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reduce the degree of hazard. This definition focuses on the goal of preventing waste at its source rather than control - ling, treating, or managing waste after it is generated. " In an editorial in the August, 1987 issue of the journal Lnyir1nMUJAJ Rr2qr=, Michael Overcash, a professor of Chemical Engineering at North Carolina State University, stated that waste reduction is one of the major challenges facing the field of Chemical Engineering in the decade 1987-1997. According to Mr. Cash, in the next decade: " . . .There will be a transition in the magnitude and environ- mental impact (toxicity and fate) of wastes or emissions from all industry which parallel the profound changes in the pesticide manufacturing field. The pesticide or agricultur- al chemicals field converted, over a decade, from highly chlorinated, persistent materials to more degradable, direct acting chemicals, and now toward greatly reduced, integrated pest management. This is a substantive change which when transferred to all manufacturing industrial categories demonstrates the magnitude of this national transition. For the rest of industry, the cost of discharge (to streams, atmospheric, or hazardous wastes) will continue to rise as attention is focused on chemicals which at low chronic levels pose health and environmental concern. The rise in environmental costs (whether direct charges or indirect per- ceptions of liability) will be the driving force for such transitions, while the time-frame for significant reduction is probably one to two decades. That is, if one were to compare the percentage of wastes and specific chemicals of concern generated which are presently discharged to the environment (landfills, atmospheric emissions, or effluents to receiving waters) it will be shifted from 80 percent to 100 percent to <20 percent as the scientific personnel pur- sue the goals of waste reduction. These will be major changes and hence pose the challenges for chemical engineer- ing research. " 10. 1 WASTE REDUCTION METHODS The following general waste reduction methods can be used individually or in combination: • Change in production materials • Process modification PJ9 9390502D.00D 10-2 Rev. 1 11/08/88