What Is Industrial Waste Management?

Industrial waste refers to solid, semi-solid, liquid, and gaseous articles and substances that have been discarded or abandoned in industrial production activities but have not lost their original use value.

After the production of contaminated land and industrial waste, land must be piled up. The larger the volume, the more land is occupied. Waste is piled up, and harmful components in it are liable to pollute the land. When the pathogenic microorganisms and other harmful substances in the contaminated soil enter the water body with natural precipitation, runoff or seepage, it may further endanger human health.

Industrial solid waste also disrupts the ecological balance in the soil. Soil is a place where many bacteria, fungi and other microorganisms gather. Industrial solid wastes, especially harmful solid wastes, cause deterioration of the soil such as acidification, alkalization, and hardening. In places where pollution is serious, even vegetation is not growing. ^[2]

Industrial waste treatment principles

Reduction

Reduction refers to reducing the quantity and volume of solid waste through appropriate means. There are two main ways: one is to reduce the amount of solid waste by reforming the process, product design or changing the social consumption structure and waste generation mechanism; the other is to reduce the volume by solid waste treatment such as compression, heating or cooling.

2. Harmless

Harmlessness means that the solid waste is treated through engineering to achieve the goals of not harming human health and polluting the surrounding natural environment (including the primary environment and the secondary environment). ^[2]

3. Resources

Recycling refers to the recovery of useful components and energy from solid waste through various methods. The purpose is to reduce resource consumption, accelerate resource recycling, and protect the environment. Comprehensive utilization of solid wastes can receive good economic and environmental benefits.

Countermeasures for industrial waste treatment and comprehensive utilization

1. Accelerate the legal construction of industrial solid wastes, incorporate them into the legal management track, and improve laws, regulations and standards for the prevention and control of solid waste pollution as soon as possible.

2. Establish a solid waste management system that is compatible with the socialist market economy. Taking solid waste declaration and registration as a breakthrough point, combined with total amount control, comprehensively applying various environmental management systems and measures, extensively carrying out comprehensive utilization of general industrial solid waste, and realizing the maximum degree of resource utilization of solid waste. For the use, treatment and disposal of regional hazardous waste, implement enterprise-oriented management and socialized services.

3. The use of economic means, in accordance with the principle of the burden of polluters, reasonable collection of industrial solid waste discharge fees.

4. Develop industrial solid waste treatment and disposal technologies and equipment suitable for China, and promote the industrialization of industrial solid waste treatment.

5. Promote clean production and eliminate solid waste as much as possible in the production process.