Pollution recovery, reuse, recycling

The recovery and recycling of waste solvents has some similarities to the recycling of waste oil and is also an important enterprise. Among the many solvents listed as hazardous wastes and recoverable from wastes are dichloromethane, tetra-chloroethylene, trichloroethylene, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, benzene, liquid alkanes, 2-nitropropane, methylisobutyl ketone, and cyclohexanone. For reasons of both economics and pollution control, many industrial processes that use solvents are equipped for solvent recycle. The basic scheme for solvent reclamation and reuse is shown in Figure 22.4. 

Although more often associated with household and commercial waste, recycling has proven to be very successhil in the industrial arena. Industrial recycling is the recovery for reuse or sale of materials from what otherwise would be wastes destined for disposal (5). Typically, the reclaimable materials employed in industrial recycling may consist of obsolete products, spent materials, industrial by-products or residues, or pollution control products. The recycling of many of these products is so well estabHshed that under standard commercial practices such materials are destined only for recovery, not for disposal. 

Splash condenser dross residue. The treatment of steel production pollution control sludge generates a zinc-laden residue, called dross. This material, generated from a splash condenser in a high-temperature metal recovery process, is known as a splash condenser dross residue. Because this material contains 50 to 60% zinc, it is often reclaimed, reused, or processed as a valuable recyclable material. Facilities commonly handle this material as a valuable commodity by managing it in a way that is protective of human health and the environment, so U.S. EPA excluded this residue from the definition of solid waste. 

Recycling (or reuse) refers to the use (or reuse) of materials that would otherwise be disposed of or treated as a waste product. A good example is a rechargeable battery. Wastes that cannot be directly reused may often be recovered on-site through methods such as distillation. When on-site recovery or reuse is not feasible due to quality specifications or the inability to perform recovery on-site, off-site recovery at a permitted commercial recovery facility is often a possibility. Such management techniques are considered secondary to source reduction and should only be used when pollution cannot be prevented. 

The use of solvent recovery has increased due to the increased utilization of industrial solvents. To prevent pollution and minimize waste, industry has to choose between onsite recycle/reuse and offsite recycle/reuse. Briefly discuss the advantages and the disadvantages of each technique. 

Today no chapter on any packaging material is complete without a reference to the problems it may create in terms of disposal, pollution, litter, and the four Rs recovery, recycle, reuse and reduce (e.g. light weighting). 

The policies and practices of commercial manufacturers and suppliers of laboratory chemicals directly affect the management of chemicals in the laboratory, especially the ability to practice effective pollution-prevention techniques such as source reduction and recycling-reuse-recovery. The costs and risks associ... 

A critical part of the regnlation is to rednce and, where possible, eliminate the generation of hazardons waste. Waste minimization was specifically mandated in the 1984 Hazardous and Solid Wastes Amendments to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. This has had an enormous impact on the way waste is handled by printed circuit board facilities. Prevention of pollution has become the overriding goal in design with recycle and reuse technologies implemented only where pollution prevention is not feasible for technical and/or economic reasons. Chemical treatment of wastes should be utilized only where no other options exist. 

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