Industrial waste: What are, examples, types, classification and management

The industrial wasteas the name implies, are those that come from manufacturing processestransformation, use, cleaning, maintenance or consumption that are generated by industries.

These industrial waste have no valuesince in general its use is not possible, as a consequence of the high cost of technologies or simply because there are no well -developed technologies to take advantage of them.

Now that you know what they are, here you can see a List of examples of industrial waste:

• Used industrial oils
• Contaminated rags
• Solvents
• Paints
• Batteries
• Contaminated plastics
• Containers that have contained hazardous substances
• Batteries
• Inks
• Devaders
• Sand
• Glass
• Paper
• Debris
• Chemical materials
• Corrosive products

To learn more, we invite you to take a look at this other article about what industrial discharges are in the water, examples and their treatment.

Waste can be classified according to their origin. In this article we will talk in detail of industrial waste, that is, those generated in the industrial sector, however, it is important to mention that there are more Types of waste:

• Urban or municipal
• Agricultural and livestock
• Forestry
• Sanitary
• Miners
• Radioactive
• Of construction and demolition
• Electric and electronic

Within the group of industrial waste, these can be classified into three large blocks. This is the classification of industrial waste:

Inert waste

They are those non -hazardous industrial waste that before their final disposal do not need to be treated and are usually not a threat to the environment or the health of people. When collected, sometimes, they can be used and used to fill in land. These would be the rubble, concrete remains, tiles, bricks or excavation products.

Urban or assimilable waste to urban

Among these are those generated by the different activities that populations have, in their offices, industrial sectors and services. Within them are degradable organic matter and others such as cardboard, plastics, paper, among others.

Special or hazardous waste

They are those that suppose a threat to the health of human beings and the environment, which is why they need a more specific treatment, although sometimes technology is not available to treat them and should be stored in containers and well closed.

You can learn more about them in this other post on hazardous waste: classification, examples and handling.

As we have been saying throughout the article, industrial waste must be treated correctly, since many of them are highly dangerous. Therefore, several stages must be followed for proper management. However, we want to emphasize that before having to treat this waste, the most important thing to take care of our environment and the health of people, is that we must reduce the number of waste and that is possible thanks to a sustainable life model. The Stages of industrial waste management are the following:

Generation of industrial waste

This stage is very important since it is when waste is generated, these must be classified and separate depending on their danger and physical-chemical characteristics. The purpose is to avoid mixtures, so that waste treatment is later easier.

Accumulation and storage of industrial waste

The waste is collected and stored separately, in the place of generation that leaks and spills are controlled, thus avoiding mixtures. For this stage, packaging forms that are compatible and resistant to waste must be used, in addition to being labeled with the date, the type of waste and a code for monitoring. Very important is that once the containers are full, they close tightly to avoid spills, and are transported to the storage place. Waste must meet several storage standards, since they cannot be stored more than a certain time (it depends on the type of residue). The problem is that this is sometimes not fulfilled, as a consequence of the lack of infrastructure to treat them.

Transportation of industrial waste

The transport of industrial waste must comply with the current laws of each country and the vehicle must carry a technical record of the waste, as well as the driver to have a license that allows them to transport them.

Treatment and final disposal

The treatment is carried out in order for industrial waste to harm as little as possible the environment and health of people. For this, its physical, chemical and biological characteristics are changed. The treatments will depend on the type of industrial residue we have, the hazardous industrial waste that non -hazardous industrial waste is not treated in the same way. Some examples of treatments are:

• Physical-chemical
• Biological
• Thermal
• Sanitary fillings
• Recycling
• Encapsulation

After learning all this about industrial waste, what are, examples, types, classification and management, we recommend you discover what industrial ecology is with examples.

If you want to read more articles similar to Industrial waste: What are, examples, types, classification and managementwe recommend that you enter our recycling and waste management category.