Definition of HW

Hazardous waste is any unwanted

material the disposal of which poses a
threat to the Environment.

Hazardous waste is waste that poses

substantial or potential threats to public
health or the environment.

List of HW
By definition, EPA determined that some specific wastes are
hazardous. These wastes are incorporated into lists published by
the Agency. These lists are organized into three categories:
The F-list (non-specific source wastes). This list identifies
wastes from common manufacturing and industrial processes,
such as solvents that have been used in cleaning or
degreasing operations. Because the processes producing
these wastes can occur in different sectors of industry, the Flisted wastes are known as wastes from non-specific sources.
Wastes included on the F-list can be found in the regulations
at 40 CFR 261.31 .

 The K-list (source-specific wastes). This list includes certain

wastes from specific industries, such as petroleum refining or
pesticide manufacturing. Certain sludge and wastewaters
from treatment and production processes in these industries
are examples of source-specific wastes. Wastes included on
the K-list can be found in the regulations at 40 CFR 261.32 .
The P-list and the U-list (discarded commercial chemical
products). These lists include specific commercial chemical
products in an unused form. Some pesticides and some
pharmaceutical products become hazardous waste when
discarded. Wastes included on the P- and U-lists can be found
in the regulations at 40 CFR 261.33 .

Characteristics of HW
Type of
Hazardous
Waste

Characteristic

Example

1. Reactive

A solid waste that normally unstable reacts

violently with water, or generates toxic gases
when exposed to water or other materials.

lithium-sulfur
batteries and
explosives

2. Ignitability

Wastes can create fires under certain conditions,

are spontaneously combustible, or have a flash
point less than 60 C (140 F).

Waste oil and

used solvent

3. Corrosive

Corrosive wastes are acids or bases (pH less than

or equal to 2, or greater than or equal to 12.5)
that are capable of corroding metal containers,
such as storage tanks, drums, and barrels

Batteries Acid

4. Toxicity

Toxic wastes are harmful or fatal when ingested

or absorbed (e.g., containing mercury, lead, etc.).
When toxic wastes are land disposed,
contaminated liquid may leach from the waste
and pollute ground water.

Chemical Solution

Characteristics of HW
Type of
Hazardous
Waste

Characteristic

Example

Infectious
Waste/
Medical
Waste

Waste that generated during the diagnosis,

treatment, or immunization of human beings or
animals or in research activities in these fields or
in the production or testing of biological

1. Sharp
2.Soiled waste
3.Swab/bandage
4.Body fluid

Radioactive
waste

a waste product containing radioactive material. 1.Radioactive

It is usually the product of a nuclear process material
such as nuclear fission, though industries not 2.x-ray
directly connected to the nuclear power industry
may also produce radioactive waste.

Environmental Quality Act 1974

Environmental Quality Act 1974

The Environmental Quality Act, 1974 was

enacted to prevent, abate, control pollution and
enhance the quality of environment.

The Department of Environment administer and

enforce the EQA 1974, and Section IV of the
Economic Exclusive Zone Act 1984.

Environmental Quality Act 1974 related to hazardous

waste management
Control of toxic and hazardous waste management:
1. Environmental Quality (Scheduled Wastes) Regulations, 1989
2. Environmental Quality (Prescribed Premises) (Scheduled
Wastes Treatment and Disposal Facilities) Order, 1989
3. Environmental Quality (Prescribed Premises) (Scheduled
Wastes Treatment and Disposal Facilities) Regulations, 1989
4. Promotion of Investments (Promoted Activities and Products)
(Amendment) (No. 10) Order, 1990 (made under
the Promotion of Investments Act, 1986)

Concept of hazardous waste processing

a. Incineration
b. ion-exchange
c. neutralization
d. precipitation
e. oxidation-reduction

a. Incineration

System
Waste storage and feed preparation.
Combustion in a furnace, producing hot gases and a bottom
ash residue for disposal.
Gas temperature reduction, frequently involving heat recovery
via steam generation.
Treatment of the cooled gas to remove air pollutants, and
disposal of residuals from this treatment process.
Dispersion of the treated gas to the atmosphere through an
induced-draft fan and stack.

Advantages
Minimum of land is needed compared to the dimensions of
waste disposal sites.
The weight of the waste is reduced to 25% of the initial value.
The waste volume is reduced to almost 10% of the initial value.
The flue gas, which is containing heavy metals and other harmful
substances after the incineration process, is cleaned and emitted
through the stack in environmentally friendly form.
Incineration plants can be located close to residential areas,
By using the ashes for environmentally appropriate construction,
low costs are provided and furthermore the need for landfill
capacity is reduced.
Can be used as a renewable energy source.

Disadvantages
The air pollution controls required in incineration plants are
extremely expensive.
Energy, produced by means of waste incineration is not likely
to be practical for small communities.
he extremely high technical standards of the plants
require skilled workers, which leads to the facts that rather
high wages have to be paid.
The residues from the flue gas cleaning can contaminate the
environment if they arent handled

b. Ion Exchange

System
Ion exchange is the process through which ions in solution
are transferred to a solid matrix which, in turn releases
ions of a different type but of the same polarity.
In other words the ions in solutions are replaced by
different ions originally present in the solid
During ion exchange the ions being exchanged are
reversibly removed from the wastewater and transferred to
the ion exchanger
This means that ion exchange is a physical separation
process in which the ions exchanged are not chemically
altered

System ..cont.
Since the chemical characteristics of the ions exchanged are not
modified the use of ion exchange in wastewater treatment is
associated with the removal of hazardous ionic material(s) from the
wastewater and its transfer to the ion exchanger
Since the ion exchanger only collects the hazardous material the
spent exchanger must be treated at the end of a cycle
Typically this involves the regeneration of the ion exchanger by
contacting the spent exchanger with a concentrated solution of an
ion (such as H+ or OH-) which can replace the ions adsorbed on the
exchanger during the treatment process
This results in the generation of a spent regenerating solution
containing the waste ions in a concentrated form

Advantages
Capability of handling and separating components from dilute
wastes
Possibility of concentrating pollutants
Capability of handling hazardous wastes
Possibility of recovery expensive materials from waste (e.g.,
precious metals)
Possibility of regenerating ion exchanger
Possibility of recycling components present in the waste
and/or regenerating chemicals

Disadvantages
Limitation on the concentration in the effluent to be treated
In general, lack of selectivity against specific target ions
Susceptibility to fouling by organic substances present in the
wastewater

c. Neutralization

System
Corrosive acid when neutralized (remember this corrosive is
one of the factors of hazardous wastes) with basic substance
becomes no longer corrosive/ non hazardous.
PH adjustment; pH is a very important factor in the creation of
hazardous waste
So by adjusting this important factor the waste can be
neutralized and becomes nonhazardous.

System..cont
The most common neutralizing chemicals are:
Acids: Sulfuric Acid(H2SO4) Carbon Dioxide (CO2) - which
converts in water to Carbonic Acid (H2CO3) Hydrochloric Acid
(HCl) Phosphoric Acid (H3PO4) Nitric Acid (HNO3)
Bases:
Caustic (NaOH) also known as Caustic Soda Calcium Hydroxide
(CaOH2) Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3) also known as Lime or
Limestone Ammonium Hydroxide (NH4OH)

Advantages
Reduce the level of a waste's corrosively
Lime is least expensive and is widely used for treating acidic
wastes.
Can used CO2 that it is often readily available in the exhaust
gas from any combustion process at the treatment site.

Disadvantages
The reagent itself is highly corrosive to skin and material
Some reagent are not strong base however is less reactive and
more expensive
Must have special precaution to handle reagent
Low reactivity will increase the process time

d. Precipitation

System
Particularly useful for converting hazardous heavy metals to
a less mobile, insoluble form
During the chemical precipitation of hazardous waste
streams, a soluble hazardous species is removed from the
solution by the addition of a precipitating reagent; an
insoluble compound subsequently forms that contains the
hazardous constituents
The precipitate is removed from the solution using a
physical separation technique such as sedimentation or
filtration.
Coagulants or flocculants may be added to the mixture to
enhance the separation of the precipitate from the soluble
phase.

System..cont
Examples of common inorganic coagulants are aluminum
sulfate (alum), (Al2(SO4)318H2O) and ferric sulfate
(Fe2(SO4)3)
Precipitation processes are typically geared toward the
removal of dissolved inorganic ions
A number of counter anions are suitable for reaction with the
metal. These anions vary widely in terms of rate of reaction,
inherent toxicity, and cost. A common means of precipitating
soluble metal ions is by hydroxide formation
Example :
Zn2+ + 2OH- = Zn(OH)2
Hydroxide ion source can be a common alkali such as
NaOH, Na2CO3, or (Ca(OH)2).

System..cont
When reacted with such alkalis, most metal ions will produce
basic salt precipitates. Lime addition is the most common
reagent for the precipitation of metals as hydroxides and basic
salts.
Sodium carbonate is used to form hydroxide precipitates
(Cr(OH)3), carbonates (CdCO3), or basic carbonate salts
(2PbCO3Pb(OH)2) (Manahan, 1994). The carbonate anion
produces hydroxide as a result of hydrolysis with water:
CO32-+ H2O =HCO3- + OH The carbonate anion subsequently reacts with the metal

Advantages
Can remove organic and in organic contaminant
Efficient and easy implement

Disadvantages
Sludge require further treatment
Precipitation with heavy metal sulfide can produce a toxic gas
Require Power and high cost

e. Oxidation-reduction

System
The earliest view of oxidation and reduction is that of
adding oxygen to form an oxide (oxidation) or removing
oxygen (reduction). They always occur together.
One important chemical redox treatment involves the
oxidation of cyanide wastes from metal finishing industry,
using chlorine in alkali solution.
In this reaction CN- is first converted to less toxic cyanide.
Further chlorination oxidizes the cyanide to simple carbon
dioxide and nitrogen gas.
Example:
NaCN+Cl2+2NaOH = NaCNO+2NaCl+H2O
2NaCNO + 3Cl2+4NaOH = 2CO2 +N2 + 6 NaCl +2H2O

System..cont
Another important redox treatment process is the
reduction of hexavalent chromium Cr (VI) to trivalent
chromium Cr (III) in large electroplating operations.
Sulfur dioxide is used as the reducing agent and the
reactions are as follows.
3SO2+ H2O = 3 H2SO3
2CrO3+2H2SO3 = Cr2(SO4)3 + 3H2O
A large variety of oxidisable contaminants in waste water
and sludge's are oxidized by ozone which can be generated
on site by an electrical discharge through dry air or oxygen.

Advantages
The use of chemical oxidation and reduction can be quite safe
The greatest advantages are the rapid treatment time and the
ability to treat contaminants present at high concentrations.
It is effective on a diverse group of contaminants. Common
contaminants treated by chemical oxidation are amines,
phenols, chlorophenols, cyanides, halogenated aliphatic
compounds, and certain pesticides in liquid waste streams

Disadvantages
Potential hazard including corrosive and highly reactive
oxidant
Not only react with the target contaminants but also with
substances found in the soil that can be readily oxidized. In
the case of ozone, ozone can react with water and decompose
to oxygen.
Oxygen production can lead to serious problems such as the
development of high pressures below the ground surface and
possible explosions.
Control of pH, temperature, and contact time is important to
ensure the desired extent of oxidation

Method of Hazardous Waste Disposal

a. secure landfill

 Required to meet very stringent Federal and state standards

to protect public health and the environment.
These standards have been established under the Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and govern the
location, design, construction, operation and final closure of
the landfill.
All hazardous waste landfills must have RCRA permits that
incorporate these standards.
In addition, landfills must meet any more stringent state
requirements, which often include on-site state inspectors,
additional groundwater monitoring wells, restrictions on
radioactive wastes, and more specific siting standards.
State requirements cannot be less protective than the federal
baseline.

 Must be engineered with double composite liners and a

leachate collection system above and between the liners, as
well as a leak detection system capable of detecting,
collecting and removing any leakage between the liners at the
earliest practicable time.
If leachate leaks into either of the collection systems, it is
removed and treated to protect the ground
Landfills must also control run-on and runoff. Run-on must be
diverted to prevent erosion to the landfill. Run-off of
precipitation must be collected and managed to reduce the
potential for off-site migration and to determine if the run-off
is itself hazardous waste.
Landfills must also be covered or managed so as to control
wind dispersal.

 Standards for hazardous wastes established by EPA, which are

based on the performance of the Best Demonstrated
Available Technologies (BDAT).
Treatment technologies used prior to disposal in landfills
include stabilization and neutralization of hazardous and nonhazardous sludge, soils, slurries, liquids, powders and dusts.
Organic wastes (materials derived of living organisms or
hydrocarbons such as oil) are chemically oxidized prior to land
disposal and various proprietary stabilization techniques are
used for metal-bearing waste rendering an insoluble, solid
material for safe landfill disposal.
Minimum standards for security, inspections and personnel
training are also established by EPA regulations.

b. underground injection
These wells inject hazardous waste, as
defined by the Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act ( RCRA).
Hazardous waste disposal wells are
stringently regulated by the Safe Drinking
Water Act and RCRA.
Most Class I hazardous wells are located at
industrial facilities. Only a few Class I wells
are at commercial operations that can accept
hazardous waste generated offsite.
Class I hazardous waste wells operate in 10
states with the majority in Texas and
Louisiana.
Approximately 22 percent of Class I wells are
hazardous waste disposal wells.