John H. Skinner

Former Deputy Assistant Administrator Office of Research and Development U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(Washington D.C. 20460, U.S.A.)

Abstract

As we observe constant increase in waste and scarcity of landfill sites, an effort to reduce hazardous waste has begun in the United States, especially in chemical and metals industries which have realized that an art of waste reduction brings cost savings and their ultimate competitiveness in the market. EPA has been supporting these waste reduction activities with pollution prevention research, technology transfer, and financial support for local governments. New technologies for processing hazardous waste has been developed by EPA researchers, and demonstration projects were financed and carried out successfully. There still remains, however, the need to develop more efficient measures for identifying the location of and actions to be taken for hazardous waste sites. Reduction and recycle of municipal waste are also becoming popular due to the shortage of landfill sites, and new legislation and fund are authorized. Based on these facts, we can construct a scenario of solid waste management in the coming 10 years.

Key words: United States, hazardous waste, recycling, waste reduction, MSW