AFRIWASTE - THE FIXATION AND STABILIZATION OF HAZARDOUS-WASTE - RENDERING WASTE INTO A PRODUCT SAFE FOR LANDFILLS

The disposal of hazardous and toxic wastes is an area where utmost car e and responsibility needs to be exercised. A certain (and mostly acce ptable) level of care and responsibility has been legislated and is in place in most developed economies (UK, USA, Canada, Europe, etc.). Th is is, however, generally not the case in under-developed or developin g economies, South Africa being no exception. This paper reflects on v arious disposal methods and describes a potentially economic alternati ve to existing methods of the disposal of toxic and hazardous wastes. These existing methods are: Disposal in Class I landfill sites and des truction via incineration. Although incineration (which entails the co ral destruction of toxic compounds) is the preferred method of disposa l, an alternative solution is the fixation of these wastes using speci ally formulated cementitious agents. The Fixation Solution can be econ omically feasible, especially in developing economies.