TO EXPLORE ALERTNESS ABOUT HAZARDOUS WASTE AND IT’S MANAGEMENT WITHIN LOCAL INDUSTRY

Research PROPOSAL

1) INTRODUCTION:

1.1) BACKGROUND:

The escalating cost of establishing brands in a competitive market as consumers become more immune to promotional activities creates greater pressure to leverage existing brands into new product categories. Some of the commonly used definitions of brand extension are as follows : Using an established name of one product class for entering another product class(Aaker 1991)

1.2) PROBLEM STATEMENT:

To determine awareness about hazardous waste within local industry and it’s impact on the natural environments and surroundings. To find out Hazardous waste treatment or ways of management to reduce damage cause to the environment and the dangers of disposing of hazardous waste.

1.3) RESEARCH OBJECTIVES:

Under the above s

The escalating cost of establishing brands in a competitive market as consumers become more

immune to promotional activities creates greater pressure to leverage existing brands into new

product categories. tated research problem our goal is to investigate :

1. How knowledgeable are members of the local industry about hazardous waste preferably managers?

2. What are the forms and sources of hazardous waste?3. What are different ways of treatments and practices that can convert hazardous

waste into non-hazardous and less harmful?4. The commitment of organizations to hazardous waste treatment?5. Which specific institutions are looking after and responsible for hazardous waste

management?6. Role played by industries in reducing the impact of hazardous waste?

1.4) SCOPE OF THE RESEARCH:

To conduct this research, We have selected three industries namely, Pharmaceutical, Textile and Tannery. We have selected five organizations to represent each industry. We have decided to target operations and marketing department of each industry. Hence each Organization is represented by a manager in the marketing or operations department.

The questionnaire aimed to find out the general level of alertness and the treatment of hazardous waste to render waste non hazardous or less harmful.

1.5) LIMITATIONS:

Though alertness about hazardous waste management is a National issue but we are confined to just Karachi which is considered as the hub of industrial activities.Hence we can not expand the boundary of our study to other industrial citites of Pakistan.We are also faced with time constraints as the time required by our semester is much less than needed to conduct such an exploratory research.

2)LITERATURE REVIEW:

“Solid Waste Management in Karachi”:

ABOUT KARACHI:

Karachi is Pakistan’s most important and the only port city. It is a hub of commercial and industrial activity accommodating nearly 70 percent of our country’s total industry. The rapid growth of the city, lack of effective land use and proper and effective maintenance system of essential services have led to grave environmental problems. The magnitude of the solid waste problem of Karachi is reflected in print media often also. The findings of various research studies on the topic present supporting conclusion.

According to the daily “DAWN” dated Sept. 27th, Karachi alone produces about some 10,000 metric tons of solid waste daily out of which only 30 – 40 percent is transported and dumped into open landfills while the rest is either left unattended or being burnt in-situ.

As per a study conducted by UNIDO, apart from industrial hazardous waste, another major and most dangerous source of solid waste generation is hospitals, clinics, and pathological laboratories. Out of many, only one hospital has its own incinerator while the rest rely on the two incinerators of the local government, one of which is already not working. Hospital waste includes toxic, radioactive inflammables and biological waste. A

little mismanagement in this situation can cause spread of lethal diseases like Hepatitis C and HIV / AIDs.

The city has two landfill sites, each with an area of 500 acres and a combined capacity to absorb 2,000 tons of waste per day for 20 years.

Although the city’s landfills have the capacity to absorb most of the daily waste produced by the city, hardly 40 percent of the waste is collected at a time due to lack of resources and poorly administered collection and disposal system with the result that much of the city’s waste goes un-collected for long periods.

Waste is scavenged and burnt in the populated areas exposing the residents to health hazards, adding to the already severe problem of air pollution and creating opportunities for pests to breed and to spread diseases.

Recently findings of a survey were published by daily DAWN. According to the survey of Korangi and Landhi, which are highly industrialized regions of Karachi, the incidence of chest infections is alarmingly high in the areas where solid waste is burnt affecting the

respiratory system of the habitants. According to government sources, about 75 percent of the people coming to hospitals are affected with respiratory infections. A majority of these patients live in the areas where solid waste is burnt. Medical experts are of the opinion that the residents living in close proximity of places where solid waste is burnt continuously inhale flames and develop infections.

Solid waste, which is not collected to burnt, is thrown into drains, which results in choking of drains and further pollutes the environment.

In addition to this, 330 million gallons per day (mgd) of industrial and domestic effluent is also discharged into the sea everyday and approximately 70 percent of it reaches the marine environment without any form of treatment having profound effect on the marine environment.

A proper system of hazardous waste management is lacking for the city and the various bodies responsible for waste disposal are inefficient. For a city with a rapidly expanding population, the existing waste management capacity is far too inadequate and outmoded and needs to be improved otherwise the problem of ineffective solid waste management services will continue to haunt those living in urban areas.

Relevance to the Present Study

This article from the Dawn is a factual account of the deteriorating environmental conditions in Karachi, Pakistan’s commercial and industrial hub. It assumes special relevance to this study since the geographic scope of this research in confined to Karachi. The article also highlights the lack of any efficient method of waste disposal or the presence of anybody governing the same. In other words, it shows the indifference of all the relevant authorities for the protection of the people living in close areas to the dumping sites of hazardous waste.

CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

For conducting this research Exploratory and Descriptive approach is followed .As we are going to determine level of alertness about hazardous waste within local industry which is concerned with clarifying and defining the nature of the problem.

On the contrary ,the purpose of the research is also to determine what treatments and practices adopted by local industries to convert hazardous waste into non-hazardous.Our research would be mainly qualitative in nature.

QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS:

As the great analysis has been placed to gain the understanding of the problem that is current awareness level and different variables regarding waste management will be analysed.

QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS:

Sampling technique will be used to analyze the gathered data from different sources.Analysis will be based on convenient sampling.

DATA COLLECTION METHOD:

Data will be collected using primary and secondary sources.Secondary data will be collected from published sources like internet, news paper,trade journal,magazines etc.

Primary data will be gathered by interviewing Marketing /Operation managers at waste generating manufacturing companies and government agencies responsible for environment protection and by observation method.By distributing questionnaire among manufacturing concerns of five different industries in Karachi.

RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS:

Questionnaires and interviews are the instruments used in the data gathering process .The questionnaire will be distributed among Operations/Marketing managers and their sub ordinates .

Population Definition:

All the industrial units that are responsible for generating hazardous waste and all the top level managers working at waste generating manufacturing companies in Karachi

SAMPLING UNIT:

THE ELEMENT OF POPULATION WOULD BE OPERATION/MARKETING MANAGERS WORKING AT HAZARDOUS WASTE GENERATING COMPANIES

SAMPLING TECHNIQUE:

Convinient sampling technique will be used that is sample of five different organizations representing five different waste generating industries in Karachi will be selected.

Definitions of terms:

A hazardous waste is waste that poses substantial or potential threats to public health or the environmenct.It is the waste that is dangerous or potentially harmful to our health or the environment. Hazardous wastes can be liquids, solids, gases, or sludges. They can be discarded commercial products, like cleaning fluids or pesticides, or the by-products of manufacturing processes.

Hazardous Waste Management - Systematic control of the collection, source separation storage, transportation, processing, treatment, recovery and disposal of hazardous wastes.These are those precautions which are taken to reduce the dangers of handling or disposing of hazardous wastes.

Toxicity: A property of wastes causing them to have either acute or chronic health problems.

Hazardous WasteTreatment when used in connection with an operation involved in hazardous waste management, means any method, technique, or process, including neutralization or incineration, designed to change the physical, chemical, or biological character or composition of a hazardous waste, so as to neutralize such waste or to render such waste less hazardous, safer for transport, amenable for recovery or reuse, amenable for storage, or reduced in volume. [6 CCR 1007-3 Section 260.10"

SludgeSemi-liquid residue from industrial processes and treatment of sewage and wastewater

Ignitability: A property of wastes that tend to undergo spontaneous combustion. The resultant fires are dangerous not only because of the heat and smoke but also because of the toxic particles that can disseminate over a wide area.

Corrosivity: A property of hazardous wastes resulting from them being either too acidic or too alkaline. Such substances can eat away at standard container materials or living tissues through chemical action.

Reactivity: A property of hazardous waste causing them to react vigorously with air or water or to explode and generate toxic fumes.

Leaching: The process by which nutrient chemicals or contaminants are dissolved and carried away by water or moved into a lower layer of soil. The contaminated liquid is called leachate.

Residue: Material that remains after gases liquids or solids have been removed after the incineration process.

Resource recovery: The process of obtaining energy or material from waste.

Municipal waste: Residential and commercial waste generated by a community source reduction: the alternation of processes, practices and policies to reduce the amount of hazardous waste generated.

Incineration:

Waste destruction in a furnace by controlled burning at high temperatures. Incineration

removes water from hazardous sludge, reduces its mass and/or volume, andconverts it

to a non-burnable ash that can be safely disposed of on land, in some waters, or in

undergroundpits. However, it is a highly contentious method because incomplete

incineration can produce carbon monoxide gas, gaseous dioxins, and/or other harmful

substances.

olid Waste

We all produce wastes in almost everything we do. The United States produces 11 billion tons of solid waste each year. Industrial waste amounts to some 400 million metric tons per year in the

United States.

Municipal waste amounts to about 180 million metric tons per year in the United States.

The Waste Stream

The waste stream is a term that describes the steady flow of varied wastes that we all produce.

Many materials in the waste stream would be valuable resources if they were not mixed with other garbage.

A problem with refuse mixing is that hazardous materials in the waste stream get dispersed through thousands of tons of miscellaneous garbage.

Waste Disposal Methods

Modern waste management stresses the three R's: reduction, reuse, and recycle.

Open Dumps

Open, unregulated dumps are still the predominant method of waste disposal in most developing countries.

Most developed countries forbid open dumping, but illegal dumping is still a problem.

Illegal dumping is also partly responsible for large amounts of toxic chemicals showing up in the drinking water.

Ocean Dumping

Every year, millions of tons of trash and waste are dumped in the ocean.

Until recently, many cities in the United States dumped municipal refuse, industrial waste, and sewage into the ocean. Federal legislation now prohibits this dumping.

Some argue that the deep ocean is the most remote, stable, and innocuous place to dump our wastes. Others argue that we know too little about the values of these remote places or the rare species living there to smother them with sludge and debris.

Landfills

Landfills are areas where solid waste disposal is regulated and controlled. Operators are required to compact and cover waste with a layer of dirt each day.

This method helps control pollution but the dirt fill takes up as much as 20% of the landfill space.

Modern municipal solid waste landfills have many safeguards to prevent leakage and contamination of the surrounding area.

Rising land prices and shipping costs are making landfills an expensive waste disposal option.

Suitable sites for landfills are also becoming scarce.

Exporting Waste

Most industrialized nations have agreed to stop shipping hazardous waste to less developed countries. The practice still continues, illegally and with dangerous consequences, in some areas.

Incineration and Resource Recovery

Energy recovery is a term referring to the burning of waste to produce heat which is converted into energy and power.

In some municipal incinerators, refuse is sorted into burnable, unburnable, and recyclable before it is burned. The burnable waste is called refuse-derived fuel because the burnable fraction has a higher energy content than the raw trash.

Mass burning refers to an approach where everything smaller than sofas and refrigerators are dumped into a giant furnace and as much as possible is burned.

The cost effectiveness of garbage incinerators is the subject of heated debates. Environmental safety and use-fees are all subjects of contention.

Shrinking the Waste Stream

Having less waste to discard is obviously better than struggling with disposal methods. Here we will discuss various methods for reducing the amount of waste we produce.

Recycling

Recycling has two meanings. It can mean reusing something as is or reprocessing something into useful products.

Recycling is a better alternative to either dumping or burning. It saves money, energy, raw materials, and land space and

reduces pollution. There are also problems associated with recycling. The wild fluctuation in the

market prices for recyclable commodities is one. Also, contamination of products in recycled containers can occur.

Public policy has also created incentive for recycling. Some communities have active recycling campaigns and deposit fees on recyclable items.

Composting

Composting is a process in which organic yard waste is broken down by bacteria into a nutrient rich soil amendment.

Compost piles are an easy, inexpensive, environmentally friendly way of disposing of organic wastes.

Energy from Waste

Organic wastes can be broken down by bacteria to produce methane. This gas can then be harnessed as a fuel source.

Demanufacturing

Demanufacturing is the disassembly and recycling of obsolete consumer products, such as TV sets, PCs, and air conditioners.

This allows for the recapturing of valuable materials and toxic materials before they are released into the environment.

Reuse

Reusing waste is the best method of waste disposal. Cleaning and reusing materials in their present form saves both energy and costs.

Producing Less Waste

Excess packaging of food and consumer products is one of our greatest sources of unnecessary waste. Much of that packaging has to do with marketing and little to do with product protection.

Less volume of waste can be produced by using degradeable materials. Photodegradable plastics break down under UV light. Biodegradable plastics can be decomposed by microorganisms.

Hazardous and Toxic Wastes

The U.S. EPA estimates that 256 million tons of officially classified hazardous wastes are produced in the U.S. each year. This does not include toxic and hazardous waste produced by industries not monitored by the EPA.

The biggest sources of hazardous wastes in the United States are the chemical and petroleum industries.

What Is Hazardous Waste?

A hazardous waste is any discarded material, liquid or solid, that contains substances known to be:

1. fatal to humans or lab animals in low doses,2. toxic, carcinogenic, mutagenic, or teratogenic to humans or other life-

forms,3. ignitable with a flash point less than 60oC,4. corrosive, or5. explosive or highly reactive.

Hazardous Waste Disposal

Most hazardous waste is recycled, converted to nonhazardous forms, stored, or disposed of so that it doesn't become a public problem.

However, the hazardous waste that does enter the environment is one of our most serious environmental problems.

An estimated 5 billion metric tons of highly poisonous chemicals were improperly disposed of in the United States between 1950 and 1975 when more stringent regulations were put into effect.

Two important federal laws regulate hazardous waste management in the United States. The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA, 1976) requires management of toxic and hazardous substances. The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA, 1980) is aimed at rapid containment, cleanup, or remediation of abandoned toxic waste sites.

Under CERCLA, the government does not have to prove anyone violated a low or what role they played in a superfund site. Liability is "strict, joint, and several", meaning that anyone associated with the site can be held accountable for the entire cost of cleaning it up.

Superfund Sites

The EPA estimates there are at least 36,000 seriously contaminated sites in the United States.

Superfund is a revolving pool designed to (1) provide an immediate response to emergency situations that pose imminent hazzards, and (2) to clean up or remediate abandoned or inactive sites.

Total costs for hazardous waste cleanup in the United States are estimated to be between $370 billion and $1.7 trillion.

What qualifies a site for superfund? These sites are considered to be especially hazardous to human health and environmental quality because they are known to be leaking or have a potential for leaking supertoxic, carcinogenic, teratogenic, or mutagenic materials.

Toxic materials are known to have contaminated groundwater at 75% of superfund sites.

Where are these sites and how did they get this way? Old industrial facilities are highly likely to have been sources of toxic waste. Regions with high concentrations of aging factories (such as the Great Lakes or the Gulf Coast) have large numbers of superfund sites. Mining districts and old dumps are also likely candidates.

Among the biggest problems associated with cleaning up hazardous waste sites are questions of liability and the degree of purity required. Just how clean is clean and who pays for it?

In many cities, large areas of contaminated properties known as brownfields have been abandoned or are unused because of the potential of suspected or real pollution.

Options for Hazardous Waste Management

The safest and least expensive way to avoid hazardous waste problems is to avoid creating the wastes in the first place. The 3M Company has reformulated products and redesigned manufacturing processes to eliminate tons of waste and pollution from their factories. They found that not only were these new processes safer and more environmentally friendly, but also they were often cheaper.

Recycling and reusing materials also eliminates hazardous wastes and pollution.

Several processes are also available to make hazardous substances less toxic. Physical treatments tie up or isolate substances. Incineration is applicable to mixtures of wastes. A permanent solution to many problems, it is not necessarily cheap nor clean. Chemical processing can transform materials so they become nontoxic.

Bioremediation taps the great capacity of microorganisms to absorb, accumulate, and detoxify a variety of toxic compounds.

Permanent retrievable storage means placing waste storage containers in a secure building, salt mine, or bedrock cavern where they can be inspected periodically or retrieved.

Secure landfills are specially designed landfills made for disposing of toxic wastes.

Summary

Volumes of solid waste is produced in industrial societies, and how to dispose of it is an increasing problem.

Solid wastes are domestic, commercial, industrial, agricultural, and mining wastes that are primarily non-toxic.

There are many methods of solid waste disposal, including landfills and incineration, each of which has associated problems.

Hazardous and toxic wastes, when released into the environment, cause many health problems including cancer and birth defects.

Disposal practices for hazardous wastes have often been unsatisfactory. Government legislation and alternative disposal practices are creating safer, more effective ways of dealing with this increasingly serious problem.

Questions for Review

1. What are solid wastes and hazardous wastes? What is the difference between them?

2. How much solid and hazardous waste do we produce each year in the United States? How do we dispose of the waste?

3. Why are landfill sites becoming limited around most major urban centers in the United States? What steps are being taken to solve this problem?

4. Describe some concerns about waste incineration.5. List some benefits and drawbacks of recycling wastes. What are the major

types of materials recycled from municipal waste and how are they used?6. What is composting, and how does it fit into solid waste disposal?7. Describe some ways that we can reduce the waste stream to avoid or reduce

disposal problems.8. List ten toxic sub