Waste Management Systems

In the past twenty years many legal provisions have been created to regulate substance flows (recycling management systems, waste management, electrical and automotive recycling). In many instances these laws exphcitly contain threshold values for certain substances or even ban certain substances. They are thus very effective on the use of these substances in production processes. This is also tme for threshold values of chlorinated compounds in industrial waste, the ban on certain heavy metals in the automotive industry and substance-related requirements for waste water from the textile industry (Annexe 38 of Waste Water Ordinance ). 

The Role of the Monitored Retrievable Storage Facility in an Integrated Waste Management System, DOE/RW-0238, Office of Civihan Radioactive Waste Management, U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, D.C., 1989. 

Fig. 1. Municipal solid waste management system where ( ) indicates recycling options and (-), optional transfer.

Managerial information environmental policies and procedures prioritization of waste-management concerns automated or computerized waste-management systems inventory and distribution procedures maintenance schediiling practices planned modifications or revisions to existing operations that would impact waste-generation activities and the basis of source reduction decisions and policies... 

More recently, concern about the environment has begun to stimulate environmentally correct behavior. After all, the choices made today affect the environment of tomorrow. Simple decisions can be made at work and at home that conserve natural resources and lessen the burden placed on a waste-management system. By eliminating waste at the source, society is participating in the protection of the environment by reducing the amount of waste that would otherwise need to be treated or ultimately disposed. 

Disposal The final func tional element in the sohd-waste-management system is disposal. Disposal is the ultimate fate of all solid wastes, whether they are wastes collected and transported direc tly to a landfQl site, semisolid wastes (sludge) from industrial treatment plants and air-pollution-control devices, incinerator residue, compost, or other substances from various solid-waste processing plants that are of no further use. 

FIG. 25-59 Functional elements in a solid-waste management system. (Updated from G. Tchohanoglous, H. Theisen, and R. Eliassen, Solid Wastes Engineering and Management Issues, McGiaw-Hill, New York, 1977.)... 

The handling, storage, and processing of sohd wastes at the source before they are collected is tne second of the six functional elements in the sohd-waste-management system. 

Because many of the techniques, especially those associated with the recovery of materials and energy and the processing of solid hazardous wastes, are in a state of flux with respect to application and design criteria, the objective here is only to introduce them to the reader. If these techniques are to be considered in the development of waste-management systems, current engineering design and performance data must be obtained from consultants, operating records, field tests, equipment manufacturers, and available literature. 

Processing Techniques for Solid Wastes Processing techniques are used in solid-waste-management systems to (I) improve the efficiency of the systems, (2) to recover resources (usable materials), and (3) to prepare materials for recoveiy of conversion produc ts and energy. The more important techniques used for processing solid wastes are summarized in Tables 25-61 and 25-62. 

EPA. 1980b. Hazardous waste management system Identification and listing of hazardous waste Interim rule. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Federal Register 45 78530-78550. 

INEEL. 2000. Isotope report. National Low-Level Waste Management Program. Manifest Information Management System. Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, http //mims.inel.gov/. June 12, 2000. 

A British Standard has been published to assist with the management of waste systems, BS EN ISO 14401 (1996). 

The specific purpose of this chapter is to describe the chemical and physical pretreatment methods required for nickel-chromium plating wastewater, to describe the upgrades needed by a municipal wastewater treatment system to manage this waste, and to relate the methods and upgrades to the operation of the total treatment system. Special emphasis is placed on presentation of the following ... 

Since 1980, under RCRA Subtitle C, U.S. EPA has developed a comprehensive program to ensure that hazardous waste is managed safely from the moment it is generated while it is transported, treated, or stored until the moment it is finally disposed (Figure 12.1). This cradle-to-grave management system establishes requirements for each of the following ... 

FIGURE 12.1 RCRA s cradle-to-grave hazardous waste management system. (Adapted from U.S. EPA, RCRA Orientation Manual, www.epa.gov/waste/inforesources/pubs/orientat/roml.pdf.)... 

Under RCRA, hazardous waste generators are the first link in the cradle-to-grave hazardous waste management system. All generators must determine whether their waste is hazardous and must... 

CERCLA has a response focus. Whenever there has been a breakdown in the waste management system (e.g., a release or a potential threat of a release of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant), CERCLA authorizes cleanup actions. 

The technology of deep-well injection has been around for more than 70 years. Most Americans would be surprised to know that there is a waste management system already in operation in the U.S. that has no emissions into the air, no discharges to surface water, and no off-site transfers, and exposes people and the environment to virtually no hazards. 1 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) has stated that Class 1 wells are safer than virtually all other waste disposal practices for many chemical industry wastes. 

The third part, called the surface water collection and removal (SWCR) system, lies above the waste system in a cap or closure above the closed facility. Its purpose is to redirect surface water coming through the cover soil from the flexible membrane in the cap to the outside perimeter of the system. The location of all three parts of the liquid management system is illustrated in Figure 26.21. 

U.S. EPA, Hazardous waste management systems Minimum technology requirements Notice of availability of information and request for comments, Fed. Reg., 52 (74), 12566-12575, April 17, 1987. 

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