18-Env-B5 Industrial & Hazardous Waste Management · December 2017
Nivaar worked solution (AI-drafted; not reviewed by a licensed engineer)
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 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.
The most effective approach is source separation through dedicated household hazardous waste (HHW) collection — permanent depots and periodic collection events that give residents a free, convenient alternative to putting hazardous items (paints, solvents, batteries, pesticides, electronics) into the regular municipal solid waste stream in the first place.
This is more effective than trying to sort hazardous items out AFTER collection (mixed with the general MSW stream, they are diluted, contaminated with other refuse, and far more expensive and hazardous to identify and separate), and more effective than end-of-pipe controls at the landfill/incinerator, which only manage the consequence rather than preventing the mixing.
