HAZARDOUS WASTE MANAGEMENT

HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCE

-Defined by the EPA as any substance that because of its quantity, concentration, or physical, chemical or infectious
characteristics may cause, or significantly contribute to, or an increase in mortality, or cause an increase in serious
irreversible, or incapacitating reversible illness; pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health and
the environment when improperly treated, stored, transported, or disposed of, or otherwise managed.

Hazardous waste is a term given to a material that when intended for disposal meets one of two criteria:

1. Contains one or more criteria pollutants or chemicals explicitly identified as hazardous.

2. Waste that exhibit at least one of the ff:
a) Flammable/Ignitable d) Toxic
b) Corrosive e) Radioactive
c) Reactive

CHARACTERISTICS OF HAZARDOUS WASTE

1) Ignitability

Identifies wastes that pose fire hazards during routine management. These are liquids with flash points below
60°C. Fires not only present immediate dangers of heat and smoke but can also spread harmful particles over
wide areas.

2) Corrosiveness

Identifies wastes requiring special containers because of their ability to corrode standard material, or requiring
segregation from other wastes because of their ability to dissolve toxic contaminants

Include materials that, in aqueous solution, have pH values outside the range of 2 to 12.5 or liquids that exhibit
corrosivity to steel at a rate greater than 6.35 mm/yr.

3) Reactivity (or explosiveness)

– identifies wastes that, during routine management, tend to react vigorously with air or water, to be unstable
to shock or heat, to generate toxic gases, or to explode

4) Toxicity

– identifies wastes that, when improperly managed, may release toxicants in sufficient quantities to pose a
substantial hazard to human health or to the environment.

5) Radioactive – identifies wastes that emit ionizing radiation that are highly detrimental to human health.

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TOXICITY

– defined by EPA in terms of four criteria:

a) Bioconcentration
-Ability of a material to be retained in animal tissue.
Ex: Many pesticides will reside in the fatty tissues of animals and will not break down very fast. As smaller
creatures are eaten by larger ones, the concentration in the fatty tissues of the larger organisms can reach toxic
levels.

b) LD50
A measure of how much of a certain chemical is needed to kill half of a group of test specimens such as mice.
Mice are fed progressively with higher doses of the poison until half of them die. The lower the amount of the
toxin used to kill 50% of the specimen, the higher the toxic value of the chemical.

c) LDC50
The concentration at which some chemical is toxic, used where the amount ingested cannot be measured, such
as in the aquatic environment or in evaluating the quality of air.
Specimens such as goldfish are placed in series of aquariums and increasingly higher concentrations of toxins are
administered.

d) Phytotoxicty
Toxicity to plants. All herbicides are toxic materials and must be disposed of and treated as hazardous wastes.

I. HAZARDOUS WASTE GENERATION

Some Industries producing hazardous wastes

1) Battery industries – Cd, Pb, Ag, Zn

2) Chemical processes/manufacturing
3) Electrical/electronics – Cu, Co, Pb, Hg, Zn, Se, organics
4) Electroplating – Co, Cr, Cu, Zn
5) Printing – As, Cr, Cu, Pb, Se, organics
6) Textiles – Cr, Cu, organics
7) Pharmaceuticals – As, Hg, organics
8) Paint industries – Cd, Cr, Cu, Co, Pb, Hg, Se
9) Plastic industries – Co, Hg, Zn, organics, HC’s
10) Leather – Cr, organics

Medical Hazardous Wastes

1) Obsolete medicines past expiry date

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 2) Cytostatica
3) Infectious material (used wound dressings, used transfusion equipment)
4) Pathological wastes
5) Sharp and pointed objects (injection needles)
6) Wastes from dental clinics

Household Hazardous Wastes

1) Kitchen – cleaners, insect killers and sprays, aerosols, floor care products, metal polish with solvents,
glass/window cleaners, oven cleaners
2) Bathroom – bathroom and toilet cleaners, disinfectants, hair relaxers
3) Garage – antifreeze, batteries, brake fluids, car wax w/ solvent, diesel fuel, gasoline, kerosene, metal polish w/
solvent, paint brushes, paint latex, paint thinner, paint stripper, glue, varnish, etc.
4) Garden – fertilizers, fungicide, herbicide, insecticide, rat killer etc.
5) Medicine cabinet – expired medicine
6) Miscellaneous – solidified nail polish, perfumes, lotions, etc.

II. COLLECTION SYSTEMS FOR HAZARDOUS WASTES

Transfer station – serves a multitude of tasks to facilitate collection of hazardous wastes. It includes the ff:

1) Organizing a “pick-up” service – The service will, on request, use a certified transporter and collect the agreed
wastes type and amount. A condition for collection is that the waste is packed and marked according to the ADR
transport rules
2) Makes a visual assessment of the packing of the waste
3) Inspect the documentation (manifest)
4) Reload the waste into trucks or railroad wagons for final transport to the treatment plant.
5) Fill out the necessary papers for final transport.
6) Transmit data from the manifest to the treatment plant.
7) Sell suitable containers for waste packing.
8) Organize the distribution of multiple journey containers
9) Give advice to waste generators about classification, handling, packing and transport of HW.

III. TRANSPORT OF HAZARDOUS WASTES

Regulations governing transport of HW

1) ADR (Accord Dangereuse Routiers) – transport of dangerous goods by road

2) RID - Regulations Concerning the International Transport of Dangerous Goods by Rail
3) IMDG – International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code
4) ICAO – transport of dangerous goods by air

Requirements for containing HW

1) Appropriate drums or containers must be selected

2) A manifest (declaration) must be filled out. The manifest should include the ff:
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 a) Information on waste generator
b)Composition of the waste/physical appearance
c) Method of packaging
d) ADR/RID classification
3) The containers should be equipped with warning labels, marked with manifest number on top and on the sides.
4) Large scale transport involve IBC’s (Intermediate Bulk Containers) with capacities of 20 – 30 m3.
5) Truck transporting HW should include orange warning signs (front and rear of truck)

IV. REMEDIATION METHODS FOR HW

1) Immediate Removal – the material needs to be removed immediately for treatment or disposal when there is
imminent threat to human health.

2) Containment – used when there is no need to remove the offending material and/or if the cost of removal is
prohibitive as was to the case of Love Canal.

3) Extraction and Treatment – pumping of the contaminated groundwater to the surface for either disposal or
treatment, or excavation of contaminated soil for treatment
4) In – situ Treatment – involves the injection of either bacteria or chemicals that will destroy the hazardous
material. For HM, it may be tied up chemically or fixed so as not to leach on GW. Organic solvents can be
degraded by injecting freeze – dried bacteria.

V. HAZARDOUS WASTE TREATMENT FACILITY

1) Biological Method – treatment by using microbial population that makes use of wastes as food source.
a. Corynebacterium pyrogens – degrade toxaphene
b. Hydrogenomonas – converts DDT to p- chlorophenyl- acetic acid which is then attacked by Arthrobacter
species.
2) Thermal Treatment – Use of rotary kiln incinerators, liquid injection incinerators, plasma incineration, wet air
oxidation, fluidized bed combustion.
3) Chemical treatment – neutralization, detoxification, precipitation, ion exchange
4) Physical treatment - flocculation, sedimentation, centrifugation, filtration
5) Ultimate disposal
a) Deep well injection
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 b) Land disposal – spreading of waste on land
c) Specially designed landfill

One concern with hazardous waste disposal is the speed with which the chemical can be set free to produce toxic
effects in plants or animals.

One often used method of hazardous waste disposal is to mix the waste with slurry consisting of cement, lime, and
other materials. When the mixture is allowed to harden, the toxic material is safely buried inside the block of
concrete from which it cannot escape and cause trouble.

The rate at which such potential toxins can escape from the material in which it is at present embedded is
determined from a procedure termed as TCLP (toxicity characteristics leaching procedure).

Many of the toxic materials such as heavy metals are not destroyed during incineration and escape with ash. If these
metals leach into the water when the ash is placed in a landfill, then the ash would have to be treated as a
hazardous waste and disposed off accordingly.

Some US HWM Agencies / Act

EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) – addresses acute problems caused by improper disposal of HW or
accidental discharge.

TOSCA (Toxic Substances Control Act) – aimed at preventing the creation of wastes that may eventually prove
damaging or difficult to dispose safely.

RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act) – addresses disposal of hazardous materials by establishing
standards for secure landfills and treatment processes.

CERCLA (Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act) – directed at correcting the
mistakes of the past by cleaning up old hazardous wastes sites, referred to as the Superfund Act.