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TOXIC WASTE
It is hard to give a simple, precise definition of what toxic
waste means.
Generally speaking, it refers to all products which are harm-
ful for our health and the environment, whether these products
are radioactive, ionizing, inflammable, explosive, corrosive,
carcinogenic or are likely to cause changes in chromosomes
and genes, and which we find in the food chain.
With the support of Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation
These forms may be reproduced
The origins of toxic products
Toxic products are generated by industrial, chemical and bio-
logical activity. Even household and commercial waste
contains tiny quantities of toxic products (especially batteries
and pesticides).
Some examples of toxic products
1. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC): this is a non-inflammable pro-
duct used as an insulator in big electricity networks; it can easi-
ly be eliminated by using special incineration techniques.
2. Dioxan: it results from the burning of products containing
chlorine, like plastic, and from steel industries and from some
organic chemical compounds, particularly pesticides. Dioxan
is also found in paper which is bleached with chlorine.
3. Heavy metals: these are produced by heavy industry, par-
ticularly processing operations using cadmium, nickel and
chromium, or are found in batteries (mercury, cadmium, lead)
or fuel (leaded petrol).
4. Radioactive waste: this comes from nuclear experiments,
atomic energy production, nuclear research activity, and medi-
cal use in the treatment of cancer.
How to get rid of toxic waste
There is no safe, completely danger-free way of definitively
getting rid of toxic waste. The methods most frequently used
are:
1 Burial
The toxic products are buried in ditches covered with an air-
tight or water-tight layer of clay or plastic covering, or are kept
in concrete blocks to prevent contamination from soil and
underground water.
2 Incineration
The toxic waste is incinerated at low temperature (with solid
household waste) or at high temperature (alone), to change it
into little non-toxic particles.
High-temperature incineration is more suitable for industrial
waste (tar,paint, pesticides, solvents) insofar as this prevents
highly toxic dioxan gas escaping; this method is not used in
most countries, particularly developing countries.
3 Chemical or biological treatment
With the help of chemical products or bacteria, it is possible
to reduce or completely eliminate the harmfulness of toxic pro-
ducts, thus helping towards the evacuation or recycling of
these products.
International trade in toxic products
The definitive and ecological evacuation of toxic products is
a difficult, expensive operation, requiring considerable invest-
ment (not always available even in industrialised countries).
Further, as the evacuation of toxic products is never done in
an entirely ecological way, some industrialised countries prefer
to export their waste to the poor countries, getting rid of it by
paying these countries modest financial sums in compensation.
Many poor or developing countries with cash problems have
thus become an easy prey to brokers and intermediaries bet-
ween them and the societies which are actually producing the
toxic products.
One of the most serious dangers linked to this situation lies
in the dumping at sea of these toxic products while they are
being transported to the developing countries. These have nei-
ther the necessary technology nor the experience to fight
against these products and their peoples are thus exposed to
serious risks.
Aware of these dangers, the international community signed
the Lom and Basle Conventions and the OAU Convention on
organising the transport and subcontracting of toxic products.
Solid waste and the law
Most countries laws forbid the importing of toxic waste,
while laws on the producing and evacuating of this waste are
still at an embryonic stage.
Bearing in mind the fact that the local industries are produ-
cing quantities of toxic produce, the laws in these countries are
mainly directed towards organizing the processing, transpor-
ting and evacuating of these products, whereas it would be
more logical that these laws should address the need to reduce
the amount of this waste that is produced. This would be a
more effective and more profitable means and would conside-
rably reduce the costs and consequences of processing and
definitively evacuating these products.
How can an industrial entreprise reduce the
production of toxic products?
1. By using alternative, non-toxic, raw materials: oxygen can
be used for bleaching paper, instead of chlorine, which pro-
duces dioxan.
2. By improving production techniques, and maintenance of
equipment and material.
3. Recycling toxic products reduces pollution and costs.
Toxic heavy metals can be recycled.
What part can you play?
1. Inform the concerned authorities in your country of any
illegal discharge or evacuation of toxic products.
2. At home, do not use toxic products such as pesticides and
batteries.
Realised by : National Centre for Environmental Protection
National coordinator : Dr. Abdelkader Abou Faed,
National Centre for Environmental Protection,
P.O. Box 83618, Tripoli, Libya
Tel : (218-21) 444 8452 - Fax : (218-21) 333 8098
Coordinateur Rgional : Prof. Dr. Abdelhamid BELEMLIH
Socit Protectrice des Animaux et de la Nature SPANA 41, Rsidence Zohra, Harhoura
12 000 Tmara - Maroc - Tl : (212-7) 74 72 09 - Fax : (212-7) 74 74 93 - E-mail : spana@mtds.net.ma
