Management and combustion of hazardous wastes

Hazardous wastes, which are the essential by-products of any industrialized society, are becoming of immense concern and importance because of their harmful effects on human health and environment. Before irrepairable damage is done, these wastes need to be managed and disposed of in a safe and secure manner. In this overview, the various aspects of hazardous waste combustion and management are briefly discussed. How a hazardous waste is defined and what procedures are employed to identify it are described. A brief account of the various acts developed to regulate the hazardous wastes is given. For a secure disposal of hazardous wastes it is imperative that the wastes must be first treated to render it less toxic or nonhazardous. For this purpose the various thermal, physical, chemical and biological treatment technologies developed to-date are enumerated. In view of the developed nature of incineration and its promising potential use for the destruction of hazardous wastes, this combustion technology is described in detail. Treatment technologies are invariably followed by disposal techniques involving landfilling, landfarming, deep-well injection and ocean dumping and hence these are also briefly described. The United States Environmental Protection Agency have suggested six options for hazardous waste management. These have been presented because considerable research and development efforts will find their way related to these options in the years to come. Some of the areas where concerted efforts are needed to improve the art of hazardous waste management are outlined.