Industrial Waste

Coal Ash

Coal ash is the byproduct of burning coal, including fly ash, bottom ash, boiler slag, and flue gas desulfurization material 1. Coal ash contains harmful materials, such as arsenic, cadmium, and mercury, and it can cause water and air pollution 1. Burning one ton of coal produces about 0.15 tons of ash 2.

Following spills at Kingston, Tennessee, where at least 30 clean-up workers have died from illnesses suspected to be linked to the spill 3, and at Eden, North Carolina 4, the U. S. EPA has instituted regulations on coal ash disposal. The rules requires liners to control water pollution and other safeguards, but it may be inadequate 5.

Problem:
Coal Ash Damages
Solution:
Waste Levy on Coal Burning - World

Steel Slag

Slag is a byproduct of steelmaking. The United States generates 7-7.5 million tonnes of slag per year 6. Slag produced during the primary steelmaking phase is called furnace slag and is usually recycled into aggregates 6. Slag produced at later stages of the process does not have mechanical properties that are suitable for aggregates, and it is usually disposed of 6.

Other Industrial Waste

Other forms of industrial waste include organic solvents from laboratories, dyes and glazes from the ceramics and textiles industries, brake/transmission fluid, industrial wastewater, and others 7.

References

  1. United States Environmental Protection Agency. "Coal Ash Basics". Accessed April 30, 2022. 2

  2. Nussey, B. "How Much CO2 And Pollution Comes From Burning Coal?". Freeing Energy. May 2019.

  3. Gaffney, A. "Hundreds of Workers Who Cleaned Up the Country’s Worst Coal Ash Spill Are Now Sick and Dying". Natural Resources Defense Council. December 2018.

  4. U. S. Department of the Interior. "Dan River Coal Ash Spill". Accessed April 30, 2022.

  5. Clements, K. "The Coal Ash Rule Trilogy Spanning Obama, Trump, and the D.C. Circuit". Energy & Environmental Law Program, Harvard Law School. January 2020.

  6. Recycled Materials Resource Center. "Steel Slag - Material Description". 2 3

  7. World Nuclear Association. "Economics of Nuclear Power". Accessed April 30, 2022.