Disposing of industrial wastes

The industrial age created a wide range of man made pollutants from manufacturing processes which were simply discharged into the environment in an un-controlled random way. Modern approaches to industrial waste management consider each step of the manufacturing process for the waste streams they produce and design specific interventions for disposal that control the materials impact upon the environment.

In many rapidly industrializing regions, infrastructure development is unbalanced. For example, many such regions have no safe and approved facilities for the collection, treatment, storage and disposal of hazardous wastes. In such regions, although the chemicals, metal fabricating, fabric finishing, and other industries that generate significant volumes of hazardous wastes are growing rapidly, there are no environmentally sound facilities to receive those wastes. Consequently, they are stored or disposed of improperly on land or into water bodies. The resulting poisoning of aquifers and sediments is difficult or impossible to remedy, and may produce long-lasting damages to human health or ecological systems.

The Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies (CERES), representing business investors, financial institutions and corporations promotes 10 principles of environmental management to its corporate members. The third principle states: "We will reduce and where possible eliminate waste through source reduction and recycling. All waste will be handled and disposed of through safe and responsible methods."