Management of Hazardous Waste
Hazardous waste is the kind of used materials that can be
harmful to the health of both humans and animals, and also harmful to the
environment. These wastes are in various forms including liquids, solids, sludge
or gases. They are as a result of industrial activities that involve chemical productions
and manufacturing. When the hazardous wastes are stored, transported or
disposed wrongly they contaminate the underground water supplies as well as the
surface. The people whose homes are built near an abandoned disposal site have
a greater exposure to this danger.
Governments have a responsibility of regulating the
management of hazardous wastes in order to rectify the current problems and keep
future problems at bay.
Types Of Hazardous Wastes
The hazardous wastes are classified according to their
properties which could either be physical, chemical or biological. The
properties generate the various types of wastes which include:
Infectious Waste: Most of the Infectious waste
comes from the hospitals or research centers. They can include needles,
bandages and other disposable materials from such institutions.
Toxic waste: This is capable of causing sudden
illness or even death. Many years of exposure to the toxic wastes can cause
cancer while the mutagenic waste can affect the biological structure of both
humans and animals.
Corrosive waste: This has a high alkaline and acid
content. There is a chemical reaction that occurs which harms solid materials if
they get into contact with the corrosive waste.
Reactive Waste: When exposed to water or air,
the reactive waste can explode. The waste can burn in extremely low temperature
and therefore has a high chance of causing fires.
Radioactive Waste: These type of wastes produce
ionizing energy which is harmful to living things. Before the radioactive
wastes decay completely, they can remain active within the environment for many
years. There should therefore be proper handling and disposal of these wastes.
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| Are Hazardous Wastes really Hazardous ? |
How To Transport Hazardous Waste
The transportation of hazardous wastes is usually from the
site of origin to the designated disposal location. Due to the levels of
potential threat to the public and to the environment, proper transportation is
necessary. This is to eliminate chances of accidental spillage and dumping at
random areas; thus the labelling and tracking. There are two main ways of
transporting waste which include use of vehicles or the rail.
The vehicles are popular for transportation of
waste due to their ease of access to industries and other collection points.
The truck tanks are made of aluminum or steel and have a huge capacity. The rail
use is expensive due to the required side facilities. It is therefore
appropriate for very bulky waste shipments.
Ways of
Disposing Hazardous Wastes
Recycling of the wastes can not be a complete solution
to the disposal of the hazardous waste. Some of the waste will need to be treated,
stored or disposed.
During treatment the waste can be incinerated to
detoxify and destroy some types of organic waste. This is done using thermal
equipments which are specifically designed for burning liquid, solid or sludge
forms of waste. Incineration is known to cause air pollution. Another form of
treatment is the biological one. It is common in farms where the waste is mixed
with soil. Bacteria or microbes can be used to hasten the metabolic process. There
is also the physical treatment which involves filtration, sedimentation,
flotation or evaporation.
The waste that is not treated or which does not get
destroyed by incineration or any other chemical process disposal on land is an
option. The waste piles must be properly protected from erosion and wind. When
the pile is no longer manageable, it should be land filled. An open pit or
holding ponds are good for waste that is not flowing.
