Hazardous Wastes and Their Management

Abstract

ABSTRACT

The commercial hazardous waste management industry is not limited to those firms "commonly assumed" to be the industry. It is potentially as large and varied as the hazardous waste universe. Past assumptions about the boundaries of the industry have led to a failure to see new entrants in the business. As a consequence some studies of the industry have failed to see the new technology that is being introduced; indeed these have frequently been very pessimistic in that regard. Much of the difficulty has been introduced by government sponsored studies of hazardous waste data which have been internally inconsistent and contradictory. Currently the industry is in a state of flux, with numerous new entrants and frequent mergers of pre-existent firms. Though there are several motivations for good hazardous waste management, effective regulation is key to continual implementation of improved hazardous waste management methods. For, by raising the cost of poor methods, it creates the market for better ones and makes it possible to introduce new technology. Without effective regulation the central issue of the industry today, siting Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facilities (TSDF's) will not be solved. But regulation to date has often been unforced and unenforceable. In part this has been because of an increasing understanding of the complexity of hazardous wastes. In part it has been because of a failure to appropriately utilize the resources of the private sector to assist in regulation.