Monday, April 3, 2017

Understanding The Challenges Of Universal Waste Maimi Dade Florida Officials Face

By Kimberly Fisher


Keeping the earth clean, including the oceans and coastal areas, should be a concern of everyone who inhabits it. Without breathable air and drinkable water, our days on the planet would be numbered. The Environmental Protection Agency was created to find the best ways to ensure the safety of all people, animals, and plants, as well as air and water. In doing so, they have established federal rules and guidelines that must be followed for the use, transportation, and disposal of hazardous materials like the universal waste Maimi Dade Florida officials face every day.

These materials are more commonly found in households and handled by private citizens than the more toxic hazardous wastes generated by dry cleaners, oil refineries, auto mechanic shops, and exterminators. The EPA defines universal waste as falling into four categories that include, batteries, pesticides, mercury lamps, also fluorescent lamps, and mercury containing devices, such as thermometers. These are materials that will not dissolve and cannot be absorbed in the ground.

The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, RCRA, was created by the federal government to regulate the handling, transportation, and disposal of these items. For its purposes, handlers fall into four categories. Two of them are described here. There are the small handlers with minimal regulations. The large handlers are entities such as industrial businesses, schools, governments, and generators of the products so defined under the RCRA guidelines.

States have to comply with federal laws, but they can add items to the list of hazardous materials that require special handling and disposal. Pharmaceuticals are on the Florida list. New Hampshire and Louisiana have added antifreeze. California and Colorado consider aerosol cans hazardous material. If you are interested in finding out about your state, you can go to their website or the EPA's.

It should not be surprising that there are strict guidelines regarding the transportation of these materials. Whether they are being moved by air, water, rail, or roadway, anyone transporting them must be familiar with the laws and follow them to the letter. Even private citizens are asked about packages they send through the postal service or by private carriers. Regulations include the trucks that pick up recycled trash and transport it to a center.

Consistent recycling by the public is one of the best ways to dispose of trash. Local, state, and federal entities, involved with environmental concerns, encourage everyone to consider this option. It reduces the amount of trash a landfill has to absorb, and it creates a reclaimed product market. Dangerous materials are still dangerous after recycling however.

Local landfills are subject to the same regulations and federal guidelines as anyone else. They have to know what the land disposal restrictions program enforces when it comes to hazardous materials being deposited in or on the ground. Leaching happens when contaminants drain from the soil and penetrate a liquid, such as rainwater. If this happens, public drinking water can be compromised.

It should be clear to everyone that keeping the planet healthy is the best way to ensure the survival of the human species. Without that life, as it is now known, will not be viable.




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