Land Disposal Practices in Europe and North America

This paper compares the land-based disposal of municipal and hazardous waste in Europe and North America, and the various disposal options are examined for each type of waste. It is concluded that landfill is still the most widely practised disposal method for most wastes in both continents. Other methods include composting, land farming, trenching/spraying, and deep underground disposal. More stringent controls on waste disposal are being introduced and a trend to seek greater uniformity of practice and standards is developing. However, local conditions, such as the nature of the wastes and the availability and nature of disposal sites, continue to work against this trend. There is no single method which is suitable for all wastes and for all conditions. The best environmental option for waste management will vary from place to place and waste to waste, therefore an imposed uniformity of practice is not in the best environmental interest.     

Public acceptance and siting of hazardous waste disposal facilities

During the late 1970's the Love Canal hazardous waste site in New York State, U.S.A. became a benchmark for negative feelings towards the siting of future hazardous waste landfills and facilities. At the present time social and political factors often dominate the siting process. There is growing anxiety being shown by the public about the location of waste facilities, and especially for hazardous materials. There are repeatable socio-political patterns associated with siting events and disposal agencies need to identify the appropriate «cast of characters» in the siting «play». There is an increasing need for the communication of disposal information to the community as well as their inclusion in the decision making process. More sympathetic consideration needs to be given to compensation strategies.     

Community Planning for Small-Quantity Hazardous Waste Generators

Only recently has the small-quantity generator of hazardous waste come under federal or state regulation. The wastes produced by these generators, however, pose serious threats to health and environmental resources in almost every community. Local planners should and can design preventive strategies to deal with management of these wastes. Such strategies should include problem assessment, education programs, technical assistance to generators, and revision of local land use policy to prohibit improper disposal practices. This article presents new information useful to planners in assessing the problem in their communities, and it suggests elements of a planning approach to control the small-quantity hazardous waste stream.     

Underground disposal of hazardous waste in Israel – Design principles and conceptual approach

The careless or unprofessional handling of hazardous wastes in many places around the world led to severe damage of nature, concurrent with considerable long-term health risks to human beings. This motivated several countries to develop new secure and sustainable waste management strategies in order to enhance the future quality of nature and life. The process of world globalization and the coalescence of its markets increased the importance of formulation and implementation of accepted environmental standards. The rising environmental and ecological awareness in Israel puts the contemporary and common waste handling practices under close scrutiny. An intensive exchange of experiences with other countries is called for, so that the responsible authorities can formulate improved and sustainable waste management strategies, which are specifically tailored to the particular environmental, demographic, economic and political conditions of Israel.The German environmental protection and waste legislation demands an underground disposal of highly contaminated wastes, in order to guarantee that harmful substances are excluded durably from the biosphere. In view of its size and the political situation in Israel, this way of waste disposal seems to be an appropriate waste management strategy aimed at minimising the environmental risks, and the harmful effect of hostile actions against deposits of hazardous wastes. The German waste management policies and practices, which are based on many years of experience, are reviewed first as a guideline for safe long-term underground disposal of hazardous wastes in Israel. Using these guidelines, potentially suitable locations in Israel are selected with special reference to their geohydrological, geological and geomechanical conditions, and then they were evaluated using environmental criteria derived from German standards of waste disposal. The results of this preliminary environmental evaluation, and some relevant geomechanical designs, are presented and discussed. Finally, economic aspects, and further steps, which are needed to safeguard future implementation of the underground disposal system, are considered.     

Management of hazardous waste: a case study in India

A study of identification of hazardous waste generators, quantification and classification of hazardous wastes in accordance with Indian hazardous waste classification system in the five major industrial districts of Gujarat (covering 15 industrial estates) was carried for the purpose of hazardous waste management planning in the region. The contribution of hazardous waste generation by different sizes of generators is estimated. The total quantity of hazardous waste generated in these districts was about 0.44 million tonne per annum. On the basis of waste classification, it was found that waste category number 12 (sludge from effluent treatment plant) and waste category number 9 (waste from dye and dye intermediate units) were dominant among the other categories of wastes generation in each district. In order to reduce burden on land, the hazardous wastes suitable for recovery and recycling in the industrial regions have also been quantified at about 45% of the total quantity generated. Among this the maximum proportion of recyclable waste is from dye and dye intermediate units as sludge and residue which were being disposed off in low lying area in the country.

The study also provides information on the quantity of hazardous wastes which were suitable for secure landfill, with or without pre‐treatment, and for incineration. A plan for hazardous waste management for the region is proposed for implementation.     

ENVIRONMENTAL DIMENSIONS OF URBAN CHANGE: UNCOVERING RELICT INDUSTRIAL WASTE SITES AND SUBSEQUENT LAND USE CONVERSIONS IN PORTLAND AND NEW ORLEANS

ABSTRACT: Contemporary urbanization has brought well‐documented shifts in the social and economic foundations of U.S. cities through deindustrialization, gentrification, and residential segregation. To these widely recognized shifts, we add historical–environmental changes associated with “relict industrial waste” that accumulates and becomes hidden as cities change over time. This study advances a new analytical framework and data collection strategy for uncovering these relict industrial waste sites and the processes that influence their location, frequency, and conversion. Results affirm that hundreds of potentially hazardous sites exist in older cities and that the vast majority of these sites have converted to other uses, hiding potential relict waste from public, scholarly, and regulatory view. Results also indicate that the types of neighborhood settings in which these sites are found and likelihood of subsequent land‐use conversion vary significantly by the city in question. Implications for future research and broader conceptualizations of urbanization are discussed.     

A Review of “One for the road; Drunk driving since 1900”

Finding locations for locally unwanted land uses (LULUs) has become a major challenge in the United States, and no land uses are more controversial than nuclear weapons research, nuclear waste management, and nuclear power generation. In this research, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), we explore whether U.S. government-owned land already devoted to nuclear uses would provide logical locations for new nuclear activities. We surveyed people living within 50 miles of six existing DOE nuclear weapons sites, asking about their attitudes toward banning additional nuclear activities at these sites and about factors that might influence these attitudes. Although the majority said prohibiting additional nuclear uses at these sites was a high priority, many were willing to entertain the idea. This work suggests ways to make nuclear siting more successful by considering pre-existing sites, and encouraging the DOE to try harder to open communication channels with the public and its representatives.     

Hazardous waste disposal in New Zealand

The quantities of hazardous wastes generated in New Zealand are relatively small, both in total volume and on a per capita basis: they consist principally of liquids and solids derived from primary industries such as horticulture and forestry, and from the Petroleum, chemical and manufacturing industries. There is no satisfactory inventory of hazardous waste quantities or relative toxicity at the national level, nor is there any central coordinating organisation responsible for the implementation of sound management strategies. Current legislation involves several Government departments in statutory or advisory roles connected with hazardous waste management, but administration of disposal practices devolves to regional and local authorities. The occasional uncontrolled discharge of chemical wastes, unsatisfactory past practices regarding landfill siting and leachate management, and the development of major petrochemical industries, together require better coordinated and enforced policies concerning hazardous waste disposal. The most widely advocated method of hazardous waste disposal for New Zealand is codisposal in appropriately sited and controlled landfills, with particular emphasis on protection of freshwater resources, both surface and subsurface. The secure landfill solution adopted for the Waireka chemical dump site near New Plymouth demonstrates that containment is a necessary management strategy in particular situations: alternative methods of disposal such as incineration of certain intractable wastes should also be promoted as technically feasible and environmentally acceptable. Greater use of replacement, recycling or reprocessing must be encouraged in order to minimise the quantities, and toxicity of hasardous wastes requiring disposal in New Zealand.     

Solid wastes generation in India and their recycling potential in building materials

Presently in India, about 960 million tonnes of solid waste is being generated annually as by-products during industrial, mining, municipal, agricultural and other processes. Of this ∼350 million tonnes are organic wastes from agricultural sources; ∼290 million tonnes are inorganic waste of industrial and mining sectors and ∼4.5 million tonnes are hazardous in nature. Advances in solid waste management resulted in alternative construction materials as a substitute to traditional materials like bricks, blocks, tiles, aggregates, ceramics, cement, lime, soil, timber and paint. To safeguard the environment, efforts are being made for recycling different wastes and utilise them in value added applications. In this paper, present status on generation and utilization of both non-hazardous and hazardous solid wastes in India, their recycling potentials and environmental implication are reported and discussed in details.     

危险废物固化体存储设施的抗震性能分析

危险废物由于自身的危害性,对存储设施有着严苛的要求.为了研究危险废物固化体存储设施的抗震性能,本文利用ABAQUS软件建立危险废物固化体存储设施有限元模型,并分析其在地震作用下的结构强度.模型分为单管模型和整体模型,单管模型由单个存储管和多个危险废物固化体组成,整体模型由48根存储管、支撑架、立柱和脚柱组成.对于单管模...     

Use of Cement Kilns in Managing Solid and Hazardous Wastes: Implementation in Australia

The use of cement kilns for managing solid and hazardous wastes is facilitated by the high temperature, long gas retention periods, natural alkaline environment, minimum amount of waste produced and high thermal capacity. The main benefits include energy recovery, conservation of fossil fuels, reduction in cement production costs and the use of already existing facilities.
The test burns conducted in cement kilns worldwide have demonstrated very high destruction efficiencies for most stable organic compounds, with toxic contaminants barely above the background levels.
There are several cement plants in the US and Europe presently using solid and hazardous wastes as supplementary fuel. The application of this technology in Australia has been ignored in the past. An international conference (Kilnburn'92) on the role of cement kilns in waste management was held recently in Australia and has enhanced the implementation of this technology in Australia.     

Compensation and negotiation in the siting of hazardous-waste facilities

The transport and storage/disposal of hazardous materials is clearly of fundamental importance to the continuing economic and social well-being of the industrialized world. This is also an extremely difficult area for public policy, since it involves potentially large risks, and unresolved technical and economic uncertainties make informed consensus among affected stakeholders difficult. This paper will briefly review current policy options for siting storage/disposal facilities for toxic wastes. Emphasis will be on policies which are economically efficient and which provide incentives to various stakeholders to participate constructively in negotiating equitable risk-sharing solutions to the problems of interest. In particular, incentives based on compensation and insurance will be discussed in light of experience from several countries.     

Hazardous Waste: Future Consideration

In most industries the goods and money move in opposite directions, but in waste management the goods and money travel in the same direction. Consequently to the customer, quality of goods and service might be measured only by price. However, customers are now becoming more sensitive to factors such as environmental quality. They are also becoming aware of the range of disposal options, together with the names of the companies which operate these disposal or treatment sites. Essentially the options are: recyling and recovery, sea disposal, landfill, physico-chemical treatment, solidification, biological treatment and thermal destruction. The Control of Pollution Act 1974 requires that all landfill sites and treatment centres are licensed by the waste disposal authority. These authorities are obliged to act in the public interest, and hence there is a complex interaction of science and politics. This situation often gives rise to localized opposition to facilities which are needed by the community. The UK disposes of 83 per cent of its potentially difficult wastes to landfill whilst Holland disposes of 52 per cent via this route. The cost of disposal varies throughout Europe but, in general, prices in the UK are lower than in Europe, which has led to the importation of wastes from the continent. Economics applies to the waste-disposal industry as much as any other industry, therefore facilities are supplied in response to demand. Price alone will not always be adequate in obtaining the ‘best practical environmental option’. disposal the goods and the money go in the same direction, i.e. to the waste management contractor. This at first sight may not seem important until it is realized that the major control upon the quality of a service is, in fact, the satisfaction with the goods and service which the customer receives. In most cases it is sufficient that the customer disposes of the waste material in a legal manner. However, the judgement of quality of disposal could be of little consequence to him. The factors that concern a customer when he chooses a service include the price, the quality of service, market presentation and reputation. These factors apply in the waste management industry, but the difficulty for the customer is to judge the quality of the service and the market presentation or, more correctly in this case, the quality of operation of the waste contractor. If the latter two factors become difficult to judge, the price becomes a critical factor. This leads to a low standard of operation in the business where price competition becomes more important than the quality of the service. Companies are looking not just for the cheapest legal option but for the best option and what has been referred to as the ‘best practical environmental option’. In the UK the vast majority of hazardous waste disposal is carried out by private-sector companies. Therefore it is essential that the Government sets the correct framework, and that an examination is carried out as to whether the framework is satisfactory and whether it achieves the needs of the Government.     

Geotechnical requirements of subsurface repositories in mines,rock and salt caverns for interim or final disposal of hazardous wastes

The storage of hazardous wastes in subsurface facilities, i.e. in mines, salt caverns and hard rock caverns, offers a high degree of security potential. This is because the contaminants are entombed in geological formations of the deep underground a long way from the biosphere. In order not to prejudice the security offered by the geological barriers certain geotechnical demands have to be met with respect to stability, tightness and sealing in the construction of these subsurface waste repositories. Furthermore, prior to their emplacement, wastes have to be conditioned to exclude the possibility of reactions between the wastes and between the wastes and the surrounding material, e.g. rock or lining. Depending upon the intended function of the subsurface facility, i.e. for interim or final storage, different demands are pertinent with respect to the emplacement technology and the facility seal. In the following paper the geotechnical security objectives for subsurface repositories for interim and final storage are discussed and technical concepts for the construction and operation of mined, salt and hard rock caverns presented. The possibilities for using current mine operations and abandoned underground spaces for the storage of hazardous wastes are discussed.     

Solid waste: terminological and long-term environmental risk assessment problems exemplified in a power plant fly ash study

Legal definitions exert a significant impact on the waste management strategy. Waste that is technically suitable for recovery does not automatically become a raw material if there is no market for it, or its use is not commercially effective and, hence, they should be disposed of. The majority of disposed wastes, including recyclable waste, are not environmentally safe. Waste as a freshly generated anthropogenic material is not geochemically stable. Przezchlebie fly ash surface pond (Upper Silesia, Poland) in the post-closure stage was subject to field validation of the results of laboratory leaching/extraction tests and long-term column experiments on fly ash (FA) leaching behaviour under controlled conditions for environmental risk assessment. The study showed: (i) the possibility of a discontinuous non-linear time delayed increase of pollution potential of disused 'non-hazardous' large-volume waste in the dumping sites to the hazardous level; (ii) inconsistency of the laboratory leaching tests and the actual leaching behaviour of trace metals, particularly when equilibria conditions are dictated by kinetically determined reactions where the test results reflected entirely wash-out (I) and dissolution (II) phases, but did not comprise delayed release (III) phase; and (iii) necessity of life-cycle screening/monitoring of 'non-hazardous' dumping sites for contaminant release as a function of the primary (pH-Eh, ionic strength, ionic composition of solute) and secondary controlling factors (L/S-liquid to solid ratio, water flow conditions) along the vertical profile of an anthropogenic or natural vadose zone. These data are to be used to develop long-term predictive hydrogeochemical models and their field validation, and for providing an early warning and remedial actions with respect to the particular site. The formation of pH (and Eh) as a function of time-dependent (kinetically defined) processes appeared to be a key issue for a correct prediction of the leaching behaviour of waste. The presented case study on FA shows that waste, even those considered non-hazardous and fit for use in a commercially proven applications, should not be treated the same way as a natural raw material. To facilitate waste utilisation and disposal in environmentally safe way and to prioritise its use, reliable environmental risk assessment prediction models and testing procedures, as well as special enforcement strategy and regulations, should be developed with respect to waste and not 'materials.'     

可移动智能危险废物贮存设施的安全环保防护设计及应用展望

本文分析了我国危险废物现状和危险废物贮存管理面临的问题。通过融合智能化和信息化技术,可移动智能危险废物贮存设施成为解决我国危险废物贮存难题的重要手段。本文从一般要求、主体结构设计要求、智能管控硬件配置要求、智能管控软件系统要求等方面提出了可移动智能危险废物存储设施的安全环保防护设计要求。本文还对可移动智能危险废物贮存设施的应用前景进行了展望。     

Efficacy beliefs,sense of unfairness,and participation in LULU activism

Many waste management facilities are locally unwanted land uses (LULUs). While the issue of LULU siting has attracted significant academic attention, attempts to explain local residents' participation in social movements against LULUs are limited. In particular, knowledge about how proxy efficacy belief and sense of unfairness shape individuals' participation in collective actions is limited. Building upon the collective interest model, this study develops a theoretical model for explaining local residents' participation in social movements against proposals related to LULU siting. The model is tested with the empirical data obtained in Hong Kong. The analysis results reveal that perceived self, group and proxy efficacies, perception of unfairness in the siting process, collective identity of victim, and peer influence are determinants of local activism against LULUs. These discoveries enrich the body of knowledge on the exercise of siting LULUs and opposition from local communities. The findings also contribute to better understanding of the roles of different efficacy beliefs in social mobilization. Research limitations and potentials for future research are discussed.     

The regulation and impact of eight Australian coal mine waste water discharges on downstream river water quality: a regional comparison of active versus closed mines

Water quality of rivers that received coal mine wastes from four active and three closed mines were investigated, focusing on ecologically hazardous pollutants. Zinc and nickel concentrations were highest downstream of two closed mines, particularly from the Canyon mine that closed 20 years earlier. Coal mine wastes increased nickel concentrations in waterways by an average of 25 times. The average concentration of zinc increased below mines waste discharges from 8.6 µg/L (upstream) to 83.4 µg/L (downstream). All coal mine discharges increased river salinity. Salinity increased by more than 6 times (upstream mean 101.4–741.7 µS/cm downstream). This study provides a reminder that water pollution from coal mines is a major environmental issue for both active and closed mines. The study highlights the need for more stringent and consistent environmental regulation for all mines, including key hazardous pollutants from wastes emerging from both active and closed mines.     

简易垃圾填埋场的污染控制与生态恢复

简易填埋场即使不再填垃圾，其对环境的影响仍将持续20年以上的时间，对其进行污染治理与生态恢复是城市发展中必须解决的紧迫问题。本文针对简易填埋场的特点，从技术和管理角度讨论了简易填埋场污染控制的综合措施，建议加强现有简易填埋场的污染治理和生态恢复工作。     

Environmental experts in the motor industry

Hazardous wastes are posing the greatest threat to the environment than ever before. Indiscriminate transfer of technology from the Developed Nations for the production of highly hazardous chemicals can lead to a frequent contamination of the environment with the hazardous wastes. The situation appears to be very serious in many of the Third World Nations, where basic problems of water supply and sanitation still need a solution. Contamination of the ground and surface waters with hazardous materials is likely to increase in the developing countries, owing to lack of suitable monitoring techniques. Location of the industries producing hazardous chemicals in the crowded cities has to be prevented to obviate recurrence of serious catastrophes in future. The situation appears to be equally alarming in the developed countries, where ground and surface waters are at a greater risk of contamination with the hazardous wastes. Co disposal of solid chemical wastes with the municipal solid wastes will result in a greater contamination of the ground and surface waters, with longer lasting environmental effects. Hazardous gaseous spills can have serious environmental effects, particularly if the spills contain radioactive contaminants. The intensity of a hazardous gaseous spill can be greatly enhanced under abnormal meteorological conditions.