Types of Hazardous Wastes

In terms of quantity by weight, the greatest quantities are those from categories designated by hazardous waste numbers preceded by F and K, respectively. The former are those from nonspecific sources and include the following examples  

The K-type hazardous wastes are those from specific sources produced by industries such as the manufacture of inorganic pigments, organic chemicals, pesticides, explosives, iron and steel, and nonferrous metals and from processes such as petroleum refining or wood preservation some examples are as follows  

The remainder of wastes consists of reactive wastes corrosive wastes toxic wastes ignitable wastes and P wastes (discarded commercial chemical products, off-specification species, containers, and spill residues), U wastes, and unspecified types. 

The EPA National Waste Minimization Program has designated 31 Priority Chemicals that 

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Standards For the management of specific hazardous wastes and specific types of hazardous waste management facihties (Part 266)... 

Assign responsibilities and authority at plant and headquarters for tbe storage, coUection, treatment, and disposal of all types of hazardous wastes. 

Table 28-1 indicates the four main types of hazardous material, with examples of substances of each type. Not presented in Table 28-1 are radioactive materials, which are considered as a separate type of hazardous waste (5). 

EPA. 1993a. Standards for the management of hazardous waste and specific types of hazardous waste facilities. Health-based limits for exclusion of waste-derived residues. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Code of Eederal Regulations. 40 CER 266, Subpart H. Appendix VII. 

As mentioned above, interim status BIFs must be operated much in the same way as those facilities with permits. As with permitted BIFs, owners/operators of interim status BIFs must comply with all applicable TSDF regulations in Part 265. In addition, because interim status facilities have not yet conducted trial burns to ensure compliance with the standards, U.S. EPA has placed some restrictions on their use and what types of hazardous waste these facilities may burn. These restrictions are discussed below. 

U.S. EPA, Standards for the Management of Specific Hazardous Wastes and Specific Types of Hazardous Waste Management Facilities, Hazardous Waste Burned in Boilers and Industrial Furnaces, 40 CFR Part 266, Subpart H, GPO, November 2008. Available at http //ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx c= ecfr Sid=8268e2678cl3ad85b7c08edcfld43927 rgn=div5 view=text node=40 26.0.1.1.1 idno=40 40 26.0.1.1.1.6. 

Standards for the Management of Specific Hazardous Wastes and Specific Types of Hazardous Waste Management Facilities ... 

To qualify as a VSQG, the company owner notified the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) on a two-part registration form, which listed the types of hazardous waste generated, the amount of each in gallons per month, and the proposed disposal, treatment, storage, and/or recycling destination of the waste. 

Health risks to residents near cement kilns may actually decrease when hazardous waste fuels are used. This is because the permit needed to recycle hazardous waste fuels requires more stringent emissions controls than those for cement kilns using only fossil fuels. Also, fossil fuels contain natural impurities that are reduced or no longer emitted when some types of hazardous waste fuels are used. 

Is compatible with most types of hazardous wastes. 

Segregation of hazardous from nonhazardous waste streams, of one type of hazardous waste from another, and of liquid from solid waste can greatly facilitate waste management operations, and result in lower volumes of waste generated and reduced management costs. 

Listed" waste is any waste that contains a substance that is "listed" by the USEPA as hazardous. This type of waste has been listed based on the waste s "toxicity, persistence, and degradability in nature, potential for accumulation in tissue, and other related factors such as flammability, corrosiveness, and other hazard characteristic." Rules have been developed by the USEPA to ensure proper disposal of these types of hazardous waste. The mixture rule states that any substance mixed with a "listed" hazardous waste becomes a hazardous waste. If it is not a "listed" waste, but instead a characteristic waste, and the mixture does not exhibit any of the characteristics, the mixture is not considered hazardous. The "derived from" rule states that any waste derived from the treatment of a "listed" hazardous waste remains a hazardous waste. Similar to the mixture rule, if the by-product of a characteristic waste does not exhibit any of the hazardous characteristics, it is not considered hazardous. 

The nature of the pollutants, the concentration of pollutants, and the media contaminated are the three most important determining factors when selecting the appropriate technology for treating a specific type of hazardous waste. 

The existing waste classification systems for radioactive and hazardous chemical wastes clearly are not comprehensive. At a fundamental level, entirely separate and quite different classification systems have been developed for the two types of hazardous waste. In addition, each classification system is not comprehensive in the context of the general type of waste to which each system applies. In the existing radioactive waste classification system, waste that arises from operations of the nuclear fuel cycle is classified separately from NARM waste. The existing classification system for hazardous chemical waste excludes many potentially important wastes that contain hazardous chemicals. 

Hazardous Waste Hazardous wastes are generated in limited amounts throughout most industrial activities. In terms of generation, concern is with the identification of amounts and types of hazardous wastes developed at each source, with emphasis on those sources where significant waste quantities are generated. 

One type of hazardous waste is unique a harmless solid that is damp with an organic solvent. Alumina from a chromatography column or sodium sulfate used to dry an ether solution are examples. Being solids they obviously can t go in the organic solvents container, and being flammable they can t go in the nonhazardous waste container. A solution to this problem is to spread the solid out in the hood to let the solvent evaporate. You can then place the solid in the nonhazardous waste container. The saving in waste disposal costs by this operation is enormous. 

One thing is clear hazardous wastes are not ubiquitous. Virtually all industrial and commercial operations, research establishments, educational or hospital laboratories, and military complexes, as well as many retail establishments are likely to produce some type of hazardous waste. However, data suggest that about i percent of hazardous waste generators account for about 90 percent of the wastes natioii3 l v... 

Treatment and Destruction. A large number of waste treatment alternatives are waste specific. One or more treatment technologies already have been shown to be technically effective for every type of hazardous waste. Moreover, substantial research, development, and demonstration activities likely will lead to still more alternatives. 

This discussion has considered waste in general. Radioactive materials, mentioned several times in the paper, represent a special type of hazardous waste that is often given special consideration. In the authors opinion, such special consideration is not always necessary the principles discussed in this paper apply equally to low-level radioactive-waste materials and some shortlived high-level wastes. 

Under the hazardous waste listings, wastes may be listed for various reasons. For example, they may be listed because they are toxic or acutely toxic. RCRA requirements for management of acutely toxic wastes are more restrictive than its requirements associated with other types of hazardous waste. For example, RCRA places more stringent restrictions on the amonnt of acntely toxic waste (as compared with other types of hazardons waste) that may be stored at any one time. 

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