The use of these two words in the same phrase should be waving some red flags to your surroundings. According to Wikipedia, hazardous waste is any waste that can harm humans or the environment, such as chemicals, asbestos, or radioactive materials. It can be solid, liquid, or gas, and it can come from various sources, such as industries, households, or hospitals. The major characteristic of this type of waste is the fact that it is dangerous to us as human beings. As aforementioned in a previous article, hazardous waste has one or more of the following hazardous traits. These include; ignitability, reactivity, corrosivity, and toxicity.
Hazardous waste is not limited to materials but is limited to nuclear materials or materials coming from out of a factory. The reality is that we possess some hazardous wastes even in the safety of our homes. Some of these are right under your nose. The most common examples of hazardous waste found within the home include paints, batteries, solvents, cleaning agents and pesticides. These are items that we simply discard air keep without a second thought. This article is meant to educate you on what effects this kind of waste has and how we can manage it.
CLASSIFICATION OF HAZARDOUS WASTE.
We have observed that hazardous waste may possess the following characteristics:
Reactivity
Waste of this nature results in chemical reactions under particular conditions. These reactions trigger explosions or give off different gases, fumes, or vapours. The activity happens when the substance is mixed with H2O or compressed. The perfect examples of this would include unused explosives and lithium/sulfur batteries.
Toxicity
Toxic waste is quite different from the reactivity of waste. Its effects are only seen when it’s absorbed or indigested. Toxic substances include properties such as lead and mercury. The disposal of toxic wastes can cause groundwater to become polluted.
Corrosivity
Corrosive wastes can either be acids/bases or make acidic/alkaline solutions. A corrosive waste is one with a pH level at/under 2.0 or at/above 12.5. Liquid wastes can also be corrosive as long as it’s able to corrode various metal containers like drums, storage tanks, and barrels e.g. battery acid.
Ignitability
Some wastes can spark fires, or blow up (spontaneous combustion). Some examples include used solvents and waste oil. Various test methods can be done to figure out if the waste has the ignitability characteristic.
TYPES OF HAZARDOUS WASTE
Chemicals
A chemical is a substance that cannot be broken down into simpler parts without changing it into something else through a reaction. A chemical is a pure substance and can be a gas, liquid or solid. Chemicals are all around us and while some Chemicals may be used to help us as human beings, the majority of them have negative effects.
Chemical waste can be found anywhere, from manufacturing facilities to high school labs and hospitals. Proper disposal is incredibly important because of the risk chemical waste poses to not only the environment but to anyone who lives in the surrounding areas of lab facilities as well.
Medical Waste
Medical waste comes from a variety of sources, from testing facilities to labs, pharmacies, dental offices and hospitals. There are aspects of medical waste disposal that are important. It is important what primary disposal containers a medical centre uses, ideally the vendor you work with to ensure all regulations are met. This is one service we can provide.
Regulated wastes include everything from items contaminated by blood and body fluids to sharps, disinfectants, radioactive waste and pressurized devices.
Electronic Waste
With the benefits that come with technological advancement, we have the same increase in electronic waste that has become a growing problem worldwide. One of the largest electronic waste dumps is in our backyard, Ghana.
Toxic materials from electronic waste can significantly harm both the environment and human health. That’s because electronics can contain chemicals and substances like mercury, arsenic, cadmium and lead. Lead, in particular, can cause neurological damage. Every business has e-waste, whether it’s from replacing computers, changing lightbulbs or replacing batteries. E-waste is one of the top concerns for us today.
HOW TO DISPOSE OF HAZARDOUS WASTE.
As discussed, hazardous waste should be disposed of delicately. Under the National Environment (Waste Management) Regulations, S.I. No 52/1999, every container or package of hazardous wastes should have a label attached to it. This label should contain the identity of the hazardous waste, the name and address of the generator of the waste, the net contents, the normal storage stability and methods for safe storage, the name and percentage by weight of active ingredients and names and percentage by weight of other ingredients or half-life of radioactive material. It should also include warning or caution statements such as ‘danger’ or ‘poison.’
While this may appear to be complicated, there are simple steps we can follow to secure hazardous waste even in our homes. These steps include:
1. Sort and identify common hazardous waste materials that we may have. Hazardous waste is sorted out of the non-hazardous waste.
2. Determine how much hazardous waste is present.
3. Hire a waste management company to help you dispose of such waste appropriately.
“Loads of chemicals and hazardous wastes have been introduced into the atmosphere that didn’t even exist in 1948. The environmental condition of the planet is far worse than it was 42 years ago.”
Gaylord Nelson