“Physical methods don’t destroy wastes, instead, they change them into forms that are easier to treat further or to dispose. Traditional physical methods include carbon adsorption, filtration, flocculation, distillation, reverse osmosis and ion exchange. Encapsulation involves immobilising or reducing the toxicity of hazardous materials by either containerisation or stabilisation and incorporation within a solid water-resistant matrix such as Portland cement, asphalt or proprietary organic polymers prior to landfilling.
A variety of disposal methods have been examined, some of which are effective, but most are either too costly or involve complicated procedures or equipment to be practical. A developed pesticide disposal method is utilizing demulsification, sorption and filtration as a means to remove pesticides from aqueous suspensions. Once removed from rinsate or runoff solutions, sorbed pesticide is placed in bioreactors where degradation occurs during solid state fermentation (ie. composting). Successful completion of this work should provide a practical, effective, safe and inexpensive method for dilute and concentrated pesticide waste disposal.