What is planned obsolescence?

Solid Waste aka garbage

Wasting Resources United States 4.6% of the world's population OBJ 24.1 Wasting Resources United States 4.6% of the world's population 33% of the world's solid waste 75% of its hazardous waste

OBJ 24.3 Municipal Solid Waste MSW—more commonly known as trash or garbage—consists of everyday items Product packaging Grass clippings Furniture Clothing Bottles & bottle caps Food scraps Newspapers Appliances Paint Batteries Plastic bags 25% is recycled 54% is buried 21% is burned

MSW U.S. approximately 4.5 pounds of waste per person per day (1680 pounds/year) Up from 2.7 pounds per person per day in 1960 Compare to Canada (1.79 lbs/person/day) Norway (2.3 lbs/person/day) Japan (2.58 lbs/person/day) Australia (2.70 lbs/person/day) China (0.7 lbs/person/day)

Electronic Waste: A Growing Problem E-waste consists of toxic and hazardous waste such as PVC, lead, mercury, and cadmium. The U.S. produces almost half of the world's e-waste but only recycles about 10% of it. Figure 22-4

BURNING AND BURYING SOLID WASTE Globally, MSW is burned in over 1,000 large waste-to-energy incinerators These boil water to make steam for heating water, or space, or for production of electricity. Japan and a few European countries incinerate most of their MSW.

Burning Solid Waste Waste-to-energy incinerator with pollution controls that burns mixed solid waste. Figure 22-10

Burying Solid Waste Most of the world’s MSW is buried in landfills that eventually are expected to leak toxic liquids into the soil and underlying aquifers. Open dumps Sanitary landfills Open dumps: are fields or holes in the ground where garbage is deposited and sometimes covered with soil. Mostly used in developing countries. Sanitary landfills: solid wastes are spread out in thin layers, compacted and covered daily with a fresh layer of clay or plastic foam.

Pipes collect explosive methane as used as fuel When landfill is full, layers of soil and clay seal in trash Topsoil Electricity generator building Sand Clay Methane storage and compressor building Leachate treatment system Garbage Probes to detect methane leaks Pipes collect explosive methane as used as fuel to generate electricity Methane gas recovery well Leachate storage tank Compacted solid waste Figure 22.12 Solutions: state-of-the-art sanitary landfill, which is designed to eliminate or minimize environmental problems that plague older landfills. Even these landfills are expected to leak eventually, passing both the effects of contamination and cleanup costs on to future generations. Since 1997, only modern sanitary landfills are allowed in the United States. As a result, many older and small landfills have been closed and replaced with larger local and regional modern landfills. Federal requirements: Location restrictions ensure that landfills are built in suitable geological areas away from faults, wetlands, flood plains, or other restricted areas Liners are usually plastic sheets reinforced with two feet of clay on the bottom and sides of landfills Garbage Groundwater monitoring well Leachate pipes Leachate pumped up to storage tank for safe disposal Sand Synthetic liner Leachate monitoring well Sand Clay and plastic lining to prevent leaks; pipes collect leachate from bottom of landfill Groundwater Clay Subsoil Fig. 22-12, p. 532

Not everything stays in or makes it to landfills

Solutions: Reducing Solid Waste Refuse: to buy items that we really don’t need or to take a bag when we don’t need one. Reduce: consume less and live a simpler and less stressful life by practicing simplicity. Reuse: rely more on items that can be used over and over. Repurpose: use something for another purpose instead of throwing it away. Recycle: paper, glass, cans, plastics…and buy items made from recycled materials.

OBJ 24.5 Source Reduction Source reduction (waste prevention) means consuming and throwing away less Purchasing durable, long-lasting goods Seeking products and packaging that are as free of toxins as possible

Source Reduction Example Since 1977, the weight of 2-liter plastic soft drink bottles has been reduced from 68 grams each to 51 grams That means that 250 million pounds of plastic per year has been kept out of the waste stream 14

REDUCE & RECYCLE Reducing resource waste: energy consumption for different types of 350-ml (12-oz) beverage containers. Figure 22-7

RECYCLING Primary (closed loop) recycling: materials are turned into new products of the same type. Secondary recycling: materials are converted into different products. Used tires: shredded and converted into rubberized road surface. Newspapers: transformed into cellulose insulation. START HERE

RECYCLING Recycling paper has a number of environmental (reduction in pollution and deforestation, 64% less energy expenditure) and economic benefits and is easy to do. Recycling many plastics is chemically and economically difficult. Sometimes it is reffered to as down-cycling Many plastics are hard to isolate from other wastes. Recovering individual plastic resins does not yield much material. The cost of virgin plastic resins is lower than recycled resins due to low fossil fuel costs. There are new technologies that are making plastics biodegradable.

Metal & glass recycling Americans use over 100 million steel cans and over 200 million aluminum beverage cans every day Recycling aluminum takes 5% of the energy it takes to make new aluminum Approximately 30% of the aluminum used in the US for consumer products is recycled Every metric ton of waste glass recycled into new items saves 315 additional kilograms of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere during the creation of new glass

21 http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/muncpl/mswdata.htm

There are many benefits to recycling Prevents the emission of many greenhouse gases and water pollutants Saves energy, supplies valuable raw materials to industry Creates jobs Stimulates the development of greener technologies Conserves resources for our children’s future Reduces the need for new landfills and combustors Reduce greenhouse gas emissions that affect global climate In 1996, prevented the release of 33 million tons of carbon into the air—roughly the amount emitted annually by 25 million cars.

Composting Benefits? Keeps organic wastes out of landfills Provides nutrients to the soil Increases beneficial soil organisms (e.g., worms and centipedes) Reduces the need for fertilizers and pesticides Protects soils from erosion

INTEGRATED WASTE MANAGEMENT We can manage the solid wastes we produce and reduce or prevent their production. Figure 22-5