Definition
A hazardous waste is any waste or combination of wastes that poses a substantial danger, now or in the future, to human, plant or animal life and which therefore cannot be handled or disposed of without special precautions. The Hazards and Disasters can be classified into four categories viz., Natural events, Technological events, Man-made events and Region-wise events. The adverse impacts caused due to the indiscriminate disposal of Hazardous Wastes (HWs) come under the category of Environmental Disasters. For example, in 1982, 2242 residents are evacuated after dioxin is found in soil in Missouri, U.S.A. In 1996-97, 265354 tonnes of soil and other dioxin-contaminated material from Times Beach (Missouri, U.S.A) and 26 other sites in eastern Missouri had been incinerated. Release of Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) gas in Bhopal (1984) caused a severe disaster in India. So there is a growing concern all over the world for the safe disposal of hazardous waste generated from anthropogenic sources.
Steps involved in hazardous waste management
Identification of Hazardous Waste Generation: Identifying the HW generating industries is the first step. The HWs are classified under 18 categories and this information may be used to screen the wastes generated and classifying them as HWs. However there are few observations that- there is a probability of occurrence of wastes in more than one category; and this classification system does not give any information to understand the toxic characteristics of HW. Few suggestions are also given to improve the classification system. The data available with the State Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), District Industries Centre (DIC), State Pollution Control Boards etc. may be utilized to identify the industries with a potential for HW generation.
Data Collection: After identifying the HW generating sources, the inventory of the data pertaining to HW generation can be developed by