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| | | View of the Bürrig Waste Management Center |
The correct, safe disposal of substances and products is essential for ensuring that chemical production processes run smoothly and have minimum environmental impact. Disposal is supplemented by measures to prevent waste being generated in the first place. Every ton of waste that is avoided reduces the amount that has to be managed in technical, economic and environmental terms. At first glance, it therefore appears that the recycling or re-use of residual substances should be given priority over their disposal – both in environmental and economic terms. However, more in-depth analyses and case studies sometimes cast doubt on this assumption, at least from an environmental perspective.
The implementation of waste management concepts can be compared to the construction of a house. The roof is the most important factor for the comfort of those living in the house, followed by the walls and foundations. In this analogy, the roof corresponds to the concept of waste avoidance, the walls represent recycling/re-use, and the foundations are equivalent to disposal. A house, however, is built in the reverse order. This analogy demonstrates the critical importance of disposal as a foundation of waste management.
Modern waste management
For practical reasons, avoidance and recycling measures cannot reduce the volume of waste generated to zero. Disposing of waste with the minimum environmental impact will therefore remain the basis for comprehensive waste management for the foreseeable future. CURRENTA Environment (CURRENTA’s Environment Business Unit) is continuously optimizing disposal in terms of both technology and methodology. The incineration of waste and its disposal in landfill sites, the cleaning of tanks and containers and the treatment of wastewater are all performed to an exceptionally high standard, with safety being a top priority. Emissions into the air, water and soil are minimized and all the relevant environmental factors are taken into consideration. |
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