Incineration as Hazard Control: Enhancing Safety in Hazardous Waste Operations
In industrial environments hazardous waste is generated during manufacturing and processing phase, particularly in chemical, pharmaceutical, and agrochemical facilities. The safety risks don’t just arise from production lines but also during the waste storage and removal stage.
Since many industries depend on centralized waste disposal and treatment the produced waste is stored in bags or drums.
These contain solvent, halogenated compounds, unneutralised residues that are as much dangerous as any industrial process equipment. And if generated waste or raw materials are not stored or handled properly, they have higher chance to cross react with one another and potentially cause explosion or fire, and release toxic fumes, affecting both the workers and surrounding environment.
Traditionally incinerators were viewed as a tool for satisfying environmental compliance aspect & often their actual role in providing safety & fire prevention is often overlooked.
Their role is very critical in high-risk manufacturing clusters such as pharmaceutical, chemical or agrochemical where a well engineered incineration systems are important asset to contain the hazardous waste and provide work place safety.
Effects of Improper Waste Storage
Managing and handling waste generated during manufacturing stage can be challenging. But it is of utmost importance as unmanaged hazardous waste that has accumulated over a period of time can generate heat, pressure, or vapours under ambient conditions.
Solvent drums can leak or vaporize, leading to an explosive atmosphere.
Chlorinated and fluorinated waste can release acid gases if mixed or disturbed. Over the years we have come across many such incidences where materials react and cause fire in the factory, storage shedthat many a times not just damages the properties but also cause injuries to workers and at times leads to death.
One such incidence occurred recently which caught attention from media, regulatory bodies and general public. In June 2025, a devastating explosion happened at pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Telangana, that killed 36 lives and many were injured.
This factory produced microcrystalline cellulose powder and it is suspected that accumulated chemical residues caused the explosion. Similar incidents have been reposted in a Bhiwandi chemical warehouse and a Hapur plant have also highlighted the fire and explosion risks from poorly managed industrial waste.
These incidences show how important it is to handle and store hazardous materials, having a properly engineered on-site incinerator would help in proper management of hazardous waste and adhere to good environmental practice and ensure safety of workers and factory.
How Incineration Mitigates Safety Risks
Modern incinerators are not merely combustion chambers with the purpose to burn at random temperature. They are engineered systems designed to destroy hazardous organics under controlled, high-temperature conditions thereby removing the very source of secondary risk. At their core, they offer:
Closed-loop handling of volatile and flammable materials
Stable thermal decomposition of unstable compounds
Safe conversion of hazardous constituents into neutral ash and gases
This destruction of chemical waste at >1100°C in dual-chamber configurations ensures that reactive intermediates, flammable solvents, and halogenated residues are broken down before they can become safety hazards.
Engineering Controls for Safety
The design of industrial incinerators incorporates multiple safeguards that make them aligned with safety-first protocols:
• Programmable interlocks to prevent cold starts or overloading
• Realtime monitoring combustion chamber temperature and oxygen levels
• Failsafe shutdown mechanisms triggered by pressure or emission thresholds
• Acid gas scrubbing to neutralize acids before stack release
• Continuous Emission Monitoring Systems (CEMS) for compliance and transparency
This ensures that hazardous components are treated in the incinerator directly under automated supervision and the waste does not enter general storage or travel through unsafe pipelines.
Case-Based Insight: From Fire Hazard to Safety Infrastructure
In one Western India chemical cluster, a mid-size manufacturer faced repeat issues with waste storage: drum bulging, foul odours, and high worker exposure zones. The site was advised to shift from outsourced transport to on-site incineration.
A system was installed with a 2-second residence time, low-NOx burners, and flue-gas neutralization. Not only did the waste inventory stabilize, but internal audits showed reduced chemical exposure and improved fire safety compliance scores.
In another project in Gujarat, decentralized incinerators replaced long-distance offloading of spent solvents. By combusting high-COD waste at source and scrubbing the acid gases, the unit removed the buildup of stored drums and lowered site volatility by 35%while also generating usable steam for HVAC.
Alignment with EHS and ESG Mandates
SEBI’s BRSR reporting and international ESG audits increasingly scrutinize how hazardous waste is managed not just whether it is disposed.
On-site engineered destruction through incineration demonstrates active risk reduction, pollution prevention, and a commitment to worker safety, critical themes in global compliance narratives.
Occupational safety is no longer confined to visible process hazards. Chemical residues stored in warehouses or moved across districts create invisible but severe risks.
Industrial incinerators, if integrated correctly, offer a way to convert hazard into stability, and liability into value recovery closing both the safety and sustainability loop.
Conclusion
As hazardous waste volumes rise with manufacturing growth, treating incineration as a fire safety tool is no longer optional. It is a necessity. Engineered incinerators reduce explosive risk, improve site hygiene, and support audit-ready EHS compliance.
About the Author:
Asiya Muhammed Kochuveettil is working with McClelland Engineers Pvt. Ltd.,
a manufacturer of hazardous waste incineration systems.
She has a background in pharmaceutical research and is a Member of the Royal Society of Biology (UK).
