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Manahan,StanleyE.INDUSTRIALECOLOGYFORWASTEMINIMIZATION,UTILIZATION,BocaRaton:CRCPressLLC,2000EnvironmentalChemistryANDTREATMENT20INDUSTRIALECOLOGYFORWASTEMINIMIZATION,UTILIZATION,ANDTREATMENT____________________________________________________20.1.INTRODUCTIONChapter19hasaddressedthenatureandsourcesofhazardouswastesandtheirenvironmentalchemistryandhaspointedoutsomeofthemajorproblemsassociatedwithsuchwastes.Chapter20dealswithmeansforminimizingwastes,utilizingmaterialsthatmightgointowastes,andtreatinganddisposingofwastes,thegenerationofwhichcannotbeavoided.Thepracticeofindustrialecologyisallaboutnotproducingwastesand,instead,utilizingwastesforusefulpurposes.Therefore,indealingwithwastes,itisessentialinthemodernagetoconsiderthepotentialcontributionofindustrialecology.Sincethe1970s,effortstoreduceandcleanuphazardouswasteshavebeencharacterizedby:•Legislation•Regulation•Litigation•Procrastination•Modeling•Analysis•CleanupofafewselectsitesItisperhapsfairtosaythatinproportiontothemagnitudeoftheproblemsandtheamountofmoneydevotedtothemsofar,insufficientprogresshasbeenmadeincopingwithhazardouswastes.IntheU.S.,hugeamountsoftimehavebeendevotedtopromulgatinghazardouswasteregulations,instrumentmanufacturershavepros-peredasmoreandmorechemicalanalyseshavebeenrequired,andcomputationists,someofwhomwouldbeoffendedatthesightofanychemical,muchlessahazard-ousone,haveconsumedthousandsofhoursofcomputertimetomodelhazardouswastesystems.Thisistosaynothingofthevastexpenseoflitigationthathasgoneintolawsuitsdealingwithhazardouswastesites.Inthefuture,ahigherpercentageof©2000CRCPressLLCtheeffortandresourcesdevotedtohazardouswastesneedstobeplacedonremediationofexistingproblemsandpreventiveactiontoavoidfutureproblems.TheU.S.Superfundact,aparticulartargetofcriticismbyindustrialandothergroups,hasbeenunderconsiderationforrenewaleachyearsince1994.AtotalofninebillsdealingwithSuperfundwereintroducedintheU.S.Congressin1999,nonewithmuchofachanceofpassing!1CriticscontendthatSuperfund’seffortshavebeendirectedtowardhigh-costsolutionsforminimalrisks.ManySuperfundcriticscontendthatamuchgreateremphasismustbeplacedoninstitutionalcontrolsandwasteisolationtodealeffectivelywithimproperlydisposedhazardouswastes.Thischapterdiscusseshowenvironmentalchemistrycanbeappliedtohazardouswastemanagementtodevelopmeasuresbywhichchemicalwastescanbeminimized,recycled,treated,anddisposed.Indescendingorderofdesirability,hazardouswastemanagementattemptstoaccomplishthefollowing:•Donotproduceit•Ifmakingitcannotbeavoided,produceonlyminimumquantities•Recycleit•Ifitisproducedandcannotberecycled,treatit,preferablyinawaythatmakesitnonhazardous•Ifitcannotberenderednonhazardous,disposeofitinasafemanner•Onceitisdisposed,monitoritforleachingandotheradverseeffectsTheeffectivenessofahazardouswastemanagementsystemisameasureofhowwellitreducesthequantitiesandhazardsofwastes.AsshowninFigure20.1,thebestmanagementoptionconsistsofmeasuresthatpreventgenerationofwastes.Nextinorderofdesirabilityisrecoveryandrecyclingofwasteconstituents.Nextisdestructionandtreatmentwithconversiontononhazardouswasteforms.Theleastdesirableoptionisdisposalofhazardousmaterialsinstorageorlandfill.20.2.WASTEREDUCTIONANDMINIMIZATIONTheinitialsectionsofthischapteraddresswastereductionandminimization.Duringrecentyears,substantialeffortshavebeenmadeinreducingthequantitiesofwastesand,therefore,theburdenofdealingwithwastes.Muchofthisefforthasbeentheresultoflegislationandregulationsrestrictingwastes,alongwiththeresultingconcernsoverpossiblelegalactionsandlawsuits.Inmanycases—andideallyinall—minimizingthequantitiesofwastesproducedissimplygoodbus-iness.Wastesarematerials,materialshavevalueand,therefore,allmaterialsshouldbeusedforsomebeneficialpurposeandnotdiscardedaswastes,usuallyatahighcostforwastedisposal.Industrialecologyisallabouttheefficientuseofmaterials.Therefore,byitsnature,asystemofindustrialecologyisalsoasystemofwastereductionandmini-mization.Inreducingquantitiesofwastes,itisimportanttotakethebroadestpossibleview.Thisisbecausedealingwithonewasteprobleminisolationmaysimplycreateanother.Earlyeffortstocontrolairandwaterpollutionresultedin©2000CRCPressLLCproblemsfromhazardouswastesisolatedfromindustrialoperations.Akeyaspectofindustrialecologyisitsapproachbaseduponindustrialsystemsasawhole,makingasystemofindustrialecologybyfarthebestmeansofdealingwithwastesbyavoid-ingtheirproduction.Manufacturingoperation,potentialgenerationofwastesPreventwastegenerationWastesWastesgeneratedWastestreatedSolidsHazardouswastesinsecurechemicallandfillPubliclyownedtreatmentworks(POTW)forwaterSanitary,construction,orindustriallandfill1342Figure20.1.Orderofeffectivenessofwastetreatmentmanagementoptions.Thedarkenedcirclesindicatethedegreeofeffectivenessfromthemostdesirable(1)totheleast(4).Manyhazardouswasteproblemscanbeavoidedatearlystagesbywastereduction(cuttingdownquantitiesofwastesfromtheirsources)andwastemini-mization(utilizationoftreatmentprocesseswhichreducethequantitiesofwastesrequiringultimatedisposal).Thissectionoutlinesbasicapproachestowast