Household hazardous waste

Last updated
A household hazardous waste collection center in Seattle, Washington, U.S. North Seattle Household Hazardous Waste Collection Facility 01.jpg
A household hazardous waste collection center in Seattle, Washington, U.S.

Household hazardous waste (HHW) was a term coined by Dave Galvin from Seattle, Washington in 1982 as part of the fulfillment of a US EPA grant. [1] This new term was reflective of the recent passage of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA 1976) in the US. This act and subsequent regulations strengthened the environmental protection requirements for landfills, in Subpart D, and created a "cradle to grave" management system for hazardous wastes, in Subpart C. From RCRA 1976 the US EPA promulgated rules in 1980 which explicitly excluded any wastes from household origins from regulation as a hazardous waste at the federal level. [2] [3] Most US states adopted parallel regulations to RCRA 1976 but were allowed to be more stringent. California took advantage of this allowance and chose to not exempt household origin wastes from their state hazardous waste laws. [4] HHW products exhibit many of the same dangerous characteristics as fully regulated hazardous waste which are their potential for reactivity, ignitability, corrosivity, toxicity, or persistence. Examples include drain cleaners, oil paint, motor oil, antifreeze, fuel, poisons, pesticides, herbicides and rodenticides, fluorescent lamps, lamp ballasts containing PCBs, some smoke detectors, and in some states, consumer electronics (such as televisions, computers, and cell phones). Except for California, most states exclude HHW from their hazardous waste regulations and regulate the management of HHW largely under their solid waste regulatory schemes.

Contents

Certain items such as batteries and fluorescent lamps can be returned to retail stores for disposal. The Call2Recycle maintains a list of battery recycling locations and your local environmental organization should have list of fluorescent lamp recycling locations. The classification "household hazardous waste" has been used for decades and does not accurately reflect the larger group of materials that during the past several years have become known as "household hazardous wastes". These include items such as latex paint, non-hazardous household products and other items that do not generally exhibit hazardous characteristics which are routinely included in "household hazardous waste" disposal programs. The term "home generated special materials" more accurately identifies a broader range of items that public agencies are targeting as recyclable and/or should not be disposed of into a landfill.

United States

HHW is not regulated by the EPA. Many states and local solid waste management departments have created and funded Household Hazardous Waste collection programs to offer safe disposal options. These programs may include home collection service, permanent facilities and one day collection events.

Most U.S. states and federal regulations continue to permit homeowner disposal of household hazardous waste into the solid waste stream, although some state and local agencies are increasingly banning certain HHW from solid waste disposal.

The most extensive overview of this topic including history, policy and technical issues is contained in the 2018 book Handbook on Household Hazardous Waste (2nd Ed.), Amy Cabaniss, Editor. [5] An additional HHW overview resource is in Chapter 10 of the Handbook of Solid Waste Management, George Tchobanoglous and Frank Kreith, Editors. [6] A more recent (2022) compilation of 30 articles regarding HHW policy and technical issues in the US is found in the Chronicle of the HHW Corner. [7]

The professional organization most focused on HHW issues is the North American Hazardous Materials Management Association, NAHMMA. [8] NAHMMA has chapters in many states, [9] holds an annual conference, [10] provides training and offers professional publications. [11] In collaboration with the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) NAHMMA offers certification to HHW collection program professionals. Occasional or periodic HHW collection events at temporary sites and permanent HHW collection facilities are common in many communities. The HHW Collection Facility Design Guide [12] has been used by many communities to develop permanent collection facilities in the US.

State regulation

In Florida, [13] and in other United States states, responsibility for proper disposal of HHW falls upon the generator. Some states allow collection of small business hazardous wastes at the same location as household hazardous wastes. However, it is more common for public collection facilities to limit hazardous waste collection to households. In 1992 the US EPA issued a policy that allowed the option to collect and mix household hazardous wastes with conditionally exempt hazardous wastes from small businesses. [14] This has encouraged a trend of local collection programs evolving from household hazardous waste only to also include small business hazardous waste collection.

California has introduced an Electronic Waste Recycling Act. While most states recognize the exemption for home generated hazardous waste in 40 CFR, California has established Section 25218 of the Health and Safety Code to regulate all aspects of home generated special materials (HHW). 25218 details the types of programs e.g. Door-to-Door, Permanent HHW Collection Facilities, Mobile Collection Events, etc. Public agencies must sponsor (as the generator) all HHW programs as their EPA ID number is used. All HHW programs are monitored by DTSC and/or the local CUPA organization. A Permit-by-Rule must be obtained from DTSC or the CUPA before implementing most HHW collection activities.

HHW programs has introduced the Covered Device Recycling Act.

European Union

Similar regulations, such as the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive are being introduced in the countries of the European Union.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hazardous waste</span> Ignitable, reactive, corrosive and/or toxic unwanted or unusable materials

Hazardous waste is waste that must be handled properly to avoid damaging human health or the environment. Waste can be hazardous because it is toxic, reacts violently with other chemicals, or is corrosive, among other traits. As of 2022, humanity produces 300-500 million metric tons of hazardous waste annually. Some common examples are electronics, batteries, and paints. An important aspect of managing hazardous waste is safe disposal. Hazardous waste can be stored in hazardous waste landfills, burned, or recycled into something new. Managing hazardous waste is important to achieve worldwide sustainability. Hazardous waste is regulated on national scale by national governments as well as on an international scale by the United Nations (UN) and international treaties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Industrial waste</span> Waste produced by industrial activity or manufacturing processes

Industrial waste is the waste produced by industrial activity which includes any material that is rendered useless during a manufacturing process such as that of factories, mills, and mining operations. Types of industrial waste include dirt and gravel, masonry and concrete, scrap metal, oil, solvents, chemicals, scrap lumber, even vegetable matter from restaurants. Industrial waste may be solid, semi-solid or liquid in form. It may be hazardous waste or non-hazardous waste. Industrial waste may pollute the nearby soil or adjacent water bodies, and can contaminate groundwater, lakes, streams, rivers or coastal waters. Industrial waste is often mixed into municipal waste, making accurate assessments difficult. An estimate for the US goes as high as 7.6 billion tons of industrial waste produced annually, as of 2017. Most countries have enacted legislation to deal with the problem of industrial waste, but strictness and compliance regimes vary. Enforcement is always an issue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toxic waste</span> Any unwanted material which can cause harm

Toxic waste is any unwanted material in all forms that can cause harm. Mostly generated by industry, consumer products like televisions, computers, and phones contain toxic chemicals that can pollute the air and contaminate soil and water. Disposing of such waste is a major public health issue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Resource Conservation and Recovery Act</span> Federal law in the United States

The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), enacted in 1976, is the principal federal law in the United States governing the disposal of solid waste and hazardous waste.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Illegal dumping</span> Act of dumping waste illegally

Illegal dumping, also called fly dumping or fly tipping (UK), is the dumping of waste illegally instead of using an authorised method such as curbside collection or using an authorised rubbish dump. It is the illegal deposit of any waste onto land, including waste dumped or tipped on a site with no licence to accept waste.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Municipal solid waste</span> Type of waste consisting of everyday items discarded by the public

Municipal solid waste (MSW), commonly known as trash or garbage in the United States and rubbish in Britain, is a waste type consisting of everyday items that are discarded by the public. "Garbage" can also refer specifically to food waste, as in a garbage disposal; the two are sometimes collected separately. In the European Union, the semantic definition is 'mixed municipal waste,' given waste code 20 03 01 in the European Waste Catalog. Although the waste may originate from a number of sources that has nothing to do with a municipality, the traditional role of municipalities in collecting and managing these kinds of waste have produced the particular etymology 'municipal.'

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California Department of Toxic Substances Control</span>

The California Department of Toxic Substances Control is an agency of the government of the state of California which protects public health and the environment from hazardous waste. DTSC is part of the California Environmental Protection Agency, with one thousand employees, and is headquartered in Sacramento. As of 2023, DTSC has regional offices in Berkeley, Chatsworth, Clovis, Commerce, Cypress, El Centro and San Diego and environmental chemistry laboratories in Berkeley and Pasadena. Meredith Williams has served as the director of DTSC since 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cruise ship pollution in the United States</span> Pollution of cruise ships in the United States

Cruise ships carrying several thousand passengers and crew have been compared to “floating cities,” and the volume of wastes that they produce is comparably large, consisting of sewage; wastewater from sinks, showers, and galleys (graywater); hazardous wastes; solid waste; oily bilge water; ballast water; and air pollution. The waste streams generated by cruise ships are governed by a number of international protocols and U.S. domestic laws, regulations, and standards, but there is no single law or rule. Some cruise ship waste streams appear to be well regulated, such as solid wastes and bilge water. But there is overlap of some areas, and there are gaps in others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Regulation of ship pollution in the United States</span>

In the United States, several federal agencies and laws have some jurisdiction over pollution from ships in U.S. waters. States and local government agencies also have responsibilities for ship-related pollution in some situations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hazardous waste in the United States</span>

Under United States environmental policy, hazardous waste is a waste that has the potential to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waste</span> Unwanted or unusable materials

Waste are unwanted or unusable materials. Waste is any substance discarded after primary use, or is worthless, defective and of no use. A by-product, by contrast is a joint product of relatively minor economic value. A waste product may become a by-product, joint product or resource through an invention that raises a waste product's value above zero.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Landfills in the United States</span> American landfills

Municipal solid waste (MSW) – more commonly known as trash or garbage – consists of everyday items people use and then throw away, such as product packaging, grass clippings, furniture, clothing, bottles, food scraps and papers. In 2018, Americans generated about 265.3 million tonnes of waste. In the United States, landfills are regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the states' environmental agencies. Municipal solid waste landfills (MSWLF) are required to be designed to protect the environment from contaminants that may be present in the solid waste stream.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ash pond</span> Coal plant disposal structure

An ash pond, also called a coal ash basin or surface impoundment, is an engineered structure used at coal-fired power stations for the disposal of two types of coal combustion products: bottom ash and fly ash. The pond is used as a landfill to prevent the release of ash into the atmosphere. Although the use of ash ponds in combination with air pollution controls decreases the amount of airborne pollutants, the structures pose serious health risks for the surrounding environment.

A fluorescent lamp crusher is a device that crushes and stores spent fluorescent lamps prior to processing at a recycling facility, while controlling the release of mercury vapor emissions. Also known as drum-top crushing, this lamp disposal method is designed to reduce the storage, labor, and shipping costs of recycling lamps over other methods, as well as decrease the likelihood of mercury release during transport to a recycling facility. Fluorescent lamp crushers are designed for use primarily in commercial and institutional facility management contexts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electronic waste in the United States</span>

Electronic waste or e-waste in the United States refers to electronic products that have reached the end of their operable lives, and the United States is beginning to address its waste problems with regulations at a state and federal level. Used electronics are the quickest-growing source of waste and can have serious health impacts. The United States is the world leader in producing the most e-waste, followed closely by China; both countries domestically recycle and export e-waste. Only recently has the United States begun to make an effort to start regulating where e-waste goes and how it is disposed of. There is also an economic factor that has an effect on where and how e-waste is disposed of. Electronics are the primary users of precious and special metals, retrieving those metals from electronics can be viewed as important as raw metals may become more scarce

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waste management law</span> Area of law regarding waste

Waste management laws govern the transport, treatment, storage, and disposal of all manner of waste, including municipal solid waste, hazardous waste, and nuclear waste, among many other types. Waste laws are generally designed to minimize or eliminate the uncontrolled dispersal of waste materials into the environment in a manner that may cause ecological or biological harm, and include laws designed to reduce the generation of waste and promote or mandate waste recycling. Regulatory efforts include identifying and categorizing waste types and mandating transport, treatment, storage, and disposal practices.

Solid waste policy in the United States is aimed at developing and implementing proper mechanisms to effectively manage solid waste. For solid waste policy to be effective, inputs should come from stakeholders, including citizens, businesses, community-based organizations, non-governmental organizations, government agencies, universities, and other research organizations. These inputs form the basis of policy frameworks that influence solid waste management decisions. In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates household, industrial, manufacturing, and commercial solid and hazardous wastes under the 1976 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Effective solid waste management is a cooperative effort involving federal, state, regional, and local entities. Thus, the RCRA's Solid Waste program section D encourages the environmental departments of each state to develop comprehensive plans to manage nonhazardous industrial and municipal solid waste.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solid Waste Disposal Act of 1965</span>

The Solid Waste Disposal Act (SWDA) is an act passed by the United States Congress in 1965. The United States Environmental Protection Agency described the Act as "the first federal effort to improve waste disposal technology". After the Second Industrial Revolution, expanding industrial and commercial activity across the nation, accompanied by increasing consumer demand for goods and services, led to an increase in solid waste generation by all sectors of the economy. The act established a framework for states to better control solid waste disposal and set minimum safety requirements for landfills. In 1976 Congress determined that the provisions of SWDA were insufficient to properly manage the nation's waste and enacted the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Congress passed additional major amendments to SWDA in the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984 (HSWA).

Water in Arkansas is an important issue encompassing the conservation, protection, management, distribution and use of the water resource in the state. Arkansas contains a mixture of groundwater and surface water, with a variety of state and federal agencies responsible for the regulation of the water resource. In accordance with agency rules, state, and federal law, the state's water treatment facilities utilize engineering, chemistry, science and technology to treat raw water from the environment to potable water standards and distribute it through water mains to homes, farms, business and industrial customers. Following use, wastewater is collected in collection and conveyance systems, decentralized sewer systems or septic tanks and treated in accordance with regulations at publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) before being discharged to the environment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Recycling in Taiwan</span>

Taiwan has one of the most efficient recycling programs globally, with a 55% collection rate from households and businesses and a 77% collection rate from industrial waste in 2019. Taiwan’s high recycling rates are unattainable in most countries due to Taiwanese geographical advantages along with efficient waste processing technologies and systems.

References

  1. "First of Two Parts Luminary Interview: Dave Galvin". Waste Advantage Magazine. 2020-08-05. Retrieved 2021-07-29.
  2. Handbook on Household Hazardous Waste, Second Edition.
  3. US EPA, OLEM (2015-11-25). "Household Hazardous Waste (HHW)". www.epa.gov. Retrieved 2021-07-29.
  4. "Hazardous Waste In Your Home". dtsc.ca.gov. Retrieved 2021-07-29.
  5. Handbook on Household Hazardous Waste.
  6. Tchobanoglous, George; Kreith, Frank (22 June 2002). Handbook of Solid Waste Management. McGraw Hill Professional. ISBN   0071356231.
  7. "Chronicle of The HHW Corner". Household Haz. Waste. Retrieved 2024-03-24.
  8. http://www.nahmma.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=1
  9. "North American Hazardous Materials Management Association". Archived from the original on 2013-11-17. Retrieved 2014-01-03.
  10. "Home". nahmma.org.
  11. "North American Hazardous Materials Management Association". Archived from the original on 2014-01-03. Retrieved 2014-01-03.
  12. "HHW Collection Facility Design Guide". Household Haz. Waste. Retrieved 2024-03-24.
  13. Summary of Hazardous Waste Regulations » Waste Management » Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP)
  14. "Moderate Risk Waste". www.ecy.wa.gov. Archived from the original on 2004-07-14.