Waste and pollution management approaches can be described as strategies. Solids control- drilling mud system is one part of it. At the municipal level these strategies traditionally have relied on disposal practices (predominantly landfilling and incineration), whereas industry has employed intermediate steps of treatment and stabilization of the more hazardous wastes.
Industry strategies are based on end-of-pipe treatment technologies, which are more appropriately referred to as control strategies, meaning their aim is really to control emissions and wastes to within legally allowable limits of discharge. Both strategies have two disadvantages:
1. They require ongoing costs that are associated with operations and maintenance and with use of energy, and they carry many hidden and indirect costs and liabilities.
2. Releases of infectious, toxic, and hazardous components to the environment continue for many years, posing long-term health risks to the public and endangerment to the environment simply because waste forms are only transformed and not entirely eliminated or completely immobilized.
Waste/pollution management strategies based on prevention strive to eradicate both of the above disadvantages because they eliminate the pollution or waste at the source. They tend to be only partially successful in reducing the first isadvantage because in a number of cases, P2 strategies rely on technology investments which have OM&R (operation, maintenance, and repair costs) as well as other ongoing costs (e.g., labor, energy). But in general, when properly implemented, they are more cost effective than disposal and treatment technologies. Minimization strategies tend to reduce the risks associated with the second disadvantage, but may also offset some of the costs and liabilities noted with the first disadvantage.
When we view the gambit of strategies that are available, a generalized hierarchy based on long-term liabilities or risks associated with waste/pollution management and the costs associated with each becomes apparent. This hierarchy is as follows:
• Prevention – This strategy prevents wastes from ever being formed in the first place.
• Recycling/Resource Recovery/Waste-to-Energy (R3WE) – Recycling and reuse of materials, the recovery of certain wastes for reuse (known as resource recovery), and the conversion of certain types of waste into useful energy such as heat, electricity, and hot water are strategies which recover and offset costs for overall waste management.
• Treatment – When wastes cannot be prevented or minimized through reuse or recycling, then we need to pursue strategies aimed at reducing volumes and/or toxicity. Treatment technologies are processes that focus on stabilization of wastes, reducing toxicity, reducing volume before ultimate disposal, or in some cases creating limited-use by-products Disposal – The only other strategy available is disposal. Waste disposal practices are integrated into the environmental management strategies of all municipalities, are integral to most manufacturing operations, and quite often are among the highest direct cost components. From a business standpoint, it is the least desirable strategy and one that can be directly addressed by waste minimization and P2 practices.