18-Env-B5 Industrial & Hazardous Waste Management · May 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; Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) regulations on radioactive waste under the Nuclear Safety and Control Act; 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 Guidelines for the Management of Biomedical Waste in Canada (1992) were developed and are administered by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME), in cooperation with Health Canada. It is important to note the guideline is exactly that — a non-binding, harmonizing national guideline rather than enforceable federal law; actual legal enforcement of biomedical waste management occurs at the provincial/territorial level, through each province's own environmental management and health legislation (e.g. in British Columbia, the Environmental Management Act, the Health Act, and applicable Hazardous Waste Regulation provisions), often supplemented by CSA standards (e.g. CSA Z317.10) governing handling within health-care facilities themselves. The CCME guideline's role is therefore to establish a consistent national framework and terminology that individual provinces then implement and enforce through their own binding regulations.
