Waste Reduction Hierarchy

Section 2.0 identifies metals listed by the California Code of Regulations as hazardous in industrial waste streams. Section 2.0 also discusses the waste reduction hierarchy and waste management methods examined in the report... 

The four factors that are used in evaluating the options are 1) Waste Reduction Hierarchy (WRH), 2) Implementation Potential (IP), 3) Type of option, and 4) Cost of option. 

Although the quantities reported for the first two years are estimates of quantities already managed, the quantities reported for the third and fourth years are projections only. U.S. EPA requires these projections to encourage facilities to consider future waste generation and source reduction of those quantities as well as movement up the waste management hierarchy. Future-year estimates are not commitments that facilities reporting under TRI are required to meet. 

Wolf, K. May 1988. "Source Reduction and the Waste Management Hierarchy." Journal of the Air Pollution Control Association, vol. 38, No.5, p.681. 

This factor is used to categorize the option within the waste reduction hierarchal structure. The preferred hierarchy is source reduction, resource recovery and recycling, and alternative treatment (The fact sheet on waste reduction for metal finishers can help identify an option s place within the hierarchy.) Each category or level has a point value assigned to it. The six levels are ... 

The term waste reduction and the related term waste minimization project broader meanings than source reduction. Waste reduction and waste minimization generally incorporate both source reduction and on-site recycling (i.e., the first two or three elements of the waste management hierarchy.) For the puipose of this article, the definition offered here will/would be adopted. 

Figure 1 The waste management hierarchy with shaded boxes indicates elements that are included in the definition of the terms waste reduction and pollution prevention that are used interchangeably throughout this chapter. (Adapted from Refs. 3 and 4.)...

PPA (Pollution Prevention Act), 881-882. 883 RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act), 883 TSCA (Toxic Substances Control Act), 883 releasing waste to the environment, 882 secure waste disposal, 882 source reduction, 882 waste management hierarchy, 881-882 waste treatment, 882 Green engineering, pollution prevention designing for... 

Many of these techniques involve source reduction— the preferred option on the EPA s hierarchy of waste management (24). Others deal with on-and off-site recycling. The best way to determine how these general approaches can fit a particular company s needs is to conduct a waste minimization... 

As discussed in the introduction, the hierarchy set forth by the USEPA in the Pollution Prevention Act establishes an order to which waste-management activities should be employed to reduce the quantity of waste generated. The preferred method is source reduction, as indicated in Fig. 25-1. This approach actually precedes traditional waste management by addressing the source of the problem prior to its occurrence. 

Waste minimization generally considers all of the methods in the EPA hierarchy (except for disposal) appropriate to reduce the volume or quantity of waste requiring dispos (i.e., source reduction). The definition oi source reduction as applied in the Pollution Prevention Act, however, is any practice that reduces the amount of any hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant entering any waste stream... 

The treatment of waste is the third element of the hierarchy and should be utilized only in the absence of feasible source reduction or recychng opportunities. Waste treatment involves the use of chemical, biological, or physical processes to reduce or eliminate waste material. The incineration of wastes is included in this categoiy and is considered preferable to other treatment methods (i.e., chemical, biological, and physical) because incineration can permanently destroy the hazardous components in waste materials (Ref. 4). It can also be employed to reduce the volume of waste to be treated. 

It would obviously be desirable to eliminate the generation of waste. Practical alternatives are to minimize it by reduction at source or to recycle it. Table 16.7 illustrates the hierarchy of waste minimization practices. Source reduction includes increased process efficiency economies in the use of energy are also relevant, e.g. it may result in a decrease in the consumption of fossil fuels ... 

One obvious question is why return to lime as a treatment reagent, given that caustic results in a smaller residue volume and a waste that can undergo reclamation The answer lies in the three points that result from the implementation of the HSWA hierarchy. As source reduction and material reuse and recovery techniques are applied, facilities will be generating... 

---