information for the designing of evaporation and steam stripping systems. They are also important factors in the selection of pre-concentration equipment of wastes. For the successful application of thermal processing systems accurate and reliable information about the composition and characteristics of any waste to be processed is essential. Such data are necessary to understand the process and for the selection of process equipment. The basic data needed about waste are presented in Table 1.

6. MATERIALS FLOW AND WASTE GENERATION

An indication on how and where solid wastes are generated in our technological society is shown in the simplified materials flow diagram presented in Fig. 3. Solid wastes (debris) are generated even at the start of the process, beginning with the mining of raw material. The debris left from strip mining operations, for example, is well known. Thereafter, solid wastes are generated at every step in the process where raw materials are converted to finished produces for consumption.

8. POTENTIAL FOR RECYCLING

Undoubtedly recycling seems to be the most constructive approach at present to alleviate the solid

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waste problem. Solid waste will always be produced as long as man inhabits this planet, however, it can be qualitatively controlled so that recycling would be much feasible. Recycling and reuse are not magic actions to get rid of the problem. Recycling must be an economical venture which must be a part of the total system of the industry. In other words, recycling is not merely collecting materials for reuse, but also finding a market for the outlet of the recycled products.

Waste generation

Storage

Collection Transfer and transport Disposal Processing and recovery

9. SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT

Solid waste management is a separate discipline dealing with the control of generation, storage, collection, transfer and transport, processing, and disposal of solid wastes in a manner that is in accordance with the best principles of public health, economics, engineering, conservation, aesthetics, and other environmental considerations, and that also is responsive to public attitudes. In its scope, solid waste management includes all administrative, financial, legal, planning, and engineering functions involved in the whole spectrum of solutions to problems of solid wastes thrust upon the community by its inhabitants. The solutions may involve complex interdisciplinary relationships among such fields as political science, city and regional planning, geography, economics, public health, sociology, demography, communications, and conservation, as well as engineering and materials science[8]. The field of solid waste management is to serve as a basis for understanding the interrelationships of the engineering fundamentals and the management aspects. These include: brief history of the evolution and development of this discipline, description of the functional elements of solid waste management system, solid waste management planning and brief discussion on various aspects of solid waste management system. 9.1 Evolution of Solid Waste Management The beginning of solid waste management can be traced to antiquity that is the practice of recycling human wastes. One of the early attempts to manage solid wastes in the United States took place at the turn of the century when New York City built a wooden-crib bulkhead around Rikers Island in the East River and filled in the area behind the marshes with ashes, rubbish, and street sweeping. The wastes were transferred from wagons to scow (barges) in New York City, towed to the island, unloaded by clamshell dredges onto a conveyor or into rail cars, and dumped. Clearly some sort of management plan was followed to accomplish this large operation. Here again, it is evident that solid waste management planning is not new.

Figure 4. Simplified diagram showing the interrelationships of the functional elements in a solid waste management system

9.2 Functional Elements The problems associated with the management of solid wastes in today's society are complex because of the magnitude and diverse nature of the wastes coupled with the development of sprawling urban areas, the funding limitations for public services in many large cities, the impact of technology, and the emerging limitations in both energy and raw materials. As a consequence, if solid waste management is to be accomplished in an efficiently and orderly manner, the fundamental aspects and relationships involved must be identified and understood clearly. The activities involved in the management of solid wastes from the point of generation to final disposal have been divided into six functional elements namely, waste generation, storage, collection, transfer and transport, processing and recovery and disposal. In general, each functional element involves a physical activity. By considering each functional element separately, it is possible, first to identify the fundamental aspects and relationships involved in each element and second to develop, where possible, quantifiable relationships for the purposes of making engineering comparisons, analyses, and evaluation (Fig. 4). Separation of functional elements is necessary as it allows the development of a frame work within which to evaluate the impact of proposed changes and future technological advancements. 9.3 Solid Waste Management Planning In solid waste management planning workable alternative programs are planned and developed to solve solid waste problems. In most situations the alternative programs and plans must be presented to the public and to decision makers for consideration, selection, and adoption. At present the interrelationships between technical, economical, environmental, social and political factors involved in these problems are not well understood.

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10. LIQUID WASTE MANAGEMENT

Waste may be characterized as follows: Origin, destination and content. The later is further classified as: It is important to appreciate the limitations under each heading, as it is unlikely that any one method will be sufficient to characterize a liquid waste adequately.
Liquid Waste
Source of waste Storage Underground Primary recycle

Recycle

Secondary recycle

Reuse

Origin Phase of Liquid

Destination Physical nature of pollutant

Content Chemical nature of pollutant

Treatment

Value Quantity and concentratio of pollutant

Disposal

Dumping

Land Rivers

Destruction

Sea

Figure 5. Classification of liquid waste by destination

10.1 Origin To classify wastes by origin may appear superfluous, since the producer should know where his waste comes from, and the disposal contractor should know where he collects it. However, neither producer nor contractor may be aware of the alternatives available for treatment or disposal, or of the potential value of the waste if recycled or reused. Classification by source or origin itself is not very helpful unless it is related to other methods of classification. It can then be a useful starting point for a characterization scheme and for a discussion of properties, effects or treatment method [9-15]. The Water Treatment Handbook [10] provides an extensive classification by source, including identification of the multiplicity of waste streams that can arise from each industry and also indication of the contents and requirements for treatment. However, a wide range of wastes can arise from one industry, each of which requires individual consideration. To be effective, classification either has to become very detailed, and hence unwieldy, or it should be simplified[15-17]. The following is a comprehensive but simple and effective list of main sources based on type of industry: Sewage Metal production (including mining) Metal treatment Animal processing Vegetable processing Food processing (if excluded from the above) Organic chemical Inorganic chemical Agricultural Water When it is related to type of treatment this list can conveniently be split into wastes normally processed by a biological system (starred) and others. This leads to a simpler classification: Natural organic wastes (usually water-based) Synthetic organic wastes (usually non-water based) Inorganic wastes (usually water-based)

This allows for a multi-effluent industry, but requires additional information in order to be useful. Geographical location of the source of waste is also important when considering costs and disposal Vs recycling. Transportation, sometimes can even contribute up to 90% or more of the total cost of waste disposal. 10.2 Destination The destination or handling of waste is much easier to examine and classify than its source (Fig. 5). 10.2.1 Recycling of Liquid Waste Recycling may give the primary material for the waste producer to reuse, such as electroplating salts from plating wastes, or a secondary material which is related, such as metal or metal oxides for smelting to metal again from plating wastes. A waste may be reused, rather than recycled, when it is employed for a different purpose, for example, the burning of waste lubricating oils or solvents for their heat content. Further subclassification of primary and secondary recycle and reuse could be by industrial source as under (10.1) above, but it requires an exhaustive analysis of sequential material flows through related industries and knowledge of marketing factors. Such an exercise is only useful for highly specific materials such as non-ferrous metals. 10.2.2 Disposal of Liquid Waste Disposal of liquid waste includes dumping on land; underground to rivers or to the sea, some pretreatment of waste may be necessary before disposal in order to comply with the legislation. Destruction, for example by incineration is also included. Dumping for short term for future recovery is employed for liquid wastes such as solvents which are accumulated until the process of recovery is practical and viable. But long term storage has been seriously proposed only for solid wastes [18] with the exception for radioactive liquid wastes which are a special case.

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Discharge water Recycle water Recycle pollutant Aqueous Aqueous Liquid phase Dump Nonaqueous Non-aqueous Separation Destroy Aqueous treatment

10.3 Content 10.3.1 Phase of Liquid Waste is most often characterised by its content and the plethora of literature on liquid waste is invariably related to treatment of a specific waste, often by a specific method. The simplest and most obvious classification is by phase of liquid, which derives directly from (10.1) above. Essentially, two liquid phases may be considered-aqueous and non-aqueous. These may occur together and hence form a third, for example emulsions and oily waste water from petroleum refining. This is a particularly helpful initial screening test as it differentiates between those wastes where the major constituent, water, may be safely discharged (for example, to rivers), usually after separation of the pollutant, and those wastes which must be totally recycled or disposed off in some other way. This differentiation indicated in the Deposit of Poisonous Waste Act [21] and in the Provisional Code of Practice [22]. Subdivisions may be readily formed from any of the other classification on content, such as identification of the specific pollutants, or origin of waste, as discussed earlier, or destination as shown in Fig. 6. This classification must be combined into one or more other methods in order to characterize a waste completely.

Non-aqueous treatment Recycle

Figure 6. Classification of liquid waste by phase.

There are, however a number of examples where a dumped waste being reworked as a result of technological progress and rising raw material costs. The alternatives available for disposal can be evaluated only after getting complete information on liquid waste composition and costs. Recent studies on recycling Vs disposal include an investigation into the economics of recycling pickle liquor as opposed to nautralisation and disposal[19], and incineration of pig manure compared with reuse as fertiliser [20].

Contaminant

Gas

Liquid

Solid

Dissolved (e.g. ammonia)

Suspended (e.g. foam)

Miscible (e.g. methanol)

Immiscible

Solid / liquid (e.g. paint spray wash-waters).

Dissolved (e.g. metal salts)

Suspended

Stable emulsion (e.g. soluble cutting oil)

Discrete phases (e.g. oily refinery waste

Coarse Fine / colloidal (e. g. mining (e.g. aluminium wastes) hydroxide gel)

Physical mixture
Figure 7. Classification of liquid waste by physical nature of pollutant.

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10.3.2 Physical Nature of Pollutant Classification by phase differentiates between those effluents which are totally noxious (non-aqueous or synthetic organic wastes), and those effluents from which the pollutant has to be removed or changed to leave an aqueous liquid that is acceptable for discharge. Non-aqueous and mixed wastes that are disposed off need little identification other than that required for safe handling and disposal. Classification in this case is therefore only of academic interest. Further information is necessary, however, for recycling, and sometimes physical characteristics are sufficient. For non-aqueous materials, the physical nature may be classified in two ways-nature of pollutant(s) and conventional physical properties. The pollutant(s) in either aqueous or nonaqueous wastes may exist in several forms such as: Dissolved gas Suspended gas Miscible liquid Immiscible liquid Solution of a solid Suspended solid Subdivisions may be formed by consideration of multiple-phase contamination and morphology of the contaminative phase, to give the classification shown in Fig. 7. An alternative, complementary classification is by conventional physical properties. A suggested list is given in Table 2 for aqueous and nonaqueous wastes. Information on properties of specific chemicals and mixtures is available in literature[23, 24]. All the above-mentioned properties apply to mixed wastes as well Biodegradable wastes. In addition to the above properties of aqueous waste, the following are also considered: Ash COD Nitrogen content Odor Permanganate value Taste Turbidity 10.3.3 Chemical Nature of Pollutant Although a full chemical analysis, is the ultimate and complete classification of waste, but it is insufficient by itself to characterise waste adequately. For example, trace quantities of highly toxic materials may be more significant than larger quantities of relatively inert materials. A range of classification based on general chemical action has been employed [25-29] , but none of these appears to cover all types of wastes. This may be explained by the tendency to differentiate liquid wastes into sewage and other wastes, probably because identification of pollutants in chemical wastes in easy, whereas among the biodegradable wastes sewage is particularly difficult to define chemically.

Table 2. Physical properties of liquid wastes Aqueous Non-aqueous Biological oxygen Ash demand (BOD) Color Boiling point Conductivity Calorific value Density Chemical oxygen demand (COD) PH Density Suspended solids Distillation range Temperature Explosive limits Total dissolved solids Flashpoint Viscosity Odor, Temperature, Viscosity, Volatility All the above mentioned properties apply to mixed wastes as well. Biodegradable wastes In addition to the above properties of aqueous waste, the following are also considered: Ash, COD, Nitrogen content, Odor, Permanganate value, Taste, Turbidity

Sewage consists of natural organics (such as protein, fats, and carbohydrates) in either solution or suspended, synthetic organics [30] (such as detergents and disinfectants) and various life forms [28] . Painter [31] has reported extensively on the chemical composition of sewage, and other authors have also attempted to give a definition by composition [32]. Apart from sewage, any waste containing organic materials may be treated biologically, although this is usually reserved for natural organic wastes which may be conveniently termed biodegradable. An initial chemical classification of liquid waste that appears to cover all possibilities may be as follows:
Insoluble volatile organics Insoluble nonvolatile organics Soluble organics Acids Alkalis Metals in solution Metals, suspended Cyanide Neutral inorganic chemicals Natural biodegradable substances hexane tars acetone sulphuric acid caustic soda iron chloride nickel hydroxide copper cyanide solution ammonium sulphate potato-processing waste

These classes are not mutually exclusive, a waste may have several of these constituents, for example alkaline cyanide, or may consist of a mixture, for example suspended metal compounds, alkali and cyanide. Classification may be further expanded taking into consideration individual chemicals. Chemical analysis will usually give the proportion of each chemical present, except that of organics which may be characterized by one or more physical properties as listed in Table 2. To indicate the extent of identification of individual compounds, publication of United Nations [29] lists 111 inorganic and 328 organic chemicals as examples of products of the basic chemical manufacturing industry. A comprehensive list of chemicals that might be found on waste would be many times larger.

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Alternatively the description may be limited to synthetic organic materials, natural organic materials, and inorganic materials and this characteristic corresponds to classification by origin, as in (10.1) above. Finally, waste is usually wastes because it consists of unusable and often unpleasant mixture of chemicals. 10.3.4 Quantity and Concentration of Pollutant Data are required on flow rates of waste and concentration of pollutants, together with their variation with time both throughout the day and over the year. This information is necessary for the design of treatment plant and setting up of storage facilities, making arrangements for disposal and also for budgeting. These data are also valuable in order to evaluate the possibility of recycling, either by the producer or by any outside organization. The information by itself may not very helpful, but it definitely complements the other aspects of classification of content of waste. It is, however, possible to estimate the capital cost of a number of processes, including effluent treatment plant, on the basis of capacity only. 10.3.5 Toxicity and Hazard Indiscriminate dumping of toxic waste led to the formulation and adoption of Deposit of Poisonous Waste Act 1972 [21] and this aspect has been extensively discussed [22,27,33,40]. The Key Report [27] which preceded the Act listed a wide range of chemicals and waste liquids reported to the committee as toxic (Table 3). It is of limited value as complex and vaguely defined wastes, such as kier liquor and alkaloid wastes are included alongside specific chemicals such as chrome acid and propyl isocyanate. Perhaps an easier approach will be the list of exempted materials (Table 4) [34, 41] provided. It is not clear as to what proportion of industrial waste can be considered deleterious or toxic; the World Health Organization has estimated 15 % which, equivalent to about 20 kg per head per year [42] . The actual figure in the UK was between 2 and 5 tonnes per year [43], but even there is some confusion with regard to terminology. Thus, toxic has been considered synonymous with poisonous without specifying toxic concentration. Hazards are more difficult to define. The Key Report[27] simply classified wastes as flammable, acid or caustic, and indisputably toxic. The Provisional Code of Practice[22] suggests the adoption of the Blue Book classification [44]. Which is simplified into the following broad groups; Explosive, Flammable, Oxidising, Infections, Corrosive and Radioactive Information on hazards and precautions to be taken in handling hazardous materials is given in the Yellow Book[45]. The Deposit of Poisonous Waste Act 1972 [21] requires the producer to know the nature of his

waste and to notify the appropriate authority of this [33] , this includes classification by phase, content, proportion of pollutants and such other information as will adequately define the hazards involved in the chosen method of disposal.
Table 3. Toxic wastes described to the key committee Wastes chemical slurry Tarry liquids Waste paint Solid tarry matter Oil-impregnated rubbish Arsenic waste Wastes containing cyanide Beryllium wastes Waste oil Residues from pesticide formulation Photographic waste Carbides Sludges containing copper, zinc Cadmium, nickel, etc. compounds Aromatic hydrocarbons Noxious organic solvents White spirit Lacquer Lubricants Chrome acid Complex cyanides Water-kerosene mixtures Trichloroethylene Oily slops from petroleum industry Highly acid organic residues Sludge from tar distillation Phenol-formaldehyde sludge Nicotine waste Kier liquor Spent sheep dip Sulphides Mercaptans Acid tars Alkaloid wastes Silver thiosulphate Fluorides Plating sludges Pickling sludges Spent acids Sludge from leaded petrol Waste alcohols Beta-naphthylamine sulphate Diaminodiphenylmethane Propyl isocyanate Sodium acetylide Chlorphenols Chlorcresols

Classification of a waste by toxicity and /or hazard is important for safety and also to comply with legislation [34-40]. In practice, it is better to use the characterization hazardous and non hazardous having regard to both toxicity and the environmental implications of the waste on disposal. Therefore the Control of Pollution Act distinguishes waste as poisonous, noxious or polluting and whose presence on land is likely to give rise to an environmental hazard. It also encompasses highly flammable or explosive materials which may have little toxicological significance. 10.4 Treatment This is the most common system of classification of waste. A list of treatment methods is given in Table 1.5 together with some examples. The list includes only those operations known to be used in effluent treatment, and has been divided under three main categories-chemicals, physical and biological. Practically all the listed methods are accepted chemical engineering unit operations or unit processes. Treatment of a waste for recycling, or prior to disposal, may be subjected to a sequence of operations.

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Table 4. Exempted waste

Any waste normally arising in the use of premises as an office for any purpose, or as a retail shop (that is to say, a building used for the carrying on of any retail trade or retail business wherein the primary purpose is the selling of goods or services by retail). Any waste produced in the course of:

construction, repair, maintenance or demolition of plant or of

buildings;

laundering or dry cleaning of articles; working mines and quarries, or washing mined or quarried material; construction or maintenance of highways, whether or not repairable
at the public expense;

dry cutting, grinding or shaping of metals, or the subjection thereof

to other physical or mechanical process;

softening, treatment or other processing of water for the purpose of

rendering it suitable for (i) human consumption, (ii) the preparation of foods or drinks, (iii) any manufacturing or cooling process, or (iv) boiler feeds; treatment of sewage; breeding, rearing or keeping of livestock; brewing; any other fermentation process; or cleansing of intercepting devices design to prevent the release of oil or grease.

A thorough exploration of all the possibilities for a specific problem might use a morphological approach which considers all possible operations, permutes them to give all possible processes, then by application of a number of predetermined criteria, and reduces the multiplicity of alternative to a few that may be explored in depth [46]. Most of the essential treatment operations done prior to disposal have been well documented. Recycling processes are either well established and documented, or not at all practiced for a number of valid or superficial reasons. A well designed recovery process can, not only virtually eliminate the disposal problem but can also significantly reduce the disposal coats and some times even the cost may become negative, i.e., the waste may produce income. There are many areas of waste disposal that would benefit from a careful and thorough examination with this point in view. 10.5 Value The value of waste material may arrived at by multiplying the quantity by the concentration and multiplying again by the value of each recoverable component in the waste. Quantity and concentration are discussed under (10.3) above. Cost of chemicals used as materials are published regularly in a number of journals in the form of price list [47-49]. However, prevailing market price may bear no relation to the published list price and hence a market survey is necessary before embarking on recovery programme. Recoverable components identified by analysis may exist in the waste in a different form: metal compounds, for example, are often reported as metal or metal oxide whereas actually they may exist in the waste as acid solutions of metal salts, recovery may be through another metal compound by precipitation, or of the metal itself. In summary, the complete characterization scheme for liquid waste comprises of the following information.
Origin Destination Content Where does it come from (type of industry or specific industry)? Is it going for disposal, reuse or recycle? What phases (s) are present in the waste? In what form is the pollutant? What chemicals form the pollutant? What are the physical properties? How much is there? What is the concentration of the pollutant? Is it toxic? If so, to what extent? Is it hazardous in any way (e.g. flammable, explosive)? If so, to what extent? How will it be treated, whether for disposal or recycle? Is it worth anything?

Any waste (not being waste in any of the foregoing classes) consisting of one or more of the following items whether mixed with water or not:

paper, cellulose, wood (including sawdust and sanderdust); oiled

paper, tarred paper, plasterboard

plastics, including thermoplastics in both the finished and raw states,

and thermosetting plastics in the finished state; iron, steel, aluminium, brass, copper, tin, zinc; coal, coke, carbon, graphite, ash, clinker; slags produced in the manufacture of iron, steel, copper or tin of mixtures of any of these metals; rubber (whether natural or synthetic); electrical fittings, fixtures and appliances; cosmetics; sands (including foundry and moulding sands), silica; shot blasting residues, boiler scale, iron oxides, iron hydroxides; cement, concrete, calcium hydroxide, calcium carbonate, calcium sulphate, calcium chloride, magnesium carbonate, magnesium oxide, zinc oxide, aluminium oxide, titanium oxide, copper oxide, sodium chloride;

clays, pottery, china, glass, enamels, ceramics, mica, abrasives;

cork, ebonite, kapok, kieselghur, diatomaceous earth; wool, cotton, linen, hemp, sisal, any other natural fibre, hessain,
leather, any man-made fibre, string, rope;

soap and other strearates; food, or any waste produced in the course of the preparations,
processing or distribution of food; vegetable matter; animal carcases, or parts thereof; excavated material in its natural state; any other substance which is hard solid and is insoluble in water and in any acid.

Treatment Value

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Table 5. Treatment methods for liquid effluent

Chemical treatment methods Absorption Cementation Chlorination Coagulation-see Flocculation Demulsification Electrolytic processes Flocculation Hydrolysis Incineration Ion exchange Leaching Neutralisation Oxidation Ozonisation Precipitation Reduction Thermal decomposition Physical treatment methods Absorption Cooling Crystallisation Desoption-see Absorption Dewatering-see Filtration Dialysis Distillation Drying Electrodialysis Evaporation Filtration Flotation Foam fractionation Fractionation-see Distillation Freezing Heating Phase separation Reverse osmosis Screening Sedimentation Solvent extraction Stripping Ultrafiltration-see Dialysis, Reverse osmosis Biological treatment methods Activated sludge Anaerobic digestion Chemical production Disinfection High rate filtration Oxidation-see Activated sludge, High rate filtration, Trickling filter Reduction-see Anaerobic digestion Single-cell protein production Trickling filter Example Solvent recovers Gold recovery Cyanide oxidation Soluble oil recovery Metal recovery Sewage treatment Cellulose waste Waste oil Metal recovery Metal-bearing sludges Waste oil Phenol removal Cyanide oxidation Metals Hexavalent chromium Recycling hydrochloric acid Removal of volatile organics Water reuse Recovery of inorganic salts

To illustrate the application of this scheme, a range of example is presented in Table 6, based on extracts from the records of a disposal contractor.
Table 6. Examples of characterization of liquid waste
Origin Destination Phase Physical nature Total solids Chemical nature Composition Zinc Lead Cadmium Chromium Nickel Quantity Toxicity and hazards Method of treatment Value Origin Destination Content : Phase Physical nature Total Solids Suspended matter Ash lashpoint Electrical conductivity Chemical nature Quantity Toxicity and hazards Method of treatment Value Origin Destination Content : Phase Physical nature Electrical conductivity Total solid Chemical nature Composition Copper Zinc Iron Quantity Toxicity and hazards Method of treatment Value Origin Destination Content : Phase Physical nature Total solids Ash Flashpoint Chemical nature Quantity Toxicity and hazards Method of treatment Value Inorganic, metal treatment Disposal Aqueous Dissolved gases and solid pH2 11.57% Acidity as HCl 5.81% Iron 1.72% 0.112% 0.024% Present Present Present 6.8 m3 (1500 gal) Poisonous, Corrosive None None, value of potentially Recoverable materials may be Calculated. [18] Natural organic, cess Disposal Aqueous Solution of solids, suspended solid, pH 8.65 0.23% 0.07% 0.678% 110oC 4085m hos/cm3 Ether extract 6.8 m3 (1500 gal) 0.31% Composition

Desalination Solvent recovery Pig manure Desalination Sulphuric acid recovery Sewage sludge Dairy wastes Metal separation Desalination Demulsification Oily wastes Desalination Sewage Suspended solids removal Metal recovery Ammonia removal

Bacterial infection None None Inorganic, metal treatment Disposal Aqueous Dissolved solids, miscible liquids, pH 0.7 178 000 mhos/ cm3 19.1% Acidity as H SO 2 4 Chromium 0.46% 0.26% 0.51% 4 m3 (800 gal) 14.5% 6.2%

Sewage Food wastes Ethanol Sewage plant effluent Phenol removal Organic waste Sewage

Oxidising, Poisonous, Corrosive None None, value of potentially recoverable materials may be calculated. [18] Synthetic organic, organic chemical Disposal Mixed aqueous-nonaqueous Suspended solids, immiscible, liquid, pH 6.0 37.6% 0.62% 110oC Phenol 0.48% 5.6 m3 (1250 gal) Demulsification and oil separation Small heat content oil from burning

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Table 7. Examples of materials recovered from solid and liquid waste

Chemical Acetic acid Acetone Ammonia Ammonium sulphate Anthracene Anthranilic acid Aromatic organics Aromatics Benzene Bromine Calcium sulphate Carboxylic acids Casein Chromic acid Copper salts Copper Sulphate Creosote Cresol Elthanol Ethylbenzene Ethylene dichloride Fluorides Gold cyanide Hydrochloric acid Hydrofluoric acid Hydroulic oil Hydrogen Hydrogen peroxide Iodine Iron oxides Iron sulphates Lubricating oil Magnesium chloride Methanol Methylaniline Naphthalene Nickel salts Paint Phenols Potassium hydroxide Protein Quench oil Sodium chloride Sodium cyanide Sodium hydroxide Sulphuric acid Sulphur Sulphuric acid Sulphur oxides Tar Toluene Trichlorobenzene Trichloroethylene White spirit Xylene Yeast Zinc slats Example of source Paper Petrochemicals Coke ovens Coke ovens Coal tar Dyestuffs Coke ovens Naphtha pyrolysis quench Styrene manufacture Potash Phosphates Petrochemicals Milk Electroplating Secondary copper Secondary copper Coal tar Coal tar Cellulose Styrene manufacture Oxychlorination waste-water Phosphate Electroplating Pickle liquor Aluminium Engineering Refineries Spent photographic solution Saltpetre Titanium Pickle liquor Vehicle maintenance Sea water General purpose solvent Dyestuffs Coke ovens Electroplating Automotive Petroleum refineries Dyestuffs Fermentation Metal treatment Desalination Gold containing broken porcelain Dyestuffs Silverbearing materials Desulphurisation processes Pickling liquor Ore smelting Coke ovens Benzole from coke ovens Pigments Degreasing General purpose solvent Benzole from coke ovens Brewing Rayon

11. MATERIALS RECOVERY: AN INTRODUCTION

Material recovery has only recently been proposed, including special examples where one mans waste can be turned into another mans profit by virtue of circumstances, special knowledge or economy of scale. The diversity of recyclable materials from solid and liquid waste is shown in Table 7. 11.1 Hydrometallurgical Processing All methods of metal recovery are based on hydrometallurgy [50-66]. There is a rapidly growing interest in hydrometallurgical extraction of metal which generally involves three stages - pretreatment, recovery and refining of metals from aqueous solution. The technology, principles and practice are equally applicable to all waste metals and alloys. A number of problems related to metal scrap have been recently investigated and reported. Some of which whose separation and recovery are reported include nickel/cobalt, cadmium/zinc alloy and bearing metal[73,67,68]. Other examples where leaching, purification and reduction processes adopted are: Leaching, preferably selected to reduce subsequent purification. Examples include acid leaching, ammoniacal leaching (gold, silver) and caustic leaching (aluminium, zinc and tin). Purification, remove impurities. Examples include most chemical engineering operations, such as ion exchange, solvent extraction and precipitation. Reduction, to produce an acceptable metallic product. This final step is unnecessary if metal salts are being produced. Selective reduction is also possible to overcome impurities. Examples include electrolysis and hydrogen reduction. 11.2 Gold Recovery Because of relatively high value and ease of recovery of metals, there have been many proposals for the reclamation of metals like gold, silver and other precious metals from specific waste solutions like spent electroplating solution, spent photographic solution, spent mirror solution and drag-out. Gold is a precious metal. Liquid of solid waste containing even one ppm of gold is of considerable interest as an economic source. In recent years, many industries are making use of gold as metal and its salts. Consequently, the scrap and the industrial effluent contain substantial concentrations of gold the recovery of which may be paramount interest to the entrepreneurs and technocrats. The materials which contain substantial amount of gold include electronic scraps, electric scrap, gold containing broken porcelain spent electroplating solutions, spent gold mirror solutions, etc. The precipitation and metallic replacement processes for the recovery of gold from gold containing broken porcelain and drag-out/ spent electroplating solutions is represented in Figs. 8 and 9[69,70].

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There are, however, probably a few such reclaimable wastes remain unexploited. There are about 70 such instances where byproduct recovery including many metals and metal compounds from aqueous effluents were reported several years ago [71]. 11.3 Silver Recovery Considerable quantities of metals are lost annually in aqueous effluent. India is ranked as the third largest country in the world for the use of silver. There is little information on the geographic distribution and environmental effects of silver discharges in India. However, recent worldwide studies show that the toxicity of silver depends on its chemical form, concentration, salinity, recox-potential and pH of the receiving water. Recovery of silver is of paramount importance, as it happens to be a highly priced metal.

Attempts have been made to recover some of the valuable constituents such as silver by hydrometallurgical techniques. A flowsheet diagram is shown in Fig. 10 and 11 [72,78] of acidic recovery of metal silver from spent photographic solution. Warren Spring Laboratory has applied a range of adaptations of the basic principles in a variety of situations [72-76]. It is, however, exceptional for such recovery processes to be justified economically. A survey conducted in Egypt showed that the solutions produced are nearly 2160 m3 containing about 16.2 tons of pure metal silver. The price of this pure metal silver is nearly $3 million. Hence it is desirable to recover the silver form spent solutions[77]. Recent proposal for the recovery of silver has been made and the flow diagram for the recovery of silver from spent photographic solution is given in Fig. 12 and Fig. 13.

Gold containing Broken porcelain

Water Sodium Cyanide O2H2

Dissolution of gold layer

Solution

Leached porcelain

Filteration of gold containing solution

Water st wash step1

Aluminium

Gold precipitation

Leached porcelain Water

Water

Washing

nd wash step 2

Water

Melting

Gold free Broken porcelain

Gold 99.5%

Figure 8. Flow sheet of gold recovery from gold containing broken porcelain.

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Drag-out / spent electroplating solution NaOH PH>13

Water H2SO4

Silver bearing materials

Silver dissolution Dissolution residue for recovery of impurities

Al

Precipitation
Water

Filtration

Ag2 SO4 precipitation

Decant
Filtration Filteration for recovery of impurities

Washing

Water

Water NH3

Dissolve in aquaregia

Filteration

Na2So4

Reduction

Figure 10. Flow sheet of silver recovery from silver bearing materials
Stock solution Acidic or alkaline reagent

Gold precipitate

HNO3

Boiling

Decant

Washing

Water
Filtration of the sludge and washing

Drying
Dissolution in boiling HNO3

Borax + Pinch of KNO3

Melting

Ag NO3 salt

% 99.5 Gold

Figure 9. Precipitation process for gold recovery from drag-out / spent electroplating solutions

Figure 11. Flow sheet diagram of acidic recovery of metal silver from spent photographic solutions.

12. CONCLUSIONS
The management of waste is one of the earliest of mans branches of knowledge. In some ways it can also be considered as one of the latest. The reason for this seeming paradox is the success which rewarded the efforts of public health specialists and sanitary engineers in overcoming the abysmally unhygienic conditions into which man has allowed his habitations to degenerate at different times in his history. This could be particularly seen during the later part of the

last century, when the practice of public health grew up to ameliorate, in particular, the housing and living conditions of the working poor in British cities. The public health movement later on spread rapidly to Europe and to the United States, where the need for improvement was not as strong as in Europe, but where danger signs were visible in the increasingly crowded conditions of the eastern cities. It was only during the last three decades that Indian community and planners started taking a serious view of the waste management.

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2H

Sludge

Ag2 SO4 dissolution

Hydrogen reduction

(NH4)2 SO4 by-product

Melting

Silver %99.5

Adjust pH to 3.6

Gentle warming at = 500 C

Ag sludge precipitation

Precipitation with NaOH Filtration and washing of the AgOH

Evaporation till dryness Thermal decomposition = 9800C

Other

Silver

Solid and Liquid Waste Management

Stock solution

Stock solution

Concentrating

Evaporating till dryness

Cooling

H2O2 stock

Thermal decomposition at = 9800C

Filtration of Ag sludge

Grinding of solids

Washing and drying

Dissolution in HNO3 Ag salts e.g. AgNO3

Ag separation by water

Thermal decomposition

Ag washing and drying

Silver

Silver

Figure 12. Flow sheet diagram of recovery of metallic silver from spent photographic solutions with H2O2

Figure 13. Flow sheet diagram of recovery of metallic silver form spent photographic solutions by thermal process

The improvements which were brought about had such strikingly good impact, noticeable mainly in the reduction in disease rates and in the cleanliness of the cities, that codes of good practice were established handbooks were written, school of public health were opened and the general population relaxed under the belief that the problems associated with our waste had been solved forever. This situation lasted for about two generations long enough for most research groups to die out or be disbanded. An approach tied to tradition and unresponsive to change was followed. But change came in the form of increased intensity of the very industrial revolution which had enabled the problems of the last century to be resolved with such relative ease. These new problems brought about fundamental and for reaching changes in the nature of domestic refuse, which in the days of coal fires had consisted predominantly of only ashes and food waste and which became increasingly composed of large quantities of paper, plastics and glass packaging materials. These problems also included changes in industrial wastes, which began to incorporate previously unknown variety of substances with, in many cases still unknown properties and hazards. The substances which were disposed of with relative safety in minute quantities by the industrialists of the last century began to be discharged in vast tonnages with immediate catastrophic effects in some cases, and disturbing implications for the longer term in others.

Our previous complacency resulted in being caught virtually unawares by these new problems. During the last two decades we have witnessed an unprecedented rapid growth in first concern and later action, which transformed the entire field of waste management. It was the transformation which necessitated undertaking this study.

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