The methods and procedures used to dispose of waste materials arising from chemical processes. All chemical processes produce waste in various forms and at the various stages of production and materials transportation. The objectives of the management of waste materials are to minimize responsibly the impact on the environment and human health, and to conserve scarce resources, as well as to maximize waste reuse, reclamation, and recycling. In the case of nuclear waste, the material is categorized in terms of its radioactivity and the waste managed accordingly. Low radioactive waste may go to landfill, medium radioactive waste can be recycled, and highly radioactive waste, which poses a serious risk to the environment and human health over very long periods of time (tens of thousands of years for some isotopes), is stored in deep caverns in geologically stable rock.