Environmental Pollution

Classification of Wastes

Practical Waste Management

Waste Disposal

Legal Regimes Applicable

Environmental Pollution Accidental release of toxic wastes is usually result of

design or planning failure, bad engineering or incompetent management

Intended release may be unregulated (the cowboy option) or condoned by public authorities (best practicable means)

Environmental Pollution Hazardous wastes contaminate the atmosphere in

the form of solids, liquids or gases

Discharge in rivers, lakes or at sea can be widely dispersed by water currents

Land dumping can contaminate soils and groundwater

Buried wastes often react chemically to produce more mobile substances (e.g. landfill gas)

Leachate may seep into unexpected places

Environmental Pollution At the lowest level are small spillages in a

workplace;

Then we have disposal of unwanted by-products from some operation;

At higher levels there are the problems of storage, transportation and disposal of large quantities of waste produced by major plants and public utilities

Integrated Pollution Control Recognises the combined effects of air, land and water

pollution - based on a holistic approach

Established by Environmental Protection Act (EPA) 1990

Part I of EPA provides for certain processes or substances to be prescribed under regulations

About 5000 processes or substances which are considered to be most polluting in UK are prescribed in schedules to the Environmental Protection (Prescribed Processes and Substances) Regulations 1991

Known as Part A processes, as they are on A list

Integrated Pollution Control Requires that discharges to all media (land, water and air)

are considered and that the Best Practicable Environment Option (BPEO) is chosen to minimise harm to the environment as a whole

An authorisation will require that Best Available Techniques Not Entailing Excessive Cost (BATNEEC) are used as a standard

BATNEEC guidance notes are produced by DETR and BATNEEC reviews must be undertaken every 4 years in order to keep the process up-to-date and seek continual improvement

Integrated Pollution Control Application to operate prescribed process must be

made to the enforcing authority and a fee paid

Once authorisation to operate the plant is given, it is the duty of operator to ensure that quality and quantity of discharges is kept within the limits

Integrated Pollution ControlDischarge of

contaminants to air

Acid rain from air

pollution

Land used for land-fill sites;

water affected by leachates from contaminated

land

Waste Classification

Waste

Controlled Non-Controlled

Household Industrial Commercial

Agriculture/Mines/Quarries/

Explosives/Radioactive

Inert Non-HazardousHazardous

(Special)

Special Waste

Controlled by Special Waste Regulations 1996

Defined in the EC Hazardous Waste List

Categories are mirrored in the CHIP and COSHH Regulations and broadly include:

Explosive, flammable and oxidising substances

Irritants and corrosives

Biohazards (infectious, carcinogenic, mutagenic, teratogenic)

Ecotoxics

Clinical Waste Should be segregated from general waste

Separate bins, signage and training should be provided

Sharps should go into special sharps containers

Duty of Care

Established by Regs and ACOP issued under EPA on anyone who may import, produce, transport, store, treat or dispose of waste - any such person becomes a waste holder

Duty requires that waste holder must keep waste safe, must act to prevent waste from deteriorating and escaping into the environment

Duty of Care The waste holder must:

Protect the waste while they have it;

Ensure that it reaches the next holder intact

Segregate incompatible wastes

Ensure security

Waste left for collection should be adequately secured and left for a minimum of time

Waste should be labelled where appropriate and in accordance with the CHIP Regulations

Waste Carriers Anyone who holds waste may transfer it to a waste

carrier who must be registered with a Waste Regulation Authority

However, it is part of the waste holder’s duty to ensure that carriers are suitable to handle and dispose of the waste

Thus the duty holder ultimately remains responsible for the fate of the waste

Waste Transfer Notes System operates by Controlled Waste Transfer Notes which

describe the parties to the transfer and the waste itself

Copies must be kept for minimum of 2 years

Under the Special Waste Regulations 1996 a Special Waste Transfer Note must be used for special waste, detailing the hazardous components and their concentrations, and the processes they originated from. These Regs also require: Pre-notification of any movements of such wastes (by consignment note

to EA)

Registers of movements of special waste consignments, and records of sites where such waste has finally been tipped

No mixing, by carriers and consignees, of special and non-special, and different categories of special wastes, unless it be for safe disposal

Regular inspections of special waste producers by regulators

Waste Transfer

Note

Waste Disposal Hierarchy of waste management:

a.) Waste reduction: Not making it in the first place, by process change and optimising efficiency

b.) Re-use: e.g. of glass bottles and other containers

c.) Recovery of waste. Options include:

- Recycling (e.g. glass, metal, paper)

- Incineration with energy recovery

- Composting

d.) Physical/chemical treatment to reduce bulk and make hazardous waste safe

e.) Disposal - generally to landfill

Currently about 70% of controlled waste goes to landfill and there is an increasing shortage of suitable landfill sites

Incineration Waste burnt at very high temperature and combustion

gas passes through series of filters to draw off toxic and particulate materials

Waste-to-energy plants produce steam used to heat buildings directly or to drive turbines to generate electricity

Landfill Site must be geologically suitable

Environmental Impact Assessment under EPA is needed before license is granted

Nuisances come from noise, odours, dust, litter and vermin

Leachate has to be tightly controlled and drained off to prevent contaminating water courses

Landfill gas is normally collected in pipes laid within the waste and is either flared off or collected and used as fuel

Composting Biodegradable fraction of waste can be broken down

by bacterial decomposition

Produces compost, a fibrous residue which is used as a soil conditioner, organic fertiliser, mulch and potting medium

In the UK home composting is encouraged with subsidised or even free issue of small household units

Environmental Protection Act 1990 Established:

Duty of care with respect to pollution

Code of practice for compliance

Requirement to complete transfer notes recording details of waste transfers

Proper documentation and provision of information to licensed carriers, enforcing agencies etc.

Principles established by the Act include: Application for consent to discharge waste

Polluter pays (consent fees, enforcement penalties, clean-up costs)

Use of BATNEEC and BPEO as control strategies for schedule substances and processes under IPC

Environmental Protection Act 1990

EPA also controls various statutory nuisances -emission of smoke, fumes, gases, dust, steam, smells, other effluvia and noise at a level which is judged to be prejudicial to health or a nuisance to the community or anyone living in it

This has implications for both industrial plant and waste disposal sites

Previous Exam Questions Explain, with the aid of diagrams where appropriate, the

concept of “integrated pollution control” (IPC).(10 marks)

Section 34 of the EPA places a duty of care on persons concerned with controlled waste:i.) explain the meaning of the term “controlled waste”ii.) Identify the categories of persons on whom the duty is placed, and those who are exempt from such a duty

(10 marks)