On September 1, 2007 the Ontario government introduced a new Land Disposal Restriction (LDR) Regulation (O. Reg. 461/05), which prohibits the land disposal of untreated hazardous wastes, and requires that the waste meet treatment standards before going to landfill.
The new law primarily affects companies in the following industry sectors: primary metals, petroleum refining, transportation equipment, fabricated metal products, and chemical and chemical products. The new regulation mirrors the practice used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
To meet this new requirement, Clean Harbors' teams of specialists have developed pre-treatment methods to manage these inorganic waste streams at the Lambton Facility. Construction of the Lambton inorganic pre-treatment processing plant was completed on August 31, 2007.
The pre-treatment process involves solidifying or stabilizing inorganic solids using various reagent materials to bind the contaminants within a cement-like matrix.
Acceptable Waste Types
The list below provides some examples of waste streams that are being processed in the new plant:
- Contaminated soils
- Heavy metal compounds
- Electric arc furnace dust (EAF) from steel manufacturing
- Acid residues (solids, slurries)
- Alkaline residues (solids, slurries)
- Electrical/electronic manufacturing waste
- Inorganic waste from chemical and petrochemical industry processes
- Incinerator, boiler and industrial furnace residues
- Water treatment plant waste solids
- Debris contaminated with metals