Wastes are considered "hazardous" when they have the potential to cause death and severe health problems as well as environmental problems when are not properly disposed, treated or destroyed. These are the wastes that can be classified as "hazardous waste":
- Radioactive
- Medical
- Oxidizing
- Toxic
- Ignitable or Inflammable
- Corrosive
- Explosive
- Eco-toxic
Hazardous wastes generally come from automobile repair shops, hospitals, exterminators, chemical factories, electroplating companies, oil refineries and the like. Hazardous wastes can be categorized in three categories that are:
- F-list that comprises waste that comes from industrial and manufacturing operations.
- K-list includes the wastes from specific industries like petroleum refining or pesticide manufacturing.
- P-list and U-list are sub lists, which include commercial chemical products that are harmful only when they are not treated and discarded well.
Hazardous Waste Management
All the progressive nations of the world are facing the similar problem of waste disposal and management. Disposal is a second option to management and sometimes included in it as some of the wastes are such that disposing them would cause more trouble. Waste Management refers to the collection, transportation, processing and recycling or disposing of the waste. This kind of waste is produced by human activity and waste management is an effective process of controlling the impact on the mental and physical health of the people. There are several methods by which waste is managed which are as follows:
- Landfill
- Incineration
- Physical and Biological Reprocessing
- Energy Recovery
- Avoidance and Reduction
Landfill refers to the burial of disposable waste. If it is properly designed and well managed it can be a hygienic as well as cheap method of disposing waste. Incineration refers to the burning of waste material. This is a high temperature waste treatment and is sometimes also referred to as "thermal treatment". Waste is converted in to gas, heat, steam and ash. It is a very common method of waste disposal done on both small and large scale. It helps in disposing solid, liquid and gaseous waste. Incineration is an effective way of getting rid of medical waste though there are many who have the opinion that medical waste when incinerated emits gases that are harmful. Recycling is a process wherein from the waste, the original resource is extracted or the waste is reused. There are various ways and methods of recycling; like the cola cans pose a huge environmental nuisance so they are being recycled on a large scale to get something beneficial out of it. Biological Recycling refers to waste that is organic, that is, waste that can decompose and mix with nature, its source. Few examples of such waste is paper, food, dead foliage and the like which can be subjected to natural recycling. The gas that is produced during the process can be used to generate electricity. Energy Recovery means the energy that is in the waste material should not be wasted, as the material is disposed so the process of Energy Recovery harnesses the latent energy as direct combustion fuel. This fuel can be used for cooking, heating or as a fuel for other heat using procedures. One of the most important methods that are being adopted now is avoidance and reduction of waste material being created. Used products are being reused and people are being discouraged to use disposable materials.
Hazardous waste is also stored but then care should be taken about not spilling and leaking. There should not be any fumes coming out of the storage, if there is, steps should be taken immediately. To prevent any such thing from happening there should be a secondary containment tray that should be able to hold all the liquid waste that is leaking. Waste is stored so that it can be disposed off after it accumulates to a considerable extent. Stored wastes should be disposed off within the next six months. Nowadays, to spread awareness people are being trained in handling waste and disposing them off. People are receiving waste management, storage and disposal on a general as well as professional level…