Waste Management Practices in the United States

Good engineering prachce is to design chemical processes with an emphasis on recovering and reusing spent solvents [8]. However, not aU solvents will be recovered, and these will eventually need to be disposed. When disposing of solvent waste, there are several factors which must be considered to determine the appropriate waste heatment or disposal method. Some of these factors include the cost of disposal methods, overall toxicity of the waste, and environmental impact in the case of accidental and intenhonal releases. 

The breakdown of on-site waste disposal practices from the United States pharmaceutical industry in 1995 and 2006 is shown in Table 3.4. Table 3.5 displays some of the commonly used solvents in the pharmaceutical industry and the amount of each directly released on-site in 1995 and 2006. As shown in Table 3.4, in 1995 the majority of on-site releases were due to stack emissions. By 2006 the amount of fugitive, stack, and water releases decreased significantly, whereas the amount of wastes injected underground remained the same. This suggests that 

Off-site waste disposal methods involve the transfer of solvent wastes to an alternative location before their treatment, reuse, or release into the environment. One such method commonly used both on- and offsite is incineration. Solvent wastes are often incinerated, especially when they contain toxic substances and pose long-term EHS risks if directly released. The process of waste incineration releases a large amount of CO2 into the environment, but often the heat generated from this process may be recovered for use within a plant. When contaminated 

On-Site Off-Site Energy Energy Recycling Recycling Treatment Treatment Releases Releases Recovery Recovery On-Site Off-Site On-Site Off-Site 

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The application of waste-management practices in the United States has recently moved toward securing a new pollution prevention ethic. The performance of pollution prevention assessments and their subsequent implementation will encourage increased activity into methods that 1 further aid in the reduction of hazardous wastes. One of the most important and propitious consequences of the pollution-prevention movement will be the development of life-cycle design and standardized hfe-cycle cost-accounting procedures. These two consequences are briefly discussed in the two paragraphs that follow. Additional information is provided in a later subsection. 

Hazardous waste management practice in the United States is covered in a book by Wentz (1989). 

The industry accounts for 14 percent of the U.S. economy, but many payers feel they are not getting their money s worth. Studies point to waste from lack of or failure in basic procedures. These include those that produce medical errors that endanger patients. There are also studies that conclude that the frequency of use has more to do with available capacity than medical need. The disconnect between the payers and users is often blamed for building wasteful habits into industry management practices. Lawsuits in the United States have also driven up the cost of doing business. 

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