Hazardous Waste

Environmental Engineering

Hazardous Waste?

A hazardous waste is a waste with a chemical composition or other properties

that make it capable of causing illness, death, or some other harm to humans and
other life forms when mismanaged or released into the environment.

How do you consider a chemical compound Hazardous?

 Ignitability, or something flammable

 Corrosivity, or something that can rust or decompose

 Reactivity, or something explosive

 Toxicity, or something poisonous

What are the main contributor of these hazardous waste?

 Chemical Waste

 Biomedical Waste

 Nuclear Waste

Chemical Waste

A Chemical waste is a by-product chemicals produced in large factories and

chemical laboratory; it could either be gas, liquid, and solid. In order to deem this
compounds hazardous this chemicals must fall under the four characteristic of a
hazardous waste.

How do you treat Chemical Waste for safe disposal?

1. Ion exchange : is an exchange of ions between two electrolytes or between an

electrolyte solution and a complex. In most cases the term is used to denote the
processes of purification, separation, and decontamination of aqueous and other
ion-containing solutions with solid polymeric or minerallic "ion exchangers“
2. Precipitation Reaction : exchange reaction between two soluble ionic
substances that yields an insoluble solid.

. Oxidation and Reduction reaction : is a type of chemical reaction that involves a

transfer of electrons between two species. An oxidation-reduction reaction is any
chemical reaction in which the oxidation number of a molecule, atom, or ion
changes by gaining or losing an electron. Redox reactions are common and vital to
some of the basic functions of life, including photosynthesis, respiration,
combustion, and corrosion or rusting.

4. Neutralization : Inorganic acids and bases in aqueous solutions can be used to

neutralize each other, in effect cancelling out their corrosive characteristics. All
that remains after the reaction is water and common salt compounds. Sodium
chloride and potassium sulfate are two examples of the non-hazardous salts that
remain.

Storage for Chemical Waste?

Surface storage : When storing chemical wastes, the containers must be in good
condition and should remain closed unless waste is being added. Hazardous
waste must be stored safely prior to removal from the laboratory and should not
be allowed to accumulate. Container should be sturdy and leak proof, also has to
be labeled properly. All liquid waste must be stored in leak proof containers with
a screw- top or other secure lid. Snap caps, mis-sized caps, parafilm and other
loose fitting lids are not acceptable. If necessary, transfer waste material to a
container that can be securely closed. Keep waste containers closed except when
adding waste. Secondary containment should be in place to capture spills and
leaks from the primary container, segregate incompatible hazardous wastes, such
as acids and bases.

Treatment and Disposal

Land disposal is the ultimate destination, although it is not an attractive practice,

because of the inherent environmental risks involved. Two basic methods of land
disposal include land filling and underground injection. Prior to land disposal,
surface storage or containment systems are often employed as a temporary
method.

 Land filling

 Underground Injection

Land filling
Landfilling of hazardous solid or containerized waste is regulated more stringently
than landfilling of municipal solid waste. Hazardous wastes must be deposited in
so-called secure landfills, which provide at least 3 metres (10 feet) of separation
between the bottom of the landfill and the underlying bedrock or groundwater
table. A secure hazardous-waste landfill must have two impermeable liners
and leachate collection systems. The double leachate collection system consists of
a network of perforated pipes placed above each liner. The upper system
prevents the accumulation of leachate trapped in the fill, and the lower serves as
a backup. Collected leachate is pumped to a treatment plant. In order to reduce
the amount of leachate in the fill and minimize the potential for environmental
damage, an impermeable cap or cover is placed over a finished landfill.

Underground Injection

Underground Injection can be done using an injection well; it is a device that

places fluid deep underground into porous rock formations, such as sandstone or
limestone, or into or below the shallow soil layer. The fluid may be water,
wastewater, brine (salt water), or water mixed with chemicals. These wells were
used to dispose of radioactive or hazardous waste into or above freshwater
aquifers. Because of the possible risk to drinking water supplies, these wells were
banned by the EPA in 1984.

Biomedical Waste

Bio-medical waste means “any solid and/or liquid waste including its container
and any intermediate product, which is generated during the diagnosis, treatment
or immunization of human beings or animals as well as research activities
pertaining in the production or testing of biological medicine or in health camps.

Note - Biomedical waste poses hazard due to two principal reasons – the first is
infectivity and other toxicity.

Types of Bio-medical waste

Bio Medical waste are consists of the following

 Human anatomical waste like tissues, organs and body parts

 Animal wastes generated during research from veterinary hospitals

 Microbiology and biotechnology wastes

 Waste sharps like hypodermic needles, syringes, scalpels and broken glass

 Discarded medicines and cytotoxic drugs

  Soiled waste such as dressing, bandages, plaster casts, material
contaminated with

 Blood, tubes and catheters

 Liquid waste from any of the infected areas

 Incineration ash and other chemical wastes

Treatment and Disposal

Autoclaving( incineration)

Autoclaving — which uses a heated container to destroy waste — is one of the

most effective ways to deal with biohazard wastes. In fact, about 90% of
biohazard waste is autoclaved or incinerated at roughly 2,400 medical waste
incinerators (MWI) across the United States.

Chemical Disinfection

Some types of biohazard waste, like solid animal wastes, can be disinfected
chemically. Afterwards, they can be deposited in a landfill, where they won’t pose
any threat of spreading infections.

Encapsulation

One type of biohazard waste known as sharps requires that special precautions be
taken. Sharps are, as the name implies, sharp, and can easily tear or puncture
what’s containing them, which can consequentially allow them to easily spread
infection.

Used syringes, scalpels, and other sharp medical materials need to be

encapsulated in a properly labeled, puncture resistant container, and placed in an
appropriately designated spot for deposition in a landfill.

Radioactive(Nuclear) waste

Nuclear waste is a waste that contains radioactive material. These radioactive

waste is usually a by-product of nuclear power generation and other applications
of nuclear fission or nuclear technology, such as research and medicine.

Types of Radioactive Waste

According to the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission more than 104
licensed nuclear facilities are located inside of the United States. These reactors
total 20% of the energy consumption being used. There are five types of
radioactive waste- high level, low level, intermediate level, mining and milling
and transuranic waste. All types of nuclear wastes have their own separate
storage and clean-up procedures

High-level Waste – There are two types of nuclear reactors. These types are the
pressurized and boiler water reactors. High-level nuclear waste, simply put, is
spent fuel that is still present after it has been used inside of nuclear reactors.
This radioactive waste has to cool off for several years and is considered to be
very dangerous. The cooling process of this waste usually takes place inside of
deep pools of water that are several hundred feet deep.

Intermediate-level waste contains high amount of radioactivity than low-level

and less than high-level. This type of waste typically requires shielding during
handling and interim storage. This type of waste typically includes refurbishment
waste, ion-exchange resins, chemical sludges and metal fuel cladding. The
intermediate level waste contains 4% of all the radioactivity. Intermediate-level
waste that requires long term management are transferred to an authorized
waste management operator.

Low-level Waste - Most of the radioactive waste that is around today is

considered to be low level. In fact, about 90% of all nuclear waste is low level.
Nuclear reactors, hospitals, dental offices, and similar types of facilities often use
low-level nuclear waste materials on a daily basis and it is needed in order to
provide the services that are offered within these facilities. Low-level nuclear
waste is not dangerous, and any of it can be disposed of inside of a landfill. This is
the reason why it does not require shielding during handling and transport.

Mining and Milling

Tailings and waste rock are generates by mining and milling of uranium ore. The
tailings material is covered with water and have the consistency of fine sand,
when dried. It is produced by grinding the ore and the chemical concentration of
uranium. After few months, the tailings material contains 75% of the radioactivity
of the original ore.

Clean and mineralized waste rock is produced during mining activities which must
be excavated to access to access uranium ore body. It has little or no
concentration of uranium. While clean waste rock can be used for construction
purposes mineralized waste rock could generate acid when left on the surfaced
indefinitely that could affect surrounding environment.
Transuranic Waste

Transuranic waste, or TRU waste contains more than 3700 be per gram of
elements. It is much heavier than uranium. This type of waste is produced
through nuclear waste reprocessing procedures in most cases. This is one of the
least worried about types of radioactive waste that is out there but it is worth
mentioning since it is a part of nuclear waste.

Treatment and Disposal

Vitrification

Ion exchange

Above-ground disposal

Geologic disposal

Ocean floor disposal

Vitrification is the transformation of a substance into a glass, that is to say a non-

crystalline amorphous solid. In the production of ceramics, vitrification is
responsible for its impermeability to water. vitrification is usually achieved by
heating materials until they liquidize, then cooling the liquid, often rapidly, so that
it passes through the glass transition to form a vitrified solid.

Ion exchange is common for medium active wastes in the nuclear industry to be
treated with ion exchange or other means to concentrate the radioactivity into a
small volume. The much less radioactive bulk (after treatment) is often then
discharged. For instance, it is possible to use a ferric hydroxide floc to remove
radioactive metals from aqueous mixtures. After the radioisotopes are absorbed
onto the ferric hydroxide, the resulting sludge can be placed in a metal drum
before being mixed with cement to form a solid waste form.

Above-ground disposal

Most low-level radioactive waste (LLW) is typically sent to land-based disposal

immediately following its packaging for long-term management. This means that
for the majority (~90% by volume) of all of the waste types produced by nuclear
technologies, a satisfactory disposal means has been developed and is being
implemented around the world.

Geological disposal involves isolating radioactive waste deep inside a suitable

rock volume to ensure that no harmful quantities of radioactivity ever reach the
surface environment.
The waste is contained inside multiple barriers to provide protection over
hundreds of thousands of years.

Ocean floor disposal is a method of sequestering radioactive waste in ocean

floor sediment where it is unlikely to be disturbed either geologically or by human
activity. ... Water absorbs essentially all radiation within a few meters provided
the waste remains contained.

Hazardous Waste Essays

1. Why do you need to properly dispose of Hazardous Waste?

2. What are the Characteristics of a Hazardous waste?
3. As a future Engineer How would you negate the effects of radioactive
waste?
4. Base on your’e own words what would be the best way to disposed of
biomedical waste, why?
5. Is geologic disposal of radioactive waste better than above-ground
disposal? Why?