‘Hazardous waste’ can be defined as the waste material that has the potential to cause a health threat to the general public or the environment. Hazardous waste is categorized into medical waste, industrial waste, waste as a by-product during the production of resins and or adhesives, oil spillage in oceans, household waste, radioactive waste, or waste containing elements including Cadmium, Uranium, Zinc, and Lead.
Hazardous waste can be characterized based on their toxicity, Ecotoxicity, flammability, radioactivity, and explosiveness. These characteristics estimate how dangerous a particular waste is.
Transport of waste means the movement of waste material by air, water, or land for storage, treatment, and disposal.
Handling of Waste Material
Special care should be taken while handling waste material. There are some regulations for any waste material produced as a by-product during any industrial process. It proves to be quite helpful in avoiding any harm to human health and the environment.
The government authorities must be informed regarding any hazardous waste produced.
The industry involved in the production of waste must obtain a permit from official authorities.
The workers should be trained in handling the waste.
The vehicles and materials used for storage and transportation must be leakproof.
Treatment and Storage of The Waste
Hazardous waste must be treated before disposal. Several chemicals, physical or biological methods, are used for treating the waste material. For chemical treatment, oxidation, reduction, neutralization, or ion-exchange methods are used. Bioremediation and biodegradation can be carried out as a biological method. And thermal methods include destroying and detoxifying material at very high temperatures.
Maintaining proper storage areas is necessary for storing the waste material. It should be stored in containers that are leakage proof, must be labeled, and have warning tags attached to them. Containers used should be anti-corrosive. Containers should be handled with extra care during loading and unloading for transportation. For liquids, waste containers must be sealed to prevent any spillage. Keep an alarm system in the storage area and water spray in case of any emergency.
Transport
There are different mediums used for the transportation of waste material.
- Highway Transport
Trucks are used for the transportation of hazardous waste for public highways. It is the most common way for the transport of waste material because roads have access to almost all of the industrial areas. Trucks used are made up of aluminum or steel alloy with a gallon capacity of about 34,00 liters.
- Rail Transport
Rail transport is one of the oldest ways to transport waste. The rail transport system is one of the safest waste transfer systems. It is eco-friendly as trains produce eight times less pollution than a truck. Liquid waste, including chemicals, petroleum products are preferred to be transported by rails. Several companies are transporting hazardous waste by train.
- Water Transport
Waste material is sent from a place to another through large shipments in water. Many countries now rely on waste material for their electricity and other heavy activities instead of fuel. So, these shipments deliver the waste material to them if needed.
Although waste material can also be transported by air, it rarely happens and can be very expensive
