14-09-2017, 02:36 PM
Hazardous waste is waste that poses substantial or potential threats to public health or the environment. In the United States, the treatment, storage and disposal of hazardous wastes are regulated by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Hazardous wastes are defined under RCRA at 40 CFR 261 where they are divided into two main categories: characteristic wastes and wastes listed.
• Characteristic hazardous wastes are materials known or proven to exhibit one or more of the following four hazardous traits:
Ignition
Reactivity
Corrosivity
Toxicity
• Hazardous wastes listed are materials specifically listed by regulatory authorities as hazardous wastes from non-specific sources, specific sources or discarded chemicals.
RCRA requirements apply to all companies that generate hazardous waste, as well as to companies that store or dispose of hazardous waste in the United States. Many types of businesses generate hazardous waste. dry cleaners, car repair shops, hospitals, exterminators and photo processing centers can generate hazardous waste. Some hazardous waste generators are larger companies such as chemical manufacturers, electroplating companies and oil refineries.
These wastes can be found in different physical states such as gaseous, liquid or solid. A hazardous waste is a special type of waste because it can not be disposed of by common means like other by-products of our daily lives. Depending on the physical state of the waste, treatment and solidification processes may be necessary.
Throughout the world, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) estimated that more than 400 million tons of hazardous wastes are produced annually, mostly by industrialized countries (Schmit, 1999). About 1 percent of this figure expands across international borders, and most transfers occur between countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (Krueger, 1999). One of the reasons industrialized countries send hazardous wastes to industrializing countries for disposal is the increased cost of disposing of hazardous wastes in the country of origin.
• Characteristic hazardous wastes are materials known or proven to exhibit one or more of the following four hazardous traits:
Ignition
Reactivity
Corrosivity
Toxicity
• Hazardous wastes listed are materials specifically listed by regulatory authorities as hazardous wastes from non-specific sources, specific sources or discarded chemicals.
RCRA requirements apply to all companies that generate hazardous waste, as well as to companies that store or dispose of hazardous waste in the United States. Many types of businesses generate hazardous waste. dry cleaners, car repair shops, hospitals, exterminators and photo processing centers can generate hazardous waste. Some hazardous waste generators are larger companies such as chemical manufacturers, electroplating companies and oil refineries.
These wastes can be found in different physical states such as gaseous, liquid or solid. A hazardous waste is a special type of waste because it can not be disposed of by common means like other by-products of our daily lives. Depending on the physical state of the waste, treatment and solidification processes may be necessary.
Throughout the world, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) estimated that more than 400 million tons of hazardous wastes are produced annually, mostly by industrialized countries (Schmit, 1999). About 1 percent of this figure expands across international borders, and most transfers occur between countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (Krueger, 1999). One of the reasons industrialized countries send hazardous wastes to industrializing countries for disposal is the increased cost of disposing of hazardous wastes in the country of origin.