Drivers for Clean Technology

Innovation
Treatment of hazardous wastes

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Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction.......................................................................................................... 3
2.0 What is hazardous waste?.................................................................................... 5
3.0 Industries generating hazardous waste................................................................6
4.0 Traditional technologies and principles implemented in hazardous waste
management.............................................................................................................. 6
5.0 Failure of traditional waste management techniques...........................................7
5.1 The Case of the ABM-Wade Site........................................................................7
5.2 The Hardeman County Landfill Case.................................................................8
5.3 The case of the LaBounty Dump.......................................................................9
5.4 The Dioxin discovery case of Italy.....................................................................9
6.0 Analysis of the case studies- The need of Clean Tech over Traditional technology
of waste management.............................................................................................. 10
7.0 Drive for clean technology of toxic waste management.....................................11
7.1 Costs............................................................................................................... 11
7.2 Capital............................................................................................................. 11
7.3 Competition..................................................................................................... 12
7.4 China............................................................................................................... 12
7.5 Consumers...................................................................................................... 13
7.6 Climate............................................................................................................ 13
8.0 Conclusion.......................................................................................................... 13
9.0 References.......................................................................................................... 15
10.0 Appendix.......................................................................................................... 17

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1.0 Introduction
The current world economy is operational upon a basic linear model of performance. Evidently,
the growth and progress of an economy has been dependent on the availability of natural
resources that are available for transformation into products and services for that economy. These
resources may be in house as obtained from the legal geographical location of a nation or may be
obtained from import from another country or geographical location (Baccarelli, 2006).
Whatever the origin of the resource may be, it is necessary to understand that the availability of
resources all over the world is in a limited quantity. Since this model of operation is in a linear
progressive mode and the progress through this model requires the availability of resources in
large quantities.
With the innovation and advancements in technology all over the world, the industries have seen
and faced a situation of depleted resource origins which are not possible to be restored to their
original state in the lifetime of a human being or even in a generation. Thus an alternative to this
was inevitable to be found out. This is where the concept of waste management came into
existence. As research into the topic diversified, the industries realized that though there is no
scope for replenishment of the natural resources, yet there was a ray of light for sustainable use
of resources if there was less wastage of the resources used and if the wastage generated
howsoever, could be utilized as resources once again (Bennett, 1990). Thus the concept of waste
management and recycling was born and it had the potential to bring about a massive revolution
in bridging the gap between the demand and supply of natural resources.
As the industries proceeded with the waste management and treatment, the results were
affirmative and recycling and reuse of wastage was seen to be a positive answer for the global
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issue of depleted resource origins. Newer, better and efficient methods and technologies came
into existence to put to use the maximum energy that can be obtained from the reuse and
recycling of resources (Bennett, 1984). Technological advancements developed faster and
efficient methods for the same.
In all this commotion for fulfilling the demand for the ever increasing need of energy, one major
point of concern is ignored sometimes if not all the time. The question is not whether the
processes of waste management are able to fulfill the gap in a sustainable method. The question
faced by mankind in the present world situation is if the technology employed and implemented
by industries all over the world is eco friendly. Yes we are using technological advancements to
develop better methods of waste management (Zambon et al., 2007). But in doing so, are we
taking care of the fact that if these technological advancements implemented actually possess a
threat to all mankind by polluting the environment?
In the year 2010, in the EU, about 3 billion tones of waste were generated. The division was the
generation of about 500 million tones of waste per citizen in the EU. Apart from the domestic
human waste generation, the industrial waste generation is also alarming and the division of
waste generation in the EU28 countries being 34% by the construction industry, 27% by the
mining and quarrying industry, 11% by the manufacturing sector, 9% waste generated by basic
household waste generation, 3% by the energy supply industries and 16% by other sources of
industrial and household waste generation (Blackman, 2001). All of these industries and even the
common household employ one or more technologies for efficient waste management. But it is
high time to consider if the technologies employed in waste management are eco friendly
themselves. Or if the situation is such that the purpose of employing technological advancements

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in waste management for lesser pollution is defeated by the lack of drivers of employing cleaner
waste management technologies.
In this research, we shall limit our study to the drivers of clean technology usage in the toxic and
hazardous waste management sector. The research elaborated the history of employment of
cleaner technologies in waste management as well as the present scenario. The significance of
the drivers of employing cleaner technology and the traditional and advanced drivers that lead to
the initiation of employing a cleaner technology has been discussed in this document along with
some recommendations for what better could be done with all the resources we have in our hand
(Dawson and Mercer, 1986).

2.0 What is hazardous waste?

Any waste generated that has the ability or potential to interfere with the natural processes of the
environment including the various ecosystems of the environment that sustain the life of human
beings as well as every other living animal and organism is classified as hazardous waste (Eicher,
2002). As such, it is necessary to identify the sources of hazardous waste generation even before
they are generated, develop efficient technology to contain them and employing better and
innovative waste management that is clean and eco friendly in nature for the treatment of the
hazardous waste and if possible reuse it as a means of resource for energy generation. Though
there are various internal bodies deciding on the nature and characteristic of a waste to determine
if they can be classified as hazardous waste like the BASEL Convention, this is not within our
scope of research and we will provide a generalized classification for identification of hazardous
waste. Waste can be classified as hazardous if it has one or more of the following characteristics.

The waste is toxic in nature

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The waste is flammable in nature

The waste is reactive in nature
The waste is corrosive in nature
The waste is explosive in nature
The waste is oxidizing in nature
The waste is infectious in nature

3.0 Industries generating hazardous waste

The generation of hazardous waste is not from all the industries that are operational but from few
selected industries that have the potential or the use of resources which potentially produce
hazardous wastes. These involve the chemical industries, the medical and health care industries,
construction industry, the nuclear industry and the nuclear power generation industry, agriculture
industry o a certain extent and textile industry to name the major few (Fattore et al., 2006).

4.0 Traditional technologies and principles implemented in

hazardous waste management
In order to keep these hazardous wastes from polluting the environment and adversely affect the
human kind, the main and most efficiently renowned techniques of hazardous waste management
are use. These principles are incineration of the waste, autoclaving and disposal of the hazardous
waste by land filling (Gomez et al., 2009). However, we shall not direct our scope to these
technologies but the better and cleaner technologies of toxic waste management and the drivers
behind the employment of such technologies.

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5.0 Failure of traditional waste management techniques

In order to understand the need for newer and cleaner technologies for efficient waste
management, first we have to go through the history of the techniques of waste management that
were traditionally employed when this concept first came into being. Not only the overview, but
a proper understanding of the drawbacks of the techniques that were initially implemented for
the toxic waste management needs to be understood and the gaps in their operation has to be
comprehended such that the scope of a better technique may be generated (Griffin, 2007). Only
this will provide a drive for the present scenario to learn from the early mistakes and employ
cleaner technology for toxic waste management.

5.1 The Case of the ABM-Wade Site

The ABM-Wade site situated in Chester, Pennsylvania was one of the most industrialized
locations at the mid 1970s in the USA. The operations manager who was in charge of the
disposal of waste and the treatment of hazardous and toxic waste at that time received large
quantities of hazardous waste for disposal. The former factory building and infrastructure that
was empty was deemed to be a good enough place for the disposal of the hazardous waste
without any treatment methods (Hazardous waste management, 1991). The operator thus
accepted the waste and filed up the entire infrastructure right from tunnels and the entire building
with barrels of hazardous waste materials. As the wastes kept piling up, the underground facility
was occupied and the superstructure as well as the above ground open spaces started piling up
with barrels and tanks containing tones and tones of hazardous materials. Underground trenches
and all around the site kept piling up with barrels and drums of toxic waste until in February
1978 the site caught fire accidentally and stated burning fueled by the nearby storage of natural
gas in tanks. This gave rise to immense clouds of toxic smoke all over the area leading to the
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evacuation of the locality. The run off toxic wastes from the trenches and the above ground
storage went into the Delaware River completely ruining the ecology of the place and
contaminating the atmosphere with toxic gases and fluids (Herndon and Moerlins, 1988). The
site could only be restored with a super funded project that cost over 3 million dollars taking
over a decade for complete remediation.

5.2 The Hardeman County Landfill Case

The Velsicol Chemical Company located in the Hardeman County in Tennessee was using an
area of about 300 acre in the period between 1964 through 1972 for their toxic chemical waste
disposal. Instead of deep excavation, the chemical company was using the 300 acre site for
shallow landfill process for disposal of their chemical wastes which was deemed to be a safe
method of toxic waste management at that time. About a residential area comprised of 40
families inhabited the locality of the Hardeman County near the landfill and they used to get their
supply of drinking water from the wells situated in the same area. The chemical company, in the
said period dumped around quantities of 300000 drums and barrels of pesticide and harmful
chemical wastes each having the capacity of about 55 gallons (Hoffmann, 2001). The chemical
wastes through underground seepage leaked into the wells and into the underground drinking
water sites and into the wells that contaminated the drinking water supply sources of the locality
within a very short period. Shortly, the residents of the locality started complaining of different
types of physical ailments like liver damage and urinary tract infections. The symptoms also
included dizziness and nausea as well as mild to harsh rashes all over the body. When
investigated, the cause for the ailments traced back to the contaminated drinking water
consumption over a long period of time causing deaths and permanent physical disorders.

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5.3 The case of the LaBounty Dump

The Salsbury laboratories specialized in the manufacture of veterinary pharmaceuticals and it
was located in the Charles City area of the northern part of Iowa in the USA. More than 6.4
million cubic feet area of harmful toxic chemical dump was carried out by the company during
the period of 1953 to the end of 1977 (Juhasz, Magesan and Naidu, 2004). This harmful dumping
contained toxic chemical that contained sludge with potentially harmful arsenic content as well
as other chemical wastes that contained organic chemicals that were harmful for the environment
and human beings knowing to cause arsenic poisoning. The dump was carried out in the nearby
Cedar river which occupies and flows through most of the south eastern part of the state of Iowa.
Along the course of the river, resided more than 300000 residents and families for whom the
alluvial wells in the river were the main and primary source of water supply. The contaminants of
the river from the chemical company that leached into the river from the dumping process on the
banks of the river and the nearby lands were discovered by the Iowa department of
environmental quality until it was too late and it had contaminated the river and the alluvial wells
that the river supported (Krag, 1985). The clean up order was presented but the company stayed
the order by showing that the cost of the clean up would exceed the net worth of the company.

5.4 The Dioxin discovery case of Italy

In Italy, near Seveso, Industrie Chemiche Meda Societa Aromia (ICMSA) operated a plant
producing 2,4,5-trichlorophenol. A production unit was allowed to overheat and released
2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin(2,3,7,8-TCDD) or dioxin. A small quantity of this highly
toxic material was released to the atmosphere and drifted southward toward Milan. This
necessitated the evacuation of residents, slaughter of livestock, and condemnation of fruit and
vegetable crops (LaGrega, Buckingham and Evans, 1994). Exposed children developed
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chloracne and adults were sickened. After 7 years of cleanup activity, the dioxin waste was
concentrated into 41 drums. This deadly concentrate passed through the hands of several
handlers and was hauled from one end of France to the other, through Paris, and ultimately to a
barn in Anquilcourt-le-Sart. Throughout this odyssey the drums were identied only as
containing tar.

6.0 Analysis of the case studies- The need of Clean Tech

over Traditional technology of waste management
A close observation of the cases described above in the USA and Italy will show that there is one
thing common among all the cases. This is the traditional practice of taking out the waste at the
back and dumping them without thinking of the consequences of dumping them at a certain
place. In all the cases, we can see that the traditional techniques of incinerating the waste or land
filling or dumping in nearby water body or around its bank is not always a clean method when
there is residential area situated nearby or the fact that the dumping can be leached into a nearby
water body that can cause immense harm to the environment and endanger human lives
(Lestrade, 2013). Several other cases have been recorded all over the world for harmful and
inconsiderate waste treatment methods especially harmful and hazardous wastes that are toxic in
nature. Thus, this is the primary motivation in the 21 st century for the need of better and cleaner
techniques for proper waste treatment and disposal systems and methods that the industries
dealing with harmful toxic waste needs o consider before ant step is taken for the waste
treatment.

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The initial step taken was mixing solvents to the waste pits and dumps when they were filled to
the brim so that the wastes could be dumped without contamination but this lead to further
chemical reactions with the waste dumping causing more severe consequences.

7.0 Drive for clean technology of toxic waste management

7.1 Costs
The increase in costs of resources is perhaps the most important driving force that encourages
the implementation of clean technology. High energy prices all around the world has been
continuously making it difficult for industries and organizations primarily dependent on the
supply of natural resources to thrive according to proper legislation. As the natural deposits
and sources of fossil fuels and traditional energy resources are getting depleted, the costs of
per unit of the resources are gradually increasing. It is not long before the cost of cleaner
fuels will be below the costs of traditional natural resources. Convergence of the cost trends
of these constitutes the economic drive behind adoption of clean technology in toxic waste
management.

7.2 Capital
Any form of technological advancement is possible only if there is a continual inflow of
capital investments in the market in sufficient amounts. Investments in the form of
government subsidies, project financing and support from stock markets for various
organizations have been a critical growth factor for clean technology. Huge amounts of
capital investments are necessary in the toxic waste management process that incorporates
advanced technologies and equipments for safe disposal of wastes and the sector of
implementing clean technology is no exception to this. Both the public and private sectors
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are making calculated investments as human beings understand the need for sustainable use
of resources and technology which is uplifting this capital drive for clean technology.

7.3 Competition
In order to have a dominating control of the clean tech sector the governments of the nations
all around the globe are having a competitive approach towards the adoption of clean
technology in the toxic waste management sector. Not only is this opening up scope for
future job opportunities for the workforce of the nation but also having a positive impact on
the sustainable use of resources and advanced technology. The competition is dominated by
the factor of limitation of global energy resources which is getting depleted day by day and
the need for an alternative solution if not required at present is however imminent in the near
future when the resources will first become too expensive to be commercially used until the
sources are finally exhausted.

7.4 China
Not only China but other fast developing countries like China and India to start with in the
Asian sub continent are day by day making progress in demands for energy sources. All of
the similar economies are progressing day by day with organizations from all over the world
setting up industries in the developing nations due to cheap labor costs. As a result, the
demand for energy resources and their supply is ever growing in these economies. It is high
time that these demands are met which is not possible with the limited resources and can only
be answered with clean technology.

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7.5 Consumers
The success of any market is depended on the consumer demand. These demands are created
by the personal preferences of a consumer. The personal preferences of a consumer are again
governed by the attitude of the consumer. Rising global energy depletion and rise in costs of
the same, climate change due to pollution from unsustainable use of resources all affect the
consumer at certain levels. It is the concern of the investors who purchase recycled products
to know how the product came into being and what technologies were implemented to
manufacture the same. Nobody wants to be a part of something that is harmful.

7.6 Climate
The climate review was at a time a subject of research and theoretical discussion in closed
rooms but the times have changed and the implementation if cleaner technologies are
imminent to restore he natural balance of the earths environment. Those who are smart, are
taking this seriously and starting early while clean technology is cheaper and available
without much fuss (Andreola, 2005).

8.0 Conclusion
As indicated previously, these examples of earlier activity should not lead to the assumption that
such practices have been eliminated. Hazardous waste statutes, codes, and regulations have
made it difficult for practitioners of illegal dumping to avoid detection and prosecution.
Nevertheless, attempts to avoid the effort and/or cost of proper hazardous waste management
continue to be made. It is high time that industrialist recognize these drives that must be
considered to bring newer and cleaner techniques of waste management into existence. Work has
been done in this sector and most industries are thriving under legal obligations to incorporate
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better technique but the gap is huge and more time and resources are needed to be invested for
the cause to be completed.

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10.0 Appendix
1. Clean Tech Report June 2009
http://www.cmslegal.com/Documents/Cleantech_Report_June2009.pdf
2. Technology and Innovation Futures: UK Growth Opportunities for the 2020s
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/288564/10-1252technology-and-innovation-futures.pdf

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