Nanowastes and the environment: Potential new waste management paradigm

This article discusses the growing amount of nanomaterials and nanoproducts that are being used in industry and entering the marketplace, and discusses how their uncontrolled release into the environment may cause problems, as currently so little is know about their potential impacts on environmental systems. This paper seeks to raise concern over the alarming increase in uncontrolled nanomaterials into the environment, to examine the unique challenges nanowastes pose to waste management systems - both from a technical and legislative perspective, and to summarize the results of the first nanowastes classification formalism in order to elucidate the potential challenges of waste streams containing nanoscale dimension materials to the present waste management paradigm. Finally, the article closes by summarizing several proactive steps of enhancing effective long-term and responsible management of nanowastes.