Increasing public awareness of hazardous waste and the enlightenment of the general public both domestically and internationally will force industry to deal with the waste it produces in a manner safe and environmentally friendly.

The amount of hazardous and toxic waste produced each year is increasing at alarming rates and calculating the extent would be only determined by the full disclosure of producers of hazardous waste and accumulations of stored waste.

To place figures of each country worldwide listing the produced amount of hazardous waste on a yearly basis excluding those large amounts that have been stockpiled over the past 50 or more would be a futile.

Much of this waste liquid and in the form of sludge has been stored in barrels and transported in 45 – 50 gallon (6,500 – 8,200litre) barrels. Their varied characteristics, from relatively harmless to highly corrosive, flammable, toxic and poisonous, environmentally sensitive, carcinogenic etc. makes it prohibitively expensive or even impossible, in some cases to remove these barrels from their storage sites due to corrosion and leakage. Removing these drums in such conditions could create a full rupture and cause greater environment damage. As a result many of these drums are left to rot and leak where they sit.

There are attempts to cleanup these abandon and older storage sites but at a cost, that in some cases are considered prohibitive. In those that are attempted, such as now defunct DEW line sites in Canada's Arctic, are done manually, in with physical labour and at a rate of possibly 3 or 4 drums per hour, but more realistically 2 drums per hour per employee.

Similarly such labour intensive decanting of barrels at waste treatment sites such as Swan Hills facility in Alberta are done by labourers in cumbersome "haz mat" suits at a rate of 2 per hour.

AltMar working in partnership now is able to offer a revolutionary collection and disposal system. A transportable, automatic barrel decanting system for use in the hazardous waste disposal industry and other industries involving the bulk transfer of hazardous liquids from drums or barrels to bulk storage or handling facilities.

The equipment presently known as Terminator or Sludge Gulper, will greatly reduce the risk for contamination of the environment and exposure to workers, while at the same time allow for the reduction in cost of handling and transportation.

The Terminator has been designed to decant 18 barrels, 50 gallon / 8,200 liters, per hour containing hazardous waste in liquid form in a confined, secure and automated environment. The system utilizes a vacuum system for draining and cleaning the barrels within the unit itself in order that it may later be emptied into a tank truck for transportation to a centrally located handling and incineration facility.

The empty barrels are then purged and rinsed to regulatory standards regarding decontamination rendering them environmentally safe. The rinsed liquid is vacuumed into the holding tank. Clean barrels are discharged from the cleaning chamber. Those barrels to damaged for reuse are then shredded and are safe for recycling. The cleaning chamber is designed as a hazardous atmosphere and will contain any spills should barrels be unstable and weakened by corrosion. The chamber itself cleans and drains leading back to the holding tank should a rupture or barrel leak occur.

The market for such a system is two fold. During the past 20 to 30 years immense stockpiles of toxic waste have been allowed to accumulate worldwide. The highly industrialized countries more so than others. Proper disposal has become an increasing problem while handling these old barrels at the same time is posing a greater risk due to corrosion of the drums and barrels in which the waste has been stored.

As public awareness of these problems has grown so has the demand for clean up and disposal of waste at these storage sites. The public is also aware and demanding the proper disposal of this waste at the time it is produced rather than a later point in time.

All the described areas of hazardous waste management has undergone all kinds of scrutiny by government agencies. Business opportunities have been pursued by those offering engineering and other expert services in order that the most efficient methods are being applied so hazardous waste can be disposed of in the most efficient and economical manner.

However, society still allows the hauling of truckloads of barrels of liquid hazardous waste through the countryside, from the generator to the disposal site in a manner that is neither safe, efficient nor economical. Household waste has undergone more automation and refinement than the transportation of liquid hazardous waste. To this point in time there has not been any significant progress in this area until the development of the Terminator process which is now ready for introduction into the market place.

The operational philosophy behind the Terminator is that the equipment is taken to the generator of the waste material and solves the problem before transportation to the disposal site. Not only does this equipment operate in a more functional manner in gathering waste for transportation, but is able to handle hazardous waste in a safer manner to both operators, the environment and surrounding population.

In cases where large amounts of waste have been stored and accumulated, the portability of the equipment along with the additional portable incineration skid the units are able to collect and dispose of waste at the site. This allows for the elimination of transportation of corroded or highly unstable storage barrels.

At this time the process has been developed only for the elimination of liquid hazardous waste, and toxic wastes. Further development continues for a similar system for the elimination of hazardous solid waste.

The Terminator was developed in Alberta and initial market penetration at the time of development was not actively pursued as all potential waste companies approached found the unit too efficient and as a result was not readily accepted. Unfortunate for the environment again we find this same reluctance in new efficient and safe technology for the handling and disposal of hazardous waste.

We invite interested parties and operators to contact us for further details on this safe system that will help recover some of our environment before contamination is beyond recovery.

We would be pleased to discuss opportunities, your interests and requirements at your convenience.