Introduction/Overview
Waste Management in the United States is in an incomprehensibly worrying state. Total waste generated each year is in tons of millions, with arguably very ineffective and disproportionate waste management shipping in various states. Regardless, The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) working with the various States periodically gathers data regarding hazardous waste regulation, in line with Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)-1976, to promote responsible waste management (Kunz, 2010). This report highlights the findings of the recent report on data on waste management in various States. The report particularly mirrors the relationship of the number of waste generators and total hazardous waste generated by the state, generators versus waste generated, and waste shipped versus a number of regions within the States.
Hazardous Waste Generated
In total, the total hazardous waste generated by all the American states stood at 53754191 tons. The states that topped were as follows: Louisiana (15892592 tons), Texas (13272307 tons), California (608654 tons), Arkansas (495754 tons), and Michigan (2397357 tons). At the bottom was South Dakota at 750 tons (EPA, 2010)
Relationship Number of Generators and Total Hazardous Waste Generated by State
Surprisingly, the number of generators versus the amount of hazardous waste generated was not congruent. For instance, while Louisiana had only 336 generators, it had the highest amount of waste generated. California on the other hand recorded hazardous waste of 608654 tons. Ohio with 953 generators recorded 1608186 while Oklahoma generating 134426 tons had 164 generators (EPA, 2010)
Hazardous Waste Shipped Versus Regions
An analysis of the data collected shows a disproportionate relationship between waste shipped and the number of regions within a state.
For instance, the amount of waste shipped in the states of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, and Arkansas stood at 206103 tons against 4 regions, 2126 tons against 10 regions, 54031 tons against 9 regions, and 324355 tons against 6 regions respectively (EPA, 2010).
The Difference (Margin) Between Hazardous Waste Generated and Waste shipped
In most states, the amount of waste shipped was less than the waste generated. Colorado for instance generated 54921 tons and shipped 39961 tons of wastes, while Delaware generated 19743 and shipped 19374. Indiana generated 958019 tons and shipped 404761 tons; Iowa generated 49013 tons and shipped 48771 tons. Maine generated 5305 tons and shipped 5101 tons. On the other hand, Michigan State was one of the exceptions. It generated 2397357 tons and shipped 277122. The other exception was New Jersey whose generation stood at 596130 yet shipped a higher amount of 596791. New York City also followed the same ‘’abnormality’’ by generating 1267648 tons while shipping 274622. North Carolina generated 96009 and shipped 102711 tons. Washington was the state with the highest disparity. The waste generated stood at 147246 tons and those shipped amounted to 65674 tons (EPA, 2010)
Recommendations
The few Recommendations outlined below may have been noted elsewhere. This only shows that they have a stronger empirical grounding. Here they go:
- Municipal waste management should be emphasized to deal with contextual waste management.
- Waste disposal bans should be implemented in all states.
- Taxes on disproportionateness of waste generated against those shipped by specific states should be raised.
References
EPA (2011). National Analysis: Biennial RCRA Hazardous Waste Report. EPA
Kunz, R (2010). Environmental Calculations: A Multimedia Approach. New York: Wiley and Sons.