This paper defines industrial waste treatment process as falling into categories of oxidative destruction, reductive destruction, and non-destructive, separation operations. The various oxidative approaches, including biological, chemical and thermal methods, are then discussed in detail in this first paper of a series. Advantages, disadvantages and generalized cost comparisons are presented. U.S. EPA sponsored projects are identified, where possible, as examples of the various technologies which can be referred to by the reader. The paper attempts to alert the reader to the wide range of oxidative processes that can be used as part of a composite pollution abatement system, and to the advantages and limitations of these techniques.