Sustainable Solutions to Toxic Waste
by Liron Ben-Yakov, Maya Sade, Lizi Nizri
Students at the High School for
Environmental Studies, Israel
What is toxic waste?
Who, or what, creates it and how do we deal with
it?
These are questions which are plaguing our society. The issue of toxic waste
is of universal concern and if we do not seriously confront the problem soon,
it may be too late.
This topic is perhaps of special relevance to the Israeli delegation because there is a toxic waste dumping site not far from our school in the Negev desert. The potential danger of this site has been largely ignored by the Israeli press, general public and government until fairly recently when "citizen action", chiefly organized by the residents of the area with the involvement of such groups as "Greenpeace" and "Adam Tevah and Din", brought attention to the growing threat.
Although we have been studying the complexities of the local problem, we are well aware of the global problem of toxic waste, also. Just as Israel has looked at its desert region as a "back door" for sweeping its toxic waste under the carpet, so the industrialized nations have often sought "back doors" in their own countries, and in many cases have simply solved their own problems by dumping their toxic materials onto "third world countries".
The issue is complex. Even defining toxic waste is not that simple. Reaching solutions require much study and education. For it is not enough to simply discover as to how to best "treat" toxic waste, but we must also discover whether the production of this waste in present quantities is necessary and fatal, no matter how many measures will be taken to treat it in the future.
Who creates toxic
waste?
Toxic, or poisonous wastes are produced during industrial, chemical, and
biological processes. Even household, office and commercial wastes contain
small quantities of toxic wastes (e.g. batteries, old pesticides and
their containers).
Some examples of toxic
waste:
PCBs (poly-chlorinated biphenyls): Non-flammable, insulating material
used by big electrical networks such as Eskom. South Africa lacks the technology
to incinerate waste PCBs.
Dioxins: Produced by burning
chlorine-containing substances e.g. plastics; the manufacture of iron and
steel, and some organic chemicals e.g.herbicides. Found in bleached white
paper.
Heavy metals: Widespread industrial use,
such as in cadmium and nickle plating. Found in batteries (mercury, cadmium,
lead) and leaded petrol.
Radioactive waste: By-product of nuclear
power generation and used in medicine (e.g. cancer therapy).
Pesticide Information Network (PIN)
How is toxic waste being
treated?
Land disposal: Waste is buried in landfills
which should be permanently sealed to contain the waste. Landfills may be
lined with clay or plastic, or waste may be encapsulated in concrete. However,
there is no guarantee that a leak will not occur.
Incineration (burning): May be low
temperature (urban refuse) or high temperature incineration.
Chemical or biological: Chemicals are added to waste, and they
make it less toxic; or bacteria "eat" the waste, resulting in a less toxic
residue.
Where do we put our toxic
waste?
There are many problems in trying to get rid of toxic waste. Transporting
it from place to place is very risky. An accident in transport may cause
a fatal spillage which can seriously cause ecological damage. Because of
the danger of accidents at the toxic waste site itself, sites are usually
chosen in what are considered "remote" areas, although these areas do have
their own definite ecosystems. And, because of world politics and economics,
third world countries are usually targeted for toxic waste dumps. The more
well-to-do industrialized nations usually have much more rigorous environmental
laws regulations protecting the health of workers and the public. Communities,
even in the more remote rural areas, are better organized through community
action to protest the planning of toxic dumps in their area. In some cases,
third world nations see the setting up of toxic dumps in their country as
an opportunity to bring in much needed capital to their economy.
Trying to ban the toxic waste
trade:
Because of the dangers of the toxic waste trade, the world's governments
gathered in the Swiss town of Basel in 1989 to sign the first ever global
agreement to control the toxic waste trade. The Convention didn't completely
ban the waste-trade from industrialised to less industrialised countries,
but rather set up a 'notification and consent' procedure under which the
toxic waste trade was allowed to continue as long as the importing country's
government agreed to it. However, in the years following the 1989 meeting,
individual nations began to draw up their own legislation against the toxic
waste imports, and the international objections to the trade grew. By the
third meeting of the 'Conference of the Parties' of governments that had
signed the Convention took place - in 1994 - the world's developing nations
had decided among themselves that they wanted to see a final end to the toxic
waste trade. At that meeting it was decided by a vast majority of states
to ban the trade in poisonous wastes. In 1995, as a result, the Basel Convention
was amended: the trade in toxic wastes for final disposal was banned with
immediate effect, and the trade for 'recycling' was banned from January 1,
1998. This agreement only banned the export of poisonous or hazardous wastes
- non-toxic wastes can still be exported for recycling ordisposal.
Though the 1995 amendment to the Basel Convention has been agreed and signed
by governments, it has not yet entered into international law. For that to
happen it has to be ratified by the national parliaments of two thirds of
the 82 countries that agreed to it. Only then will it become internationally
binding.
Laws created to deal with toxic
waste:
Superfund: In 1980 the United States
Congress passed CERCLA (Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation
and Liability Act) in the effort to identify and cleanup America's
most hazardous waste sites and to recover cleanup costs from owners and operators
of Superfund sites. This law came partly in response to the American public's
concern after the discovery of the
Love Canal in New York and the Valley of Drums in Kentucky. This was
the first federal law dealing with the dangers posed by America's most hazardous
waste sites.
The Superfund program established stricter standards for handling hazardous
substances. The EPA released a national list of the 418 most hazardous waste
sites. CERCLA expired in September 1985, but the Superfund Amendments and
Reauthorization Act (SARA) of 1986 effectively became the "new and improved
version" of CERCLA.
What are some of the examples
of toxic waste dumps harming our health and the
environment?
India has
Become Dumping Ground for Toxic Waste from West
The
Love Canal, New York, U.S.A
Love Canal is located about one mile from the Niagara River. It was built
in 1896 by William Love. He wanted to build a canal that connected the upper
and lower river, but the canal was abandoned before any traffic went on it.
In 1942 the canal was used as a dump by a chemical company. They buried 19,000
cubic yards of toxic wastes into the canal. Later in 1953 a school was built
on top the dump. Then in 1977 toxic wastes were discovered in the basements
of many homes near Love Canal. In tests 248 chemicals were identified. No
toxicological data could be found for one-hundred of these chemicals. The
government finally evacuated everyone in Love Canal after much prodding.