Category Archives: Waste Management

Waste Management Outlook for India

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Waste management crisis in India should be approached holistically; while planning for long term solutions, focus on addressing the immediate problems should be maintained. National and local governments should work with their partners to promote source separation, achieve higher percentages of recycling and produce high quality compost from organics. While this is being achieved and recycling is increased, provisions should be made to handle the non-recyclable wastes that are being generated and will continue to be generated in the future.

Recycling, composting and waste-to-energy are all integral parts of the waste disposal solution and they are complementary to each other; none of them can solve India’s waste crisis alone. Any technology should be considered as a means to address public priorities, but not as an end goal in itself. Finally, discussion on waste management should consider what technology can be used, to what extent in solving the bigger problem and within what timeframe.

Experts believe India will have more than nine waste-to-energy projects in different cities across India in the next three years, which will help alleviate the situation to a great extent. However, since waste-to-energy projects are designed to replace landfills, they also tend to displace informal settlements on the landfills. Here, governments should welcome discussions with local communities and harbor the informal recycling community by integrating it into the overall waste management system to make sure they do not lose their rights for the rest of the city’s residents.

This is important from a utilitarian perspective too, because in case of emergency situations like those in Bengaluru, Kerala, and elsewhere, the informal recycling community might be the only existing tool to mitigate damage due to improper waste management as opposed to infrastructure projects which take more than one year for completion and public awareness programs which take decades to show significant results.

Involvement of informal recycling community is vital for the success of any SWM program in India

Indian policy makers and municipal officials should utilize this opportunity, created by improper waste management examples across India, to make adjustments to the existing MSW Rules 2000, and design a concrete national policy based on public needs and backed by science. If this chance passes without a strong national framework to improve waste management, the conditions in today’s New Delhi, Bengaluru, Thiruvananthapuram, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Coimbatore and Srinagar will arise in many more cities as various forcing factors converge. This is what will lead to a solid waste management crisis affecting large populations of urban Indians.

The Indian Judiciary proved to be the most effective platform for the public to influence government action. The majority of local and national government activity towards improving municipal solid waste management is the result of direct public action, funneled through High Courts in each state, and the Supreme Court. In a recent case (Nov 2012), a slew of PILs led the High Court of Karnataka to threaten to supersede its state capital Bengaluru’s elected municipal council, and its dissolution, if it hinders efforts to improve waste management in the city.

In another case in the state of Haryana, two senior officials in its urban development board faced prosecution in its High Court for dumping waste illegally near suburbs. India’s strong and independent judiciary is expected to play an increasing role in waste management in the future, but it cannot bring about the required change without the aid of a comprehensive national policy.

Landfill Liners and Alternative Daily Cover

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The old garbage dumps of days gone by are no more. Today’s waste disposal solutions are increasingly sophisticated. Environmental regulation, recycling, and the development of plastics – of all things – have contributed to far more tightly managed landfills, with goals inching towards zero waste.

Garbage dumps used to be large holes, usually on the edge of town, where garbage could be buried. While this was an improvement on how people have historically dealt with their trash – by throwing it out the window, into rivers and fields, or alongside the road – it was still a health hazard, an increasingly offensive thing as populations grew, and an environmental burden.

 

In the United States, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, passed by the US Congress in 1976, changed how garbage is processed, managed and stored. The garbage dumps of the past were simply places where garbage was buried. Today’s landfills are much more complexly engineered sites.

They are extensively planned locations that are constantly monitored. This move toward increasingly more environmentally sound methods has also increased the efficiency of these sites. Before selecting a site for a landfill, city planners must work with engineers to determine what the effects a landfill will have in the long term.

An additional safety measure came when the EPA examined using alternative materials for landfill “daily cover”. Landfills are required to be covered at the end of each working day, and the original method was to use a layer of soil. This was obviously wasteful of resources, and used up the landfill quickly.

Since the EPA report in 1993, landfills and state regulations have increasingly adopted alternative daily cover (ADC), typically turning to geosynthetic materials such as polyethylene and PVC, which work well both to contain and to filter, and can be manufactured in very large and custom-fitting sheets.

Geomembranes and geotextiles (the “geo” part simply means working with the land) had already been used as part of the liner underneath the landfill. It now became possible to use them as the top cover also.

Landfill Bottom Liners and Top Covers

One of the biggest issues surrounding landfills is their impact on the environment, particularly the potential of contaminants reaching the groundwater supply. To prevent this, a bottom liner is used. While it is well known that placing large qualities of garbage in one location can have long lasting consequence, scientists and engineers continue to work toward better solutions that are more environmentally friendly.

The EPA constantly works to regulate how landfills are designed and managed so that any new discoveries of more environmentally friendly methods can be incorporated quickly. Currently for landfill liners, it requires multiple layers of materials be used for landfills.

The underlying liner of new landfill sites will often consist of a soil or clay layer combined with a geotextile – a synthetic permeable membrane that screens solids out from the ever-present liquid descending from the trash, the “leachate”. This liquid is a severe pollutant and is contained and directed to a treatment process by yet another geosynthetic layer, this one impermeable. And underneath this layer will often be another impermeable layer of dense clay.

Landfill daily cover used to be almost as elaborate, taking 6 inches of soil or clay for each day’s landfill cap. With the continued improvement of geosynthetic materials, these over-engineered solutions can be replaced by a more plastic material. Landfill covers made of a synthetic reinforced polyethylene can create greater safety for the environment, combined with being easier to use, and less costly than other alternative daily covers. They can also be re-used.

Daily cover must contain gasses generated by the garbage, control odor and dust, minimize windblown litter, discourage birds, and prevent pests and the spread of disease. Geomembranes do all these things very well, as well as reducing fire risk, improving community tolerance of the landfill, and most importantly, shedding surface water efficiently – thus avoiding adding to the leachate.

The light yet tear-resistant qualities of geosynthetic materials make them easy for operators to install. To further reduce the risk of tears or holes, manufacturers can create the liner in very large or even one piece to fit the landfill size.

The benefit of using this type of cover is that it reusable. This saves cities a lot of money. Also, because operators don’t have to add additional materials to landfill, the lifespan of the site is extended. The combination of a good landfill liner and an alternative daily cover significantly decreases the long term impact the landfill has on the environment.

The federal government provides oversight of landfill operations to ensure that improvements are made Landfilthat make them more environmentally friendly. This involves tracking recycling and composting efforts. Both government and operators are also exploring ways of generating energy from waste processes.

The United States generates 262.4 metric tons of solid waste each year. That number has grown each year – but efforts in recycling and composting have caused it to plateau, and since 2005, the growth has been minimal.

Bottom Line

Landfills are becoming better about preserving the environment. Their efforts, coupled with increased recycling efforts, are improving how waste is managed in the United States. The development of synthetic materials for landfill liners and alternative daily cover has significantly advanced the design and management of landfills.

Progress of Waste-to-Energy in the USA

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Rising rates of consumption necessitate an improved approach to resource management. Around the world, from Europe to Asia, governments have adapted their practices and policies to reflect renewability. They’ve invested in facilities that repurpose waste as source of energy, affording them a reliable and cheap source of energy.

This seems like progress, given the impracticality of older methods. Traditional sources of energy like fossil fuels are no longer a realistic option moving forward, not only for their finite nature but also within the context of the planet’s continued health. That said, the waste-to-energy sector is subject to scrutiny.

We’ll detail the reasons for this scrutiny, the waste-to-energy sector’s current status within the United States and speculations for the future. Through a concise analysis of obstacles and opportunities, we’ll provide a holistic perspective of the waste-to-energy progress, with a summation of its positive and negative attributes.

Status of Waste-to-Energy Sector

The U.S. currently employs 86 municipal waste-to-energy facilities across 25 states for the purpose of energy recovery. While several have expanded to manage additional waste, the last new facility opened in 1995. To understand this apparent lack of progress in the area of thermochemical treatment of MSW, budget represents a serious barrier.

One of the primary reasons behind the shortage of waste-to-energy facilities in the USA is their cost. The cost of construction on a new plant often exceeds $100 million, and larger plants require double or triple that figure to build. In addition to that, the economic benefits of the investment aren’t immediately noticeable.

The Palm Beach County Renewable Energy Facility is a RDF-based waste-to-energy (WTE) facility.

The U.S. also has a surplus of available land. Where smaller countries like Japan have limited space to work within, the U.S. can choose to pursue more financially viable options such as landfills. The expenses associated with a landfill are far less significant than those associated with a waste-to-energy facility.

Presently, the U.S. processes 14 percent of its trash in waste-to-energy (WTE) plants, which is still a substantial amount of refuse given today’s rate of consumption. On a larger scale, North America ranks third in the world in the waste-to-energy movement, behind the European nations and the Asia Pacific region.

Future of WTE Sector

Certain factors influence the framework of an energy policy. Government officials have to consider the projected increase in energy demand, concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere, space-constrained or preferred land use, fuel availability and potential disruptions to the supply chain.

A waste-to-energy facility accounts for several of these factors, such as space constraints and fuel availability, but pollution remains an issue. Many argue that the incineration of trash isn’t an effective means of reducing waste or protecting the environment, and they have evidence to support this.

The waste-to-energy sector extends beyond MSW facilities, however. It also encompasses biofuel, which has seen an increase in popularity. The aviation industry has shown a growing dedication to biofuel, with United Airlines investing $30 million in the largest producer of aviation biofuel.

If the interest of United Airlines and other companies is any indication, the waste-to-energy sector will continue to expand. Though negative press and the high cost of waste-to-energy facilities may impede its progress, advances in technology promise to improve efficiency and reduce expenses.

Positives and Negatives

The waste-to-energy sector provides many benefits, allowing communities a method of repurposing their waste. It has negative aspects that are also important to note, like the potential for pollution. While the sector offers solutions, some of them come at a cost.

It’s true that resource management is essential, and adapting practices to meet high standards of renewability is critical to the planet’s health. However, it’s also necessary to recognize risk, and the waste-to-energy sector is not without its flaws. How those flaws will affect the sector moving forward is critical to consider.

Recycling Hacks For One And All

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According to research, there are around 100,000 pounds of garbage that your community can create. This can have a great impact on the environment like diminishing resources, pollution, and landfills. Meanwhile, recycling is an activity which you can implement every day. It can help in maintaining a green home. This can aid in the reduction of negative effects on the environment. Thus, here are some recycling hacks to get started today:

 

Start with Small Steps

When you have decided to recycle, do not feel as if you have to start big. Passion for the environment is a great thing. But when you place too much pressure on yourself to get green, this can lead to frustration and stress throughout the process.

Thus, it is best to allow yourself to start small. Learn one part of the process and begin with it. Then, make it a habit for you and your family to begin easy before proceeding to the next part. As you take these baby steps, you will be more likely to include recycling on your life permanently. This is an effective Solutions on Waste, Recycling and Processing Recyclable Materials.

Reduce and Reuse

Part of recycling is reducing the things you use. Reusing the items you use every day instead of throwing them in the bin can aid you in your recycling efforts. Limiting the things that you have to dump will help you control the situation.

Know the Things That Can Be Recycled

It is easy to overlook the items and get confused about where to put your trash. Thus, you should check with your service provider on the specific garbage in your program. But here are the basic principles of recycling:

Cardboard and Paper

All kinds of paper are acceptable which includes flyers, books, colored paper, and junk mail. Do not include waxy papers. You can recycle cardboard so long as it is not filled with grease and food like pizza boxes. For other food boxes like cereals, make sure that you remove first the liners.

Plastic

Recyclable plastics have indicated numbers on them and you can see it at the bottom. Numbers one to seven can be recycled. Take note that you cannot recycle the majority of the utensils because of the low-quality plastic used. If you can crumple easily the plastic bag, then you don’t have to include it in the recycle bin. The curbside will not accept the plastic bags but your local store can collect and reuse them.

Aluminum

As a general rule, you can recycle all aluminum cans. Just clean and rinse it to remove juices and sodas. This can prevent the onslaught of the insect in the area.

Glass

You can recycle glass containers. Before you put them in the recycle bin, rinse them. Make sure that you don’t break these glass containers. When the glass shatters, it can’t be recycled anymore. This is because mixing various colors can contaminate the batches.

Put a Bin in Each Room

Place a recycle bin at the bathroom, office, and bedroom. With this, you can collect all kinds of recyclable materials inside your house.

How to Deal with Old Electrical Items

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We all cherish our electronic devices, from our laptops and mobile phones to our beloved household appliances such as our refrigerators and washing machines. But when these electric appliances become outdated or reach the end of their useful life, they become electronic waste and that’s a big problem.

Whether they’re complete junk or still in good shape, no matter what, you should never just throw an old electronic device in the trash. So how should you deal with old electrical items? Read on to discover some ideas on how you can deal with them.

electrical-waste-uk

Repair

Millions of tons of e-waste are discarded every year and a very small percentage of them are disposed of properly, all this isn’t good for our environment. Many of the devices we throw away haven’t reached the end of their useful life so before you get rid of them, make sure they are really unusable.

Whether your phone has stopped working or your washing machine is making funny sounds, the first step to take would be to consult an expert. A specialized electrician will accurately diagnose the state of your device and help you determine the best way to deal with it. Sometimes all you need is for an electrician to simply replace one of the device’s parts and it’s almost as good as new.

You can also try to repair some of your old appliances and devices yourself, some items just need a bit of fixing and connecting loose wires. When fixing an item yourself, check the product’s user manual or look for online resources to find the best and safest way to go about it.

Replace your throwaway habits with repairing ones and reduce your e-waste footprint while saving money. Whether you do it yourself or hire a professional, this will help you reduce any expensive repair costs later on and can greatly extend the lifetime of your devices.

Reuse

There are many ways you can pass on your unwanted items for reuse. If you decide that you want to dispose of an electrical item, consider selling or donating it. Alternatively, some old devices can be traded-in for new ones for a discounted price.

If your items are old but in good quality why not turn them into money? Second-hand electrics are much cheaper to buy. You can easily sell your old electronics online nowadays. The value of a used electrical item varies greatly depending on the condition, age, and current market price, consider all these elements before posting your item for sale to get the maximum value.

The best time to sell old phones and laptops is before new models are announced, so if you’re seeing headlines about an upcoming phone, it might be the right time to list your old unwanted one.

While you may make more money by selling your old devices, nothing beats the convenience of trading in your old gadget for an upgraded one. Some electronics manufacturers and retailers offer trade-in programs that give you cash or gift cards in exchange for your old electrics if they’re in good shape, others let you trade your unwanted device for a reduced price on a new one. Check the company website of your brand or retailer for details on its program.

Donating to charity is a great way to pass on your unwanted items while helping those in need. Check your local non-profit organization or look for reuse programs that will donate your old devices to people who need them or restore and resell them in support of a variety of good causes.

Before donating your old electrical items, make sure that they still function reliably and that they don’t require major repairs or parts replacement.

You don’t want personal or sensitive information to fall into a stranger’s hand. Before selling or donating your old phone or laptop, retrieve some important stuff that you want to keep like photos, passwords, contacts, and music. Once you’ve backed them up, wipe the device completely clean.

Every time new items are made, resources and raw materials are used. The process of extracting and using these materials creates substantial air and water pollution. We can help reduce these environmental effects and save energy by reusing items whenever possible.

Recycle

Recycling old household electrical appliances and electronic devices is usually an easy process thanks to the variety of options available.

Some electronics manufacturers and retailers offer recycling programs for their products, call ahead or visit their official websites to make sure the branch near you is accepting your items. You can also find recycling kiosks in many stores where you can drop off old batteries, wires, cords, and cables.

Plenty of nonprofit organizations, local communities, and official organizations also offer services to help you recycle old electronics. Moreover, several cities and towns around the world now have a local e-recycling center. Look for the nearest trusted recycling service or certified facility in your area to safely get rid of your unwanted electrical items.

To check if an old electrical item is recyclable, simply ask the following questions and if the answer is yes, it’s recyclable:

  • Does it have a plug?
  • Does it use batteries?
  • Does it need charging?
  • Does it have a picture of a crossed-out bin on it?

Some of the most common recyclable electrical goods include

  • Printer cartridges
  • Refrigerators
  • TVs
  • Mobile phones
  • Electric toothbrushes and shavers
  • Laptops
  • Watches
  • Cameras
  • Treadmills

Correctly disposing of e-waste ensures that the hazardous materials such as lead and mercury can be treated appropriately and the recyclable components including plastics, glass, and metal can be recovered for reuse. If your electrical item is deemed unfixable or unusable, responsibly dispose of it through recycling.

You are even able to have your items picked up by companies like R3ewaste, which is a certified electronics recycler. They service both small and large companies, government agencies, municipalities, and even provide support for local residents.

Approximately 25% of the electrical items thrown away can still function and most of the rest can be fixed. Always remember the three Rs; repair, reuse, and recycle when dealing with your old electrical items. You’ve got the resources at your fingertips to repair or reuse so many things, consider those first and if all else fails, look for the nearest certified recycling center.

The Technology Revolutionizing Commercial Waste Management

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Every single one of us can do something to improve our impact on the planet, but it is a given that businesses of all sizes have a bigger footprint than families – commercial accounts for 12% of total greenhouse gas emissions. A big factor of that is waste management. From the physical process of picking up garbage, to the methane-released process of decomposition, there are numerous factors that add up to create a large carbon footprint.

Between hiring green focused waste management solutions and recycling in a diligent fashion, there are a few technologies that are helping to break down the barrier between commercial waste management and an environmentally positive working environment.

Cleaning up commercial kitchens

A key form of commercial waste is food waste. Between the home and restaurant, it is estimated by the US Department of Agriculture that 133 billion pounds of food is wasted every year. Much will end up in the landfill. How is technology helping to tackle this huge source of environmental waste? Restaurants themselves are benefiting from lower priced and higher quality commercial kitchen cooking equipment, that helps to raise standards and reduce wastage.

Culinary appliances for varied cuisines also benefit from a new process being developed at the Netherland’s Wageningen University. A major driver of food waste is rejected wholesale delivery, much of which will be disposed of in landfill. The technology being developed in Holland aims to reduce wastage by analyzing food at the source, closer to where recycling will be achievable.

Route optimization

Have you ever received a parcel from an online retailer only to find the box greatly outsizes the contents? On the face of it, this is damaging to the environment. However, many retailers use complex box sorting algorithms. The result is that the best route is chosen on balance, considering the gas needed to make the journey, the amount of stock that can be delivered and the shortest route for the driver. This is an area of intense technological innovation.

The National Waste & Recycling Association reported in 2017 on how 2018 would see further advances, particularly with the integration of artificial intelligence and augmented reality into the route-finding process.

Balancing the landfill carbon footprint

It is well established that landfills are now being used to power wind turbines, geothermal style electricity and so on. They are being improved to minimize the leachate into groundwater systems and to prevent methane escaping into the atmosphere. However, further investigation is being pushed into the possibility of using landfill as a carbon sequester.

AI-based waste management systems can help in route optimization and waste disposal

Penn State University, Lawrence Berkeley and Texas University recently joined together to secure a $2.5m grant into looking into the function of carbon, post-sequestration. This will help to shed light on the carbon footprint and create a solid foundation on which future technology can thrive.

Businesses of all sizes have an impact on the carbon footprint of the world. The various processes that go into making a business profitable and have a positive impact on their local and wider communities need to be addressed. As with many walks of life, technology is helping to bridge the gap.

A Primer on Waste-to-Energy

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Waste-to-Energy (also known as energy-from-waste) is the use of thermochemical and biochemical technologies to recover energy, usually in the form of electricity, steam and fuels, from urban wastes.These new technologies can reduce the volume of the original waste by 90%, depending upon composition and use of outputs.

Energy is the driving force for development in all countries of the world. The increasing clamor for energy and satisfying it with a combination of conventional and renewable resources is a big challenge. Accompanying energy problems in different parts of the world, another problem that is assuming critical proportions is that of urban waste accumulation.

The quantity of waste produced all over the world amounted to more than 12 billion tonnes in 2006, with estimates of up to 13 billion tonnes in 2011. The rapid increase in population coupled with changing lifestyle and consumption patterns is expected to result in an exponential increase in waste generation of upto 18 billion tonnes by year 2020.

Waste generation rates are affected by socio-economic development, degree of industrialization, and climate. Generally, the greater the economic prosperity and the higher percentage of urban population, the greater the amount of solid waste produced. Reduction in the volume and mass of solid waste is a crucial issue especially in the light of limited availability of final disposal sites in many parts of the world. Millions of tonnes of household wastes are generated each year with the vast majority disposed of in open fields or burnt wantonly.

The main categories of waste-to-energy technologies are physical technologies, which process waste to make it more useful as fuel; thermal technologies, which can yield heat, fuel oil, or syngas from both organic and inorganic wastes; and biological technologies, in which bacterial fermentation is used to digest organic wastes to yield fuel.

The three principal methods of thermochemical conversion are combustion in excess air, gasification in reduced air, and pyrolysis in the absence of air. The most common technique for producing both heat and electrical energy from wastes is direct combustion. Combined heat and power (CHP) or cogeneration systems, ranging from small-scale technology to large grid-connected facilities, provide significantly higher efficiencies than systems that only generate electricity.

Biochemical processes, like anaerobic digestion, can also produce clean energy in the form of biogas which can be converted to power and heat using a gas engine. In addition, wastes can also yield liquid fuels, such as cellulosic ethanol, which can be used to replace petroleum-based fuels. Cellulosic ethanol can be produced from grasses, wood chips and agricultural residues by biochemical route using heat, pressure, chemicals and enzymes to unlock the sugars in biomass wastes.

Waste-to-energy plants offer two important benefits of environmentally safe waste management and disposal, as well as the generation of clean electric power.  The growing use of waste-to-energy as a method to dispose of solid and liquid wastes and generate power has greatly reduced environmental impacts of municipal solid waste management, including emissions of greenhouse gases.

How to Dispose of Plastic Equipment Efficiently

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If your company has plastic equipment that’s no longer needed, you can dispose of it by selling the machinery through the most optimal channels.

Here’s a guide on how to do that efficiently.

How to Dispose of Plastic Equipment Efficiently

1. Sell Your Plastic Equipment Through an Established Company

When you offer your used plastic equipment for sale in partnership with an established machinery buyer and vendor that sells the machines on your behalf, your equipment can sell much more quickly.

Why? Because an established third party already has a share of the market and buyers are continually looking for second-hand machinery on its site. It would be much more challenging and typically take longer to sell your plastic equipment by yourself.

You can sell all types of used plastic machinery on the second-hand market, including extruder machines, injection molding machines, blow molding machines, downstream equipment, and thermoforming equipment, to name just a few.

2. Check the Condition of Your Equipment Before You Sell it

Before you start selling your plastic equipment, you should thoroughly check it for any problems. While wear-and-tear is normal for used machinery, if any major problems are found, such as defective parts, you need to be aware of it.

If you sell defective machinery without making buyers aware, you’ll have either a return or a lawsuit on your hands. Transparency is the key to a successful and efficient sale.

Also, by discovering problems with the machinery early on, you could take steps to fix the issue before selling it. That way, you can command a higher price.

However, make sure you calculate whether the cost of the repair is worth it in comparison to the going rate for your make and model of plastic equipment.

3. Have All Required Information Ready Before You Begin the Selling Process

To make sure your plastic equipment sells quickly, which in turn will allow you to free up floor space and create greater efficient operations, make sure you have all the information needed to perform a quick and successful sale.

You’ll typically need to know the make and model of your plastic equipment, the year it was made, and its serial number. You should also provide details of what the machinery was previously used for.

By having all of that information available, not only can you sell your equipment efficiently. You can also command a higher price than machinery without accompanying information.

4. Take High-quality Photographs of Your Equipment

Most buyers will purchase used plastic equipment without seeing it in person, due to geographic differences. That means they need to see detailed photographs of the equipment you are selling before they can choose your machinery over another seller’s items.

Even if buyers come to see the equipment first-hand, they will still begin the buying process online, so providing photos is a crucial step if you want to sell your plastic equipment efficiently.

Furthermore, to increase your chances of an early sale, you need to take photos that are highly detailed. Don’t try to pull the wool over customers’ eyes, either. If the machine you’re selling shows signs of wear and tear, photograph it.

industrial-coatings

And to stand out against other equipment for sale, make sure you take high-quality photos that instantly attract buyers.

Summing Up

When you take the right preparatory steps, you’ll be able to sell your used plastic equipment much more efficiently.

Check the machinery’s condition, ensure you have all the details that buyers will require such as the equipment’s make and model, and learn how to take high-quality photographs of the equipment.

You’ll then be able to quickly sell your plastic equipment for a good price through an established buying and selling platform.

The Complete Guide to Disposing of Contaminated Soil

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Do you need to remove contaminated soil from your property? If so, this article will explain how to dispose of it safely.

Hire a professional company

Ideally, you’ll want to hire a professional waste treatment company to remove contaminated soil, which will ensure the soil gets properly treated at a facility. If you hire a random company or person, the materials might only be discarded where they will pose a danger to the environment, animals, and people.

disposal of contaminated soil

Proper contaminated soil disposal requires reputable industrial treatment facilities that use EPA-approved treatment processes, including chemical fixation, bioremediation, chemical oxidation, and absorption.

Soil can be treated in four different ways:

  • Excavation. Contaminated soil is removed from the ground. New topsoil is tested and distributed where the old soil has been removed.
  • Treatment. Here, the soil is treated in the ground where it is. There are various methods of extracting contaminants without removing the soil.
  • Containment. When soil can’t be removed or treated in place, it may be contained within some kind of barrier (such as a silt fence) that prevents it from spreading.
  • Blending. Depending on the level of contamination, sometimes good soil is blended with contaminated soil to reduce the concentration of harmful chemicals to a safer degree.

Some treatment plants also focus primarily on sustainability to limit the environmental impact of their services.

What contaminants make soil dangerous?

A variety of contaminants can make soil dangerous. Some of the most common one found in soils all over the world include:

  • Oil and grease
  • Asbestos
  • Adhesives, glues, resins, and latex
  • Laboratory chemicals
  • Filter cake
  • PFAS contaminants
  • Persistent organic pollutants (POPs)
  • Surfactants and detergents
  • Spent catalysts
  • Coolants and cutting fluids
  • Hydrocarbon contamination
  • Paints, inks, and dyes
  • Rags and absorbents
  • Heavy metals
  • Acid sulphate
  • Solvents and flammable waste
  • Contaminated sludge and slurries
  • Acids
  • Industrial wash waters
  • Dredge spoil

All of these contaminants can turn regular soil into hazardous waste.

Treat contaminated soil as hazardous waste

Soil contamination is considered hazardous waste and needs to be professionally removed and treated right away. Contaminated soil can become a major problem if you don’t take care of it quickly.

When left in place, contaminated soil can leach toxic chemicals into the ground and surface waters. The contamination may make its way into nearby rivers, streams, lakes, and drinking water supplies.

According to the EPA, contaminated soil can also affect indoor air quality and may be spread further as dust. In the water, contaminants accumulate in sediments that end up harming local ecosystems, wildlife, and humans.

If you don’t handle the problem, you could face lawsuits later on if future damage and harms can be traced back to the soil when you were responsible for it.

You will likely need a permit to remove contaminated soil

In many regions, you will have to obtain proper permits from your state’s environmental agency to remove hazardous soil.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has set specific guidelines for removal of contaminants from soil at Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and other hazardous waste facilities.

These guidelines can be helpful in understanding why you need a professional to do the job. If you’re facing the onerous task of taking care of contaminated soil, it’s not likely to be a DIY job.

Contaminated soil can come from anywhere

You may not even know you have contaminated soil on your property. You might order tons of good, clean soil for purchase and have hazardous waste delivered instead. That’s what happened to a couple in Kentucky.

David and Cindy Bell ordered thousands of tons of fill dirt and rock to level their property in preparation for building a garden and campground. They found a company willing to deliver the dirt for free.

Unfortunately, the company delivered contaminated black soil and sand removed from an industrial work site. When tests were run, the soil samples contained excessive levels of certain contaminants, including heavy metals and carcinogens.

how to remove remove contaminated soil

Even though it wasn’t their fault, the state issued the Bells a Notice of Violation that required the couple to install a special fence to prevent the contaminated soil from leaching into the Ohio River.

Test your soil regularly, especially if you grow food

You should test your soil regularly to make sure it’s not hazardous to the Earth, humans, or animals. If you discover you have contaminated soil on your property and there are farms nearby, for example, there’s a chance that farmland can become contaminated and you might be held liable for damages.

If you learn you have contaminated soil, don’t wait to get it cleaned up. Act quickly, because the effects can be far-reaching. Regular testing is the only way to know what’s going on with your soil.

Circular Economy: Viewpoint of Plastic

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Pieces of plastic have been trying to get our attention. The first scientific reports of plastic pollution in oceans were in the early 1970s. This waste plastic soaks up other pollutants at up to a million times the concentration in water, harming and killing sea life worldwide. From the point of view of the plastic, we have convincingly failed with solutions. Over the past 40 years the problem has grown around 100 times, with now over 8 million tonnes of plastic waste added to oceans per year.

plastic-bottle

Everyone is aware about ways for plastic to not become waste. We can set up redesign, sharing, refill, recycling and even composting. When it comes to creating practical possibilities for not making waste, people are super smart. But when it comes to making policy to install this practice throughout the economy, which has been the aim of circular economy for the past four decades, we’re consistently collectively stupid. I call this mob thinking.

We have intelligent activists, business people, experts and officials unintentionally thinking like a mob? always bringing forward the same decades old policy weapons. When these weapons don’t work there is a discussion about strategy but not any actual new strategy, just talk about how forcefully to use the same old policy weapons. This is how it’s been possible for waste management, waste regulation and the unsolved waste problem to all grow in tandem for so long.

plastic-pollution-marine-life

The stomach and intestines of sperm whale was filled with 29 kg of garbage

If the piece of plastic had a voice in the circular economy debate what might it say? It would remind us to beware mob thinking. Today’s problems are solvable only by trying new thinking and new policy weapons. Precycling is an example. The piece of plastic doesn’t mind whether it’s part of a product that’s longlife or refilled or shared or refurbished or recycled or even composted (so long as it’s fully biodegradable). It doesn’t even mind being called ‘waste’ so long as it’s on its way to a new use. Action that ensures any of these is precycling.

Our piece of plastic does mind about ending up as ecosystem waste. It does not wish to join 5 trillion other pieces of plastic abandoned in the world’s oceans. It would be horrified to poison a fish or starve a sea bird. Equally it does not want to be perpetually entombed in a landfill dump or transformed into climate destabilising greenhouse gases by incineration.

plastic-pollution-manila

The two possible outcomes for a piece of plastic, remaining as a resource or being dumped as ecological waste, are the same fates awaiting every product. Our economies and our futures depend on our ambition in arranging the right outcome. The old policy weapons of prescriptive targets and taxes, trying to force more of one waste management outcome or less of another, are largely obsolete.

Circular economy can be fully and quickly implemented by policy to make markets financially responsible for the risk of products becoming ecological waste. Some ever hopeful pieces of plastic would be grateful if we would get on with doing this.

Reference: Governments Going Circular best practice case study of precycling premiums