Page 34 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition

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Introduction 5

FIGURE 1.2 Legacy of the Khian Sea: (a) ash pile dumped on Haitian beach; (b) Khian Sea sailor eating ash
on the beach, attempting to disprove any hazard. (Greenpeace/Dennis Capolongo. No archiving; not for resale.)

1.1 DEFINITION OF A SOLID WASTE
We can loosely define solid waste as a solid material possessing a negative economic value, which
suggests that it is cheaper to discard than to use. Volume 40 of The U.S. Code of Federation
Regulations (40 CFR 240.101) defines a solid waste as:

garbage, refuse, sludges, and other discarded solid materials resulting from industrial and commercial oper-
ations and from community activities. It does not include solids or dissolved material in domestic sewage
or other significant pollutants in water resources, such as silt, dissolved or suspended solids in industrial
wastewater effluents, dissolved materials in irrigation return flows or other common water pollutants.