Types of Solid Waste

Types of Solid Wastes The term solid wastes is aU-inchisive and encompasses all sources, types of classifications, compositions, and properties. As a basis for subsequent discussions, it will be helpful to define the various types of solid wastes that are generated. It is important to note that the definitions of solid-waste terms and the classifications vary greatly in prac tice and in literature. Consequently, the use of published data requires considerable care, judgment, and common sense. The following definitions are intended to serve as a guide. 

It is the roughly 7 percent of solid wastes produced by industrial and energy-generation operations and the 3 percent produced by nonindustrial human activities that present the most serious environmental problems in the United States today. These fall into three large categories (1) pure volume of wastes, (2) hazardous wastes, and (3) radioactive wastes. Each type of solid waste poses its own set of problems and requires its own set of solutions. 

Clearly, each type of solid waste is specific and may require a particular pretreatment. Because of the complexity associated with waste characteristics, laboratory personnel must keep abreast of the scientific literature linked to this field and of the evolution of waste pre-treatment methodology. 

Sources of Industrial Wastes Knowledge of the sources and types of solid wastes, along with data on the composition and rates of generation, is basic to the design and operation of the functional elements associated with the management of solid wastes. 

Similar to EPA method 8270, the U.S. DOE method OMIOOR describes the determination of semivolatile organic compounds, including phthalate esters, in extracts from all types of solid waste matrices, sods, and ground water. Method OMIOOR incorporates the use of an ion trap mass detector in place of the quadrupole, typically used in earlier versions of the EPA method. 

The present chapter (a) evaluates the general concepts of sustainabflity, (b) reviews and evaluates the various types of solid wastes that are currently used as road construction and repair (C R) materials, (c) discusses both the chemical and physical properties of such wastes and their engineering uses, and finally (d) presents the general project approaches of a major research program to investigate the environmental impact of highway C R materials on surface and ground waters. 

There are two basic types of solid waste combustors currently in operation in the United States, mass burn facilities and refuse derived-fuel (RDF) facilities. Mass burn facilities manage over 90% of the solid waste that is combusted in the United States. Mass burn facilities are designed to handle unsorted sohd waste, whereas RDF facilities are designed to handle preprocessed trash. The ash produced by RDF facilities, where the incoming municipal solid waste stream is shredded and presorted to remove ferrous metal and in certain cases nonferrous metal prior to combustion, can be expected to have different physical and chemical properties from ash generated at mass burn facilities [115-118]. 

A coal liquefaction plant generates three main types of solid-waste materials ash and slag from the reactors, sludge from various waste-water treatment units, and spent catalysts from the various catalytic units (Table 25.5). 

All types of solid waste should only be disposed of at sites suitable for the disposal of that particular waste, which will not be reclaimed. The site can stipulate upon acceptance, any special requirements regarding the method of deposal which includes preparation to receive the waste, the methods involved in disposing of the waste and so on. 

For natural ecosystems to operate and self-sustain healthily, they have to cope with increasing volumes of anthropogenic waste. With the mix and types of solid wastes generated today world-wide, it would be environmentally unsound... 

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