There are three main forms of industrial waste. These are: liquid, solid and gas. These waste matter must be handled safely, effectively and efficiently to minimize environmental pollution. Because industrial production has substantially increased in the recent past, industrial waste has also increased posing serious environmental pollution. Various governments have come up with regulations on how industrial waste must be handled and be disposed of.

 Industries have adopted various methods of disposing of their waste matter. These methods include burning, compacting the waste and leaving it to abandoned areas, and recycling. Burning entails exposing the material to high temperatures that turn it into gas.

The burnt materials release energy that can be reused. Though the method is effective, it is not the safest as it produces fumes that can increase pollution. Compacting entails putting the material together in a solid form and burying it underground so that the ground above is ell landscaped and nobody may think that there is waste underground.

The disadvantage of this method is that it produces fumes which may be dangerous. The waste may percolate and join rivers and water bodies to cause more pollution. One of the most preferred methods of handling industrial waste is recycling.

Recycling has an added advantage to industries because apart from reducing their cost of waste disposal, it also enables them to come up with new products that can be resold and generate more income. 

This article highlights some methods that can be used in recycling and their importance. 

1. Burning- This is a good option to landfills. There is an increased usage of industrial composting technologies. Micro-organisms are used to reduce biodegradable materials into important items. We are getting products like alternative fuel from this process. This procedure is mainly used in western countries.
2. Burning it to remake- some waste materials can melted so that we have new products. An example of such product includes plastic bottles which can be melted to make polyester clothes. The main disadvantage with is method is that it increases waste. Products recycled using this method include oil filters, and large containers.
3. Harnessing the harmful gas- the main reason for recycling is to avoid landfills. But some industries find waste dumping very cheap. The dumped waste produces harmful gas that can be used to generate energy for industrial and domestic use.
4. Hot treatment-most of the waste materials have some degree of energy. This energy may be applied in cooking, generation of steam. This happens when the materials are heated at high temperatures at reduced levels of oxygen.