Waste disposal commingling

After data validation and sample release for disposal by the client, solid samples can be returned to the client or logged into the sample disposal database and packaged for disposal at an approved waste disposal facility. Samples must be disposed as either radiological or mixed waste, and not commingled with sanitary sewer or general landfill discharges. 

At some plants the blast furnace dust is recycled as feedstock to the sinter plant. At plants without sintering operations, blast furnace dust is sometimes mixed with other byproduct residues, briquetted, and recycled back to the blast furnace. In other plants, the dust is landfilled or stockpiled.1 Several techniques are available for removing the zinc and lead. The majority of blast furnace sludge is land disposed as solid waste or stockpiled. Because of the similarity between wastewater sludges generated by sinter plants and blast furnaces, these streams are commingled and cotreated.1 The blast furnace slag is cooled and processed to be reused for various applications such as onsite in-land reclamation and landfill construction. 

Laboratory waste typically leaves the genraator s facility commingled in drums as compatible wastes or within a Lab Pack. Lab Packs are containers, often 55-gaUon drums, in which small containers of waste are packed with an absorbent material. Lab Packs had been used as the principal method for disposing of laboratory waste within a landfill. However, recent landfill disposal restrictions severely limit landfill disposal of hazardous materials. Thus, the Lab Pack has become principally a shipping contains. Typically, the Lab Pack is taken to a disposal facility, where it is either incinerated or unpacked and the contents redistributed for safe, efficient, and legal treatment and disposal. 

Nevertheless, most disposal companies are moving toward incineration disposal, particularly for the kinds of hazardous waste generated by laboratories. Their typical variety of different wastes, usually in small quantities, makes incineration a favorable option. Laboratory waste can often be incinerated in its shipping Lab Packs without any further handling. Commingled flammable solvents are commonly blended with the incinerator fuel and thus destroyed as they provide energy for the burning process. 

Chemical waste should be accumulated at a central site where it can be sorted, stored temporarily, and prepared for disposal by commingling (according to regulation) or allowable on-site treatment for hazard reduction or, perhaps, recycling. During any waste-handling processes at a central site, or on the way to or from it, personnel should be protected in particular, removal of toxic vapors, fire suppression, and spill control should be provided for. All personnel responsible for handling chemical waste must be trained. 

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