18-Env-B5 Industrial & Hazardous Waste Management · December 2017
Question 18 of 28: Properties of a Hazardous Waste (Revisited)
Nivaar worked solution (AI-drafted; not reviewed by a licensed engineer)
Notes on this paper
Reference texts: Nemerow & Dasgupta, Industrial and Hazardous Waste Treatment, 2nd ed.; Metcalf & Eddy, Wastewater Engineering: Treatment and Resource Recovery, 5th ed.; Davis & Cornwell, Introduction to Environmental Engineering, 6th ed.; LaGrega, Buckingham & Evans, Hazardous Waste Management, 2nd ed.; CCME, Guidelines for the Management of Biomedical Waste in Canada (1992); Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA), 1999; Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes (1989); Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) regulations on radioactive waste; provincial hazardous waste regulations (e.g. BC's Environmental Management Act and Hazardous Waste Regulation).
Question 18: Properties of a Hazardous Waste (Revisited) (4 marks)
Question text not reproduced: the examination questions are © Engineers and Geoscientists BC. Open the official past paper (linked at the top of this page) to read the question, then follow the worked solution below.
This question repeats Question 10 on this paper. The same four regulatory characteristic properties govern classification as a hazardous waste:
- Ignitability — flash point < 60°C, spontaneous/sustained combustion, or oxidizer/ignitable compressed gas.
- Corrosivity — aqueous pH ≤ 2 or ≥ 12.5, or corrodes steel at a specified rate.
- Reactivity — unstable, water-reactive, generates toxic gas on contact with water/acid, or capable of detonation.
- Toxicity — exceeds a regulatory TCLP (or provincial equivalent) leachate threshold for a listed contaminant.
