Hazardous waste management is the collection, treatment, and disposal of waste materials that, if not managed appropriately, can cause significant harm to human health and safety or the environment. Hazardous wastes can be solids, liquids, sludges, or confined gasses, and they are generally produced by chemical manufacturing, manufacturing, and other industrial processes. They may cause damage if not properly stored, transported, treated, or disposed of. Improper hazardous waste disposal or storage regularly contaminates surface and groundwater supplies, resulting in damaging water pollution, and it can also cause dangerous land pollution.
People living in homes built near old and abandoned trash disposal sites may be more exposed. Governments strictly control the practice of hazardous waste management to address present issues and prevent future harm from hazardous waste.
Characteristics of Hazardous Waste
Hazardous wastes are classed based on their biological, chemical, and physical characteristics. These qualities result in materials that are toxic, reactive, ignitable, corrosive, contagious, or radioactive.
Toxic wastes are poisonous, even in trace amounts. They can have acute effects, such as death serious sickness, or chronic impacts, which cause irreparable harm over time. Some are carcinogenic, causing cancer after prolonged exposure. Others are mutagenic, resulting in significant biological alterations in the progeny of exposed humans and wildlife.
Reactive waste is chemically unstable and reacts violently with air and water. They generate explosions or produce hazardous vapors. Ignitable wastes burn at low temperatures and may pose an instant fire risk. Corrosive wastes contain highly acidic or alkaline chemicals. When they come into contact with a solid substance or living tissue, they kill it chemically.
Infectious waste includes used bandages, hypodermic needles, and other hospital or biological research materials.
Radioactive waste produces ionizing energy, which can harm biological creatures. Because some radioactive materials can remain in the environment for thousands of years before totally decomposing, waste management is a major concern.
Treatment, Storage, and Disposal
There are several solutions for hazardous waste management. The most desirable option is to decrease waste at the source or to recycle the materials for another useful purpose. Nonetheless, while reduction and recycling are attractive choices, they are not seen as the ultimate solution to the problem of hazardous waste disposal. There will always be a need to process and store or dispose of some hazardous trash.
Treatment: Hazardous waste can be treated using chemical, thermal, biological, and physical processes. Chemical procedures include ion exchange, precipitation, oxidation and reduction, and neutralization. High-temperature incineration is one of the thermal technologies that may both cleanse and destroy some organic wastes. Special thermal equipment is used to burn waste, whether it be solid, liquid, or sludge. These include fluidized-bed incinerators, multiple-hearth furnaces, rotary kilns, and liquid-injection incinerators. One issue raised by hazardous waste incineration is the possibility of air pollution.
Storage & Disposal: Hazardous wastes that are not eliminated through incineration or other chemical processes must be appropriately disposed of. Most of these wastes end up in landfills, which is not an appealing approach due to the inherent environmental risks. Landfilling and subsurface injection are two fundamental ways of land disposal. Before land disposal, surface storage or containment systems are frequently used as a temporary measure.
Lagoons are a form of open pit or holding ponds that are commonly used for temporary storage of hazardous liquid waste. New lagoons must be lined with impervious clay soils and flexible membrane liners to protect groundwater. Groundwater monitoring wells are necessary, as well as leachate collection systems constructed between the liners. Except for sedimentation, evaporation of volatile organics, and potentially some surface aeration, open lagoons do not treat waste. Sludge must be removed frequently and handled as hazardous waste.
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