Solid, Toxic, and Hazardous Waste

By

Pongthep Suwanwaree, Ph.D.

Solid Waste

• The Waste Stream

Waste Disposal Methods

• Open Dumps

• Ocean Dumping

• Landfills

• Exporting Waste

• Incineration & Resource Recovery– Refuse-derived fuel– Mass Burn

Shrinking the Waste Stream

• Recycling

• Composting

• Energy from Waste

• Reuse

• Producing Less Waste

How plastics are made

Hazardous & Toxic Waste

• Any discarded material, liquid or solid, that contains substances known to be– 1) Fatal to human or laboratory animals in low

dose– 2) Toxic, carcinogenic, or mutagenic to

humans or other life-forms– 3) Ignitable with flash point less than 60oC– 4) Corrosive– 5) Explosive or highly reactive

Hazardus Waste Disposal

• Federal Legislation

• Superfund Sites

• Hazardus Landfills & Dumps

• Waste Lagoons & Injection Wells

• Warehousing & Illegal Dumping

Options for Hazardous Waste Management

• Produce Less Waste• Convert to Less Hazardous Waste

– Physical Treatments– Incineration– Chemical Processing– Biological Waste Treatment

• Store Permanently– Retrievable Storage– Secure Landfills

Lois Marie Gibbs

3 Rs

• Reduce

• Reuse

• Recycling