Essay on Analysis of the Sources and Characteristics of Hazardous and Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) With a Secondary Literature Review

Introduction

HHW refers to hazardous waste entering the municipal waste stream, and the classification of wastes based on their hazardous properties. Key characteristics of hazardous waste include wastes that are explosive, oxidizing, highly flammable (with a flashpoint below 21C), readily ignited, irritant to skin or mucous membranes, harmful, teratogenic, corrosive, ecotoxic, capable of releasing environmental toxins, and carcinogenic (coming with attendant cancer risks). This article will thus analyse the sources and characteristics of hazardous and household hazardous waste (HHW) with a secondary literature review.

Major regulations pertaining to hazardous and HHW

HHW in the United States is exempt from the hazardous waste definition in the EPA’s Resource Conversation and Recovery Act Subtitle C, but is subject nonetheless to the solid wast emanagement regulations under Subtitle D. In Europe, HHW is governed by Landfill Directive 1999/31/EC, while in Australia, regulations under the Environmental Protection Act of 1993 govern duties related to HHW management (Oncel et al, 2017). In the US, control and disposal of HHW is, however, traditionally delegated to local authorities. Furthermore, specific EPA regulations to ensure clear regulatory compliance exists for academic laboratory wastes, cathode ray tubes, pharmaceutical hazardous wastes, used oil and solvent contaminated wipes.

Three hazardous waste treatment options

Three hazardous waste treatment options are chemical treatment, through reactions such as synthesis, hydration and single replacement, which can render chemical contaminants in hazardous wastes inert. These include processes such as neutralization, precipitation, ion exchange, dehalogenation, debromination and oxidation reduction, which help to remove or isolate toxins in hazardous wastes. The second key method is biodegradation, where microorganisms are used to decompose organic wastes through anaerobic and aerobic respiration. Microorganisms can help to break down toxins such as chlorine, heavy metals, nitrogen and sulfur compounds and phosphorus compounds into safe and inert chemical components. This increases the potential for energy recovery, volume reduction and detoxification of the waste in a sustainable manner. Finally, mixed hazardous waste reactors incorporating incineration and aerobic/anaerobic systems can be used to dispose and reduce waste volumes efficiently (Oncel et al, 2017). However, the incinerated material must be effectively filtered to prevent air pollution and leaching of toxic chemicals.

Mitigation of the effects of improper hazardous waste disposal through the restoration of contaminated land and brownfield redevelopment

The restoration of contaminated land through programs such as the EPA’s Land Revitalization Program, which have ensured sustainable cleanup and redevelopment projects and green building construction, can be effective in ensuring that contaminated properties are restored and revitalized in a sustainable manner (Mert, 2019). Furthermore, the use of brownfield redevelopment schemes can inject a market-driven incentive to rehabilitate and restore contaminated sites in a commercially viable manner that ensures the plot continues to flourish as an economically viable project. However, key considerations for such restoration and brownfield redevelopment would include environmental liability concerns, capital funding requirements and reuse planning (Gautam et al, 2019).

Part II

Personal reflection on disposal of household hazardous waste and potential areas for improvement

My household is generally quite proficient in gathering and sorting cleaning and gardening supplies that constitute household waste, such as degreasers, aerosols, hair sprays, insecticides and electronic waste. However, my household does not dispose of motor oil and antifreeze from the garage in an optimal manner, as it is disposed through a third party maintenance professional that comes to check our cars. We have no visibility on the motor oil or antifreeze waste’s path to proper disposal after the maintenance is completed. Potentially, conducting car maintenance at an authorized and licensed workshop could be more productive.

Handling of hazardous waste in current workplace and potential areas for improvement

In my current workplace, materials with concentrations of heavy metals and toxic chemicals are outsourced to the municipal toxic waste disposal tender agency for management. Personal protective equipment is also issued and regularly used to ensure safe handling of hazardous wastes in my current manufacturing facility. However, this means that my company does not have much visibility over the process of toxic waste disposal and potential breaches in compliance. Regular audits would be necessary to ensure that such hazardous waste is effectively managed. Furthermore, vendor samples, process wastes and spill waste are also bundled with expired paints and products and shipped off to this external disposal tender agency, which may be difficult to separate later on. My team should invest more in waste sorting and waste recycling where possible, to reduce and optimize the quantity of hazardous waste produced in the current workplace.

The assessment of development squander, warm contamination and electronic waste as significant classes of waste is significant to have the option to recognize the ideal methodology for the executives of key modern wellsprings of waste. For instance, the U.S. Ecological Protection Agency recognized 170 million tons of destruction and development squander discarded yearly, while the development in purchaser gadgets has prompted the quick development of poisonous electronic waste, because of the multiplication of new electronic gadgets, which has prompted the producing of 44.7 million metric huge loads of e-squander universally in 2016. Given the seriousness of this issue, this article scrutinize will talk about the accompanying articles identified with development squander, warm contamination and electronic waste, which address either the investigation of existing procedures or a proposition of new systems:

Article scrutinize on development squander: da Paz et al (2020)

The creators made a technique to recognize ecological perils and dangers from Brazil’s destruction and development squander age across seven districts. Utilizing a field study way to deal with study the unlawful unloading of development squander, the creators surveyed the ecological dangers and arranged them as per their actual elements, for example, plant cover, mean family pay, wellbeing and training assets, removal focuses and water assets. The creators tracked down that 1,252 sporadic development squander unloading destinations were related to visual proof, with huge damages to neighborhood wellbeing, schooling and pay results of adjacent inhabitants. This instrument was utilized as a proposed strategy for distinguishing regions for more tight administrative control and punishments on the illicit unloading of development squander in high danger regions in Brazil.

The creators’ constraints in this review are that main seven regions were picked, which might have underrepresented or overrepresented the ecological damages of the unlawful unloading of development squander contingent upon whether the example was a delegate one. Besides, the creators didn’t make a difference new apparatuses, for example, carbon catch and capacity or feasible development squander expulsion procedures to suggest intercessions that would resolve this issue, and have restricted themselves to endorsing a device for distinguishing mediations. In any case, the review is important as a standard device to gauge ecological danger and effect from development, which would then be able to be utilized to endorse the actions suggested by the creators, for example, an expansion in administrative punishments for unlawful development squander unloaders. Moreover, the instrument can be utilized to accumulate quantitative proof for claims or inconvenience of criminal punishments on violators, which is a critical barrier in the arraignment of development squander organizations in non-industrial nations, because of the absence of proof of their exercises.

Article study on warm contamination: Gashkina and Moiseenko (2020)

The creators notice the effect of warm contamination on untamed life, through an investigation of what warm contamination has unfavorably meant for the bioaccumulation of follow metals, metalloids and metals in the whitefish species (Coregonus lavaretus L.), and what such contamination has meant for the physiological state of this stenothermal cold-water local species. The review utilized examples of whitefish organs and tissues got from an agent scope of regions in the Kola thermal energy station, which occasionally delivers warm water into the Lake Imandra inlets and along these lines changes the temperature inclination of the oceanic environment altogether. The review exhibited that the lake whitefish really adjusted to warm contamination, with hemoglobin focuses in scope of ideal levels, close by higher physical development rates. The review was additionally upheld by water tests that were estimated for temperature and metal focuses, and logical instruments for the update of synthetic substances in the fish species’ biotic frameworks, as connected to the surrounding temperature, were clarified. The concentrate additionally shows how various metals bioaccumulate at various levels in the fish species because of warm contamination.

Nonetheless, the concentrate additionally showed that notwithstanding expanded digestion, the local species exhibited harmful impacts as shown by the expanded bioaccumulation of the Rb, Hg, As and Cu metals, and the discharge of Se, Mo and Si metals. The review is restricted in light of the fact that it doesn’t study other local species in the biological system, and doesn’t close whether it was the presentation of poisonous metals or change in warm contamination that affected the local fish species’ physiological and compound characteristics. Nonetheless, the review is by and large valuable as it gives an observationally solid and elaborate review on the effect of warm contamination on local fish species, and shows that local species are infrequently ready to adjust to warm contamination to go around its most obliterating impacts, like diminished digestion and cell passing.

Article evaluate on electronic waste: Houessionon et al (2021)

Houessionon et al (2021) gives an efficient investigation of electronic waste and e-squander reusing exercises from 2005 to 2017 worldwide. The review utilized proof from 3,063 companion assessed papers across 11 nations to total more than 8,000 estimations of weighty metals (Cr, Hg, As, Cd, Pb) in soil, water and dregs in e-squander destinations, and tracked down that electronic waste causes substantial pollution of soil, water and residue in and close to squander reusing locales.

The review’s proof showed that lead (Pb) fixations were most noteworthy, trailed by mercury (Hg), Cadmium (Cd) and Silver (As). The review is helpful as it shows how e-squander and the multiplication of old customer hardware, combined with the inappropriate removal of such waste, has coincidentally prompted the expansion of soil, water and dregs defilement. The concentrate then, at that point, suggested the utilization of more prominent administrative implementation and ecological insurance measures, for example, policing, fines and shopper blacklists, to diminish the degree of e-squander around the world.

Be that as it may, a vital hole in the review, in spite of its extensive proof and assessment, was its absence of thought for the adequacy of the proposed measures. Moreover, soils got more consideration than water and dregs contemplates, basically on the grounds that there were more investigations of the effect of electronic waste metals in soil than silt and water. By and large, notwithstanding, the review was useful in decisively demonstrating the substantial metal pollution of e-squander unloading locales and area regions, which show the need to decrease e-squander creation and inappropriate e-garbage removal to moderate the issue adequately.

References

da Paz, D. H. F., Lafayette, K. P. V., de Oliveira Holanda, M. J., Sobral, M. D. C. M., and de Castro Costa, L. A. R. (2020). Appraisal of ecological effect hazards emerging from the illicit unloading of development squander in Brazil. Climate, Development and Sustainability, 22(3), 2289-2304. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-018-0289-6

Gashkina, N. A., and Moiseenko, T. I. (2020). Impact of Thermal Pollution on the Physiological Conditions and Bioaccumulation of Metals, Metalloids, and Trace Metals in Whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus L.). Global diary of sub-atomic sciences, 21(12), 4343. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21124343

Houessionon, M. G., Ouendo, E. M. D., Bouland, C., Takyi, S. A., Kedote, N. M., Fayomi, B., and Basu, N. (2021). Natural Heavy Metal Contamination from Electronic Waste (E-Waste) Recycling Activities Worldwide: A Systematic Review from 2005 to 2017. Worldwide Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(7), 3517. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18073517

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