Without high functioning and safely maintained chemical waste disposal plants around the country some scary things would occur. For one thing landfills would likely need to be designated to stock pile mountains of hazardous chemicals and medical waste. These areas would be dangerous not just in the short term but would end up taking on long term hazardous properties simply from having prolonged exposure to these chemicals.

Land fills seemed like a way to manage waste many decades ago when no one could have predicted the kind of growth, and the waste that would stem from that growth, in coming years. As things moved forward it became more and more likely that these landfills were not only going to run out of space for waste but they too would have to be dealt with.

Over the last several decades the move was made towards figuring out ways to manage hazardous waste disposal for the general good and safety of everyone. To keep the economic engine turning the focus was put on handling chemicals and hazardous materials without trying to rein in the production that drives so much of the economy.

To its credit the chemical waste disposal industry is now a well oiled machine constantly getting better at handling its job and moving us further away from the lanfills of the past.