Waste Treatment and Disposal (Issues in Environmental Science and Technology)

This Issue follows on from the review of waste incineration in Issue 2, providing a thorough and detailed review of other waste management options. Waste generation affects everyone, and its treatment and disposal are matters of increasing complexity and urgency. This book examines the environmental impact of sewage and industrial effluent treatment on inland and coastal waters, in the atmosphere and on land. It also looks into current practice in the design, engineering, operation and control of landfill sites, and the effect of changes in regulatory policy. A wide range of waste management practices result in atmospheric discharges and this book reviews the localized impacts and mitigation of the discharge and the regulatory framework within which waste management has to operate. The book also covers the general and technical issues facing the materials recycling industry; looks into the factors affecting deep underground storage of radioactive fuel waste produced by nuclear reactors; and provides data from a number of case studies in cost-benefit analysis, demonstrating the utility of a consistent economic theory of waste management.

Ron Hester is an emeritus professor of chemistry at the University of York. In addition to his research work on a wide range of applications of vibrational spectroscopy, he has been actively involved in environmental chemistry and was a founder member of the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Environment Group. His current activities are mainly as an editor and as an external examiner and assessor on courses, individual promotions, and departmental/subject area evaluations both in the UK and abroad.