• 
• Japanese
• 
• IETC's Focal Area
• Waste Management
• Publications & Tools
• Meetings & Workshops
• Global Partnership on Waste Management
• Water and Sanitation
• Publications & Tools
• Meetings & Workshops
• Resources
• Publications & Tools
• About IETC
• Background and History
• Director
• Activity Reports
• Supporting Foundations
• Contact Us

2.4 Topic f: Special wastes

Most special wastes are not managed appropriately in Latin America and the Caribbean; a large proportion enter the MSW stream. Although legislation on industrial and hospital wastes does exist in a number of countries in the region, only a few have implemented control programs.

Hazardous industrial wastes are rarely collected by the MSW collection system. This service is usually provided by private enterprises, which, in some cases, have specially designed trucks for this purpose. The best cases of hazardous waste collection systems can be found in Brazil and Mexico. On the other hand, most collection services are provided in regular trucks, where the hazard of leakage or accidents is ever-present.

Although some collection of hazardous waste is done separately, industrial hazardous wastes are frequently disposed of in MSW dumps or other clandestine dumping sites. For example, in Mexico, which has two operating secure landfills, an estimated 95% of the hazardous wastes are not accounted for and are presumably disposed of jointly with MSW.

In a few places in Brazil, certain types of hazardous industrial wastes are co-disposed with MSW in a technically managed way so that environmental impacts are controlled. However, co-disposal is highly controversial and is not being promoted in most countries in the region.

Medical wastes

Hospital wastes have received more attention than industrial wastes in the region, though much work is still needed to achieve proper management of these wastes. Waste pickers in dumps are exposed to needles and other dangerous hospital wastes. There are also cases of exposure to radioactive materials from discarded hospital materials.

A large part of the work done on hospital wastes is related to characterization. Thus, there is a good understanding of the sources of pathogenic, chemically hazardous, and regular solid wastes within a health facility. However, there is not agreement on methods for adequate treatment and disposal of such wastes. Some authorities support the separation of hazardous hospital wastes at the source and the subsequent differential treatment of such wastes, according to the specific hazards presented. Others believe that segregation at the source is very difficult and that the risk of hazardous materials entering the MSW stream is too great, so that all wastes should be collected and disposed of as hazardous hospital wastes. This is the case in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil, where regulations require that all hospital wastes be collected and transported to a municipally owned, centrally located incinerator. In this case, no on-site separation of hospital wastes is allowed.

Except for the case of Sao Paulo, legislation typically requires that wastes be treated by on-site incineration. However, few hospitals have incinerators, and the ones that have them do not operate well. As a result, solid waste authorities, with the aim of providing a solution, sometimes allow disposal in specially designed cells within sanitary landfill facilities.

Other wastes

Although not much has been written on demolition wastes in the region, they are generally a problem due to their volume and the cost of transporting them. There are not specifically designed landfills in the region for these wastes. In many places demolition wastes are reused for land reclamation in coastal areas or quarries. In Mexico City, much of the demolition waste after the earthquake was used to fill up water-logged areas of the city. These wastes are also used as a base for road construction.

Tires, oils and batteries are usually recycled, though the recycling process is not always environmentally adequate. Recycled oil can be marketed, even though quality control is often nonexistent, because it is inexpensive. In the case of waste oils, filter residues are often disposed of in the sewers. Batteries are often taken to small-scale foundries which do not have emissions control systems and are often located in residential areas.

Since only a few cities have wastewater treatment plants there is little sewage sludge disposal. In general, where sewage sludges are generated, they are disposed of by the rivers or on the land. In Brazil, sewage sludges are disposed of on farmland.

Table of Contents

• Brochure
• 
• 



• International Year of Forests
• 
• 



• World Environment Day
• 
• 



• UNEP Campaign
• 
•