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2.2 Topic f: Special wastes

East Asia/Pacific

There is a wide variety of practices within the region regarding handling of special wastes. In the cities of industrialized countries, with the rapid development of small- and medium-size industries, more special and hazardous wastes are being produced. Stringent regulations and enforcement are being introduced, resulting in waste separation at source, with controlled storage and collection by specialized licensed contractors for reuse and disposal. Some very sophisticated industries have developed to deal with special wastes in Asian cities.

Regulations in Japan and Australia require suppliers to take back used batteries containing hazardous substances for recycling and disposal. Separation of special wastes at the household level is not common in cities of developing countries, unless they are saleable. Wastes such as oil and grease are often collected by vendors for recycling and disposal at household and workshop levels.

Construction and demolition debris contain useful items that are separated and collected by waste traders. These materials are often quickly picked up for reuse in developing countries. Even in Singapore, construction and demolition debris are sorted at sites and recyclables are collected for reuse and recycling. Sand, gravel, concrete, stone, and brick are useful construction and landfilling materials which are collected and sold to civil engineering contractors.

Sewage sludge, after digestion and stabilization, is sold as fertilizer/soil conditioner if the metal content is acceptably low. Sewage sludge disposal is problematic when contaminated by industrial toxic discharges. Human excreta are often collected for disposal in landfills in cities of developing countries. In cities of industrialized countries like Japan and Australia hazardous sewage sludges are collected and sent to a designated landfill, and in Japan sewage sludges are often incinerated. A sludge melting process is being developed in Japan to handle hazardous sewage sludge and in the process produce useful aggregates for the construction industry.

Improved life expectancy and better health care contribute to the increase in hospital wastes, which include dressings, needles, medicines, pharmaceutical products, and even radioactive wastes. Proper disposal of these wastes is expensive. Currently, hospital wastes are often separated and contaminated items are incinerated at source. Alternatively, they are collected by licensed contractors for treatment and disposal, although it is not clear whether such wastes are being handled properly.

Used tires are collected and sent for processing and reuse as raw materials. There are some large industries dealing only with the recovery and processing of used tires for sale as raw materials for the rubber industry or for use as additives in road construction. Shredded used tires are also used for fuel in energy recovery plants. Tires are also retreaded. There is international trading of used tires, especially to China.

In cities of the more industrialized countries, with the rapid development of small- and medium-size industries, more special and hazardous wastes are produced. Stringent regulations and enforcement are being introduced, resulting in waste separation at source, with controlled storage and collection by specialized licensed contractors for reuse and disposal. Some very sophisticated industries have developed to deal with special wastes in Asian cities.

In South Korea, there are both private and state-owned hazardous waste treatment facilities. The latter give the government practical experience in this field, which is important for establishing a good regulatory system.

South and West Asia

Throughout most of South and West Asia, there is little systematic information about special wastes. One can assume that industrial hazardous wastes are relatively few in quantity in MSW where there is extensiv recycling and low levels of industry. For instance, automobile tires do not appear in MSW, except in the oil-rich countries and Israel; industrial oils are reused in the Indian subcontinent (although there are final residues from these which are put into sewage canals); batteries are recycled; construction wastes are almost all reused. There is considerable medical waste, however, as hospital incinerators are rare. Where there are sewers but not sewage treatment plants, there is raw sewage sludge; there are latrine wastes from settlement areas with bucket or pit latrines.

In all but the most modernized of cities in the region, the lack of special control for hazardous wastes presents severe risks to municipal workers (who are not provided with clothing and facilities to reduce their exposure) and to waste pickers.

Most of the countries in the region have some national legislation for the control of hazardous and sometimes special wastes. There are, of course deficiencies in such legislation; for instance, in India and Bangladesh, clinic wastes are not classified as special wastes, and there are no national guidelines for hospital wastes. More importantly, implementation of regulations is often haphazard.

Since cities in the subcontinent are struggling to cope with MSW, special waste handling is not a priority. Furthermore, there are no special disposal sites or cells at dumps for hazardous wastes. At some dumps, special areas are allocated for slaughterhouse and hospital wastes, but there is no different treatment, and waste pickers have free access to these spots, which also attract animals and birds.

The central area is showing more concern recently about the collection and disposal of hazardous wastes. All new industries are asked to separate and dispose of their waste, with the infrastructure for disposal being provided by the local governments. Hospital waste is also incinerated in a number of hospitals. An authority in Kuwait has planned a waste treatment and reception station for the treatment of sludge from treatment plants and oil refineries. In a few cities of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, special areas in landfills are designated for construction and demolition debris.

In Israel, the Ministry of Environment has initiated a national bid to collect and dispose of scrap tires. A battery collection campaign was organized and 43,000 specially designed battery collection containers were provided to local authorities.

There is a trend to allow the private sector to deal with the collection and transportation of special wastes. This may help waste collection problems but does not address the need for proper disposal. Throughout the region, there is no example of separate municipal collection of hazardous components in household wastes; for the most part, they are separated, traded, and recycled as explained above, under "Waste reduction." Household medical and sanitary wastes, however, are found in organic wastes sent for community composting (reported by Waste Wise in Bangalore).

There are some signs of regional cooperation to control the movement of hazardous wastes. On the other hand, some countries would like to have the option to export their hazardous wastes to a neighboring country that has adequate disposal facilities.

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