Developing a dependable approach for evaluating waste treatment data

Decision makers involved with hazardous waste treatment issues are faced with the challenge of making objective evaluations concerning treatment formulations. This work utilizes an effectiveness factor (denoted as {eta}) as the basis for waste treatment evaluations, which was recently developed for application to mixed waste treatability studies involving solidification and stabilization at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory. The effectiveness factor incorporates an arbitrary treatment criterion {Phi}, which in practice could be the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure, Unconfined Compressive Strength, Leachability Index, or any other criterion used to judge treatment performance. Three values for {Phi} are utilized when assessing a given treatment formulation: before treatment, after treatment, and a reference value (typically a treatment standard). The expression for {eta} also incorporates the waste loading as the prime experimental parameter, and accounts for the contribution that each hazard has upon the overall treatment performance. Also discussed are general guidelines for numerical boundaries and statistical interpretations of treatment data. Case studies are presented that demonstrate the usefulness of the effectiveness factor and related numerical methods, where the typical hazards encountered are toxic metals within mixed waste