In our world today there are serious threats that can cause harm to our society. One of these threats is hazardous wastes. This is described as waste that can serve potential threats to the environment or public health. Waste can be considered hazardous if it contains one or more of the following characteristics: ignitable, oxidizing, corrosive, toxic, radioactive, and/or explosive. If these wastes were not handled or taken care of, they could increase the death told or escalade a serious irreversible illness. These hazards can cause a tragic threat to our environment and human kind.
Acts Regarding Hazardous Waste
In 1976, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) was sprung into life to record the tracking of hazardous wastes in the United States. From the time they are produced, hazardous wastes, must be tracked until they are in their final nature. These records helps lessen the amount of waste illegally disposed and gives the life cycle of these materials.
Around 1980 another group called Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) was formed. A “superfund” and clean-up and remediation actions were taken around closed and abandoned hazardous waste sites, thanks to this act.
Hazardous Waste Found in the U.S.
In the United States, hazardous wastes are generated from many types of businesses. Dry cleaners, automobile repair shops, and hospitals are some of the businesses that can be considered as the small companies. Chemical manufacturers, electroplating companies, and oil refinements are the larger companies that generate hazardous wastes.
According to the law enacted in the United States, facilities must have a permit if they treat, store, or dispose any type of hazardous waste. These facilities need to have specific requirements in order to obtain a permit. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) demands that the facilities must have the proper treatment, storage, and disposal for hazardous waste. However, the EPA is encouraging that states must not only follow the federal requirement, but they should develop their own requirements extends further than the federal regulations.
The RCRA states that hazardous waste is either considered a “characteristic waste” or a “listed waste”. Ignitability, corrosivity, reactivity, reactivity, or toxicity are the following characteristics needed to be displayed within the components of the waste (at least one of the four must be exhibited) to be considered a characteristic waste.
Listed wastes are generated by specific industries and processes are automatically considered hazardous if they appear on any of the four hazardous lists. The list consists of F-list, K-list, P-list, or U-list.
Characteristics of Waste
To further discuss the characteristic wastes here are a more detailed description of the characteristics.
Wastes that can spontaneously combust, create fires under certain conditions, or have a flash point of less than 60°C (140 °F) are considered to be ignitable wastes. Methods to establish the ignitability of the waste include Pensky-Methods Closed-Cup Method for Determining Ignitability, Ignitability of Solids, and Setaflash Closed-Cup Method for Determining Ignitability.
Metal containers that can be corroded by acids (pH equal to or less than 2) or bases (pH equal to or greater than 12.5) are considered as corrosive wastes. These wastes can wear away metal containers such as storage tanks, drums, and barrels. A perfect example for this is battery acid. Corrosivity Towards Steel is a method used to determine corrosivity.
Under “normal” conditions reactive wastes are known to be unpredictable. When mixed with water these wastes can cause explosions, toxic fumes, gases, or create vapors when heated. Explosives and lithium-sulfur are examples of this waste. Presently there are no methods presented to find out whether or not waste is radioactive or not.
When toxic wastes are ingested, absorbed, or inhaled these can cause great damage to the body and environment. Contaminated liquid from toxic wastes could leach from the waste and pollute ground water if these wastes are disposed on land. Examples for this are mercury and lead. The method to determine the toxicity of a waste is called Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure.
Listed Wastes
Based on the process these wastes were generated by and whether or not test results show any type of characteristics of hazardous, listed wastes must consist of: much sludge from electroplating processes, a specific waste from steel and iron manufacturing, and waste from specific cleaning and/or degreasing processes. The EPA incorporated hazardous wastes into published lists.
The F-list consists of non-specific source wastes. Wasted that have been used in cleaning or degreasing operations come from common manufacturing and industrial processes, specifically like solvents. Theses wastes can occur in different sections of industry due to the process it is producing.
Petroleum refining or pesticide manufacturing are some of the specific industries that make up the K-list. The K-list are source-specific wastes. Some examples that come from this list are certain sludges and wastewaters from production processes.
The P-list and K-list are both under the discarded wastes. These two lists are sub lists under the major category, discarded wastes. When commercial chemical products are discarded they are considered dangerous. An example of a P-list waste is Nitric Oxide. Wastes under the U-list are only considered hazardous when discarded. Also, U-list wastes are less stringent than P-list wastes.
Universal Wastes
Universal wastes are ever-present and produced in large quantities, which are generated by a large number of producers. Also, these wastes are not as big of a threat as other specific wastes. Fluorescent light bulbs, a few specialty batteries which contain lithium or lead, and mercury-contained devices are some of the most common universal wastes.
These wastes can be categorized as conditionally-exempt small quantity generators or CESQGs. This category discharges them from the usual requirements for handling hazardous wastes. However, these wastes must still be properly disposed.
Other Hazardous Wastes
EPA states that if a listed hazardous waste and a solid waste mix, and that if the result of their mixture is regulated as hazardous, this is considered as a hazardous waste.
Waste that comes from treatment, storage, or disposal of hazardous waste is considered dangerous. An example of this is ash that comes from the incineration of hazardous wastes. Also, the contaminated soil, groundwater, surface water, and debris that come from hazardous wastes are considered to be dangerous.
Exemptions on Hazardous Wastes
There are certain regulations that state that not all mixed wastes are considered to be hazardous. But this does not necessarily mean that they are not hazardous or that they are not regulated. Waste that is not regulated by the primary hazardous waste regulations is considered as an exempted waste. Different regulatory agencies can regulate different statues. For instance, hazardous agricultural wastes are regulated via agricultural statues and regulations.
Some of the exempted hazardous wastes are: utility wastes from coal combustion to produce electricity, oil and natural gas exploration drilling waste, cement kiln wastes, mining overburden wastes which are returned to the ground as fertilizer, and wood treated with arsenic preservatives.
Household Hazardous Wastes
Residential households generate this type of waste. This means that the materials bought as “home use materials” are the culprits for causing this type of waste. Here are some of household hazardous wastes: Paints, automotive wastes (used motor oil, antifreeze), cell phones, computers, cleaning agents, ammunition, smoke detectors (they contain a small amount of radioactive isotopes of americium), and propane cylinders.
How to Dispose of Hazardous Wastes
There are five different ways to get rid of hazardous wastes. The first method would to recycle them. Many wastes are being recycled to create new products. For example, the heavy metals found in electronic circuit boards are recovered and used in new products.
Another method would be to neutralize the wastes. The hazardous component found in waste is eliminated in order for the hazardous waste to be processed. A basic substance can neutralize a corrosive acids so that it is no longer lethal, therefore making it a non-hazardous waste.
“Incineration, destruction and waste-to-energy” is one more way to dispose of hazardous wastes. At a high temperature, incinerating the hazardous waste can completely “destroy” the waste. Actually, energy sources can sometimes use flammable wastes to be burned. A perfect example of this would be how many cement kilns burn used oils or solvents.
The next method to get rid of hazardous wastes would to sequester the waste in a landfill where other hazardous wastes are isolated. This landfill is placed on land and is not sequestered as a pile. However, it is a treatment facility where they any of the following: surface impoundment, an underground injection well, a salt formation, an underground mine, a cave, or a corrective management unit.
The last method used to eradicate hazardous wastes is pyrolysis. In inert conditions some waste types can be eliminated by using very high temperatures in an ultra high temperature electrical arc to avoid combustion. The destruction of concentrated organic waste types such as pesticides, PCBs, and other persistent organic pollutants would be highly preferable to this method.
Who would have thought that the everyday household items we purchase could actually harm ourselves, others, and especially the environment? We should properly dispose of these items and not just throw them in thrash or on the streets. These wastes can do some serious damage on our ever-changing world. Let’s help prevent the beauty of the surroundings to decay into dust.
