Hazardous and Municipal Waste Management

Gabriele Windgasse, DrPH
Columbia University

	Introduction
	Legal Foundation in the US
	Hazardous Waste Management
	Land Disposal

Federal Laws governing Solid Waste

	Solid Waste Disposal Act (1965)
	Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA, 1976)
	Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments (1984)

Legal Definition of Hazardous Waste

	Excluded Wastes (i.e. municipal waste, mining waste, agricultural run-off)
	Listed Wastes (content or process specific)
	EPA Testing Criteria:
					Toxicity
					Reactivity
					Ignitability
					Corrosivity

The National Priority List (NPR)

	About 1300 sites
	Threat to human health or environment
	Groundwater contamination
	1/3 are former landfills
	Clean-up takes 10+ years

NPL Sites in the Tri-State Area

Hierarchy of Waste Management

	YYYY Prevent the Generation of Waste
	YYY Waste Minimization
	YY Recycling, Reuse, Recovery
	Y Treatment, Storage, Disposal

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Challenges for the Management of Hazardous Waste

	Absence of funds/Superfund Reauthorization Act
	Improve Waste Minimization
	Health effects of chronic exposures at low concentrations
	How Clean Is Clean?
	“Technical Infeasibility”
	Innovative Cleanup Technologies
	Justification of cleanup costs

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Integrated Municipal Solid Waste Management Plan

Germany’s “Dual System”

Problems with Recycled Materials

	Purity is not uniform
	Price can fluctuate greatly
	Lack of Market Development

.C.O.N.C.L.U.S.I.O.N.S.

	Fact: Resources will go to Landfilling           and Thermal Treatment
	Goal: Reduce Volume of Waste at the           Source

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