Chapter 24 Solid and Hazardous Waste

Overview of Chapter 24 Solid Waste Waste Prevention Hazardous Waste Types of Solid Waste Waste Prevention Reducing the Amount of Waste Reusing Products Recycling Materials Hazardous Waste Types of Hazardous Waste Management of Hazardous Waste Environmental Justice

Solid Waste US generates more solid waste per capita than any other country 2.1kg per person per day (that’s about 4.5 POUNDS!) Types of Solid Waste Municipal solid waste Solid material discarded by homes, office buildings, retail stores, schools, hospitals, prisons, etc Relatively small portion of solid waste produced Non-municipal solid waste Solid waste generated by industry, agriculture, and mining

Composition of Municipal Solid Waste

Disposal of Solid Waste Three methods Sanitary Landfills Incineration Recycling

Sanitary Landfill Compacting and burying waste under a shallow layer of soil Most common method of disposal

Sanitary Landfill Problems Methane gas production by microorganisms Contamination of surface water & ground water by leachate Not a long-term remedy Few new facilities being opened Closing a full landfill is very expensive

Sanitary Landfill Special Problem of Plastic Special Problem of Tires Much of plastic is from packaging Chemically stable and do not readily break down and decompose Special Problem of Tires Cannot be melted and reused for tires Made from materials that cannot be recycled Can be incinerated or shredded

Incineration Volume of solid waste reduced by 90% Produces heat that can make steam to generate electricity Produce less carbon emissions than fossil fuel power plants (right)

Incineration Types of Incinerators Mass burn (below) Modular Refuse-derived

Incinerator Problems Associated with Incineration Yields air pollution (mercury, arsenic, cadmium, other heavy metals, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxides, etc.) Produce large amounts of ash (still need a landfill) Site selection often controversial

Composting Includes: Reduces yard waste in landfills Food scraps Sewage sludge Agricultural manure Yard waste Reduces yard waste in landfills Can be sold or distributed to community

Waste Prevention Three Goals (1) Reduce the amount of waste (2) Reuse products (3) Recycle materials

Reducing Waste Purchase products with less packaging Buy in bulk to cut down on packaging

Reducing Waste Source reduction Products are designed and manufactured in ways that decrease the volume of solid waste in the waste stream

Reducing Waste Pollution Prevention Act (1990) – first U.S. law to focus on reduction of waste at the source Requires EPA to identify source reduction measures Requires manufacturers to report their source reduction and recycling activities to the EPA Dematerialization Progressive decrease in the size and weight of a product as a result of technological improvements

Reusing Products Refilling glass beverage bottles Heavier glass that costs more Japan recycles almost all bottles Reused 20 times on avg. before being discarded Many products (boxes, scrap paper, storage containers) have other uses that can extend the life of the materials they are made of! Be creative.

Recycling Materials Recycling: In the NE USA, most communities recycle: Glass bottles, newspapers, alum/steel cans, plastic bottles, cardboard, office paper

Recycling Recycling Paper Every ton of recycled paper saves: US recycles 50% Many developed countries are higher Every ton of recycled paper saves: 17 trees 7000 gallons of water 4100 kwatt-hrs of energy 3 cubic yards of landfill space Recycling Glass US recycles 25% Costs less than new glass Can be used to make glassphalt (right)

Recycling Recycling Aluminum Making a new can from recycled one costs far less than making a brand new one, and requires far less energy!

Recycling Aluminum In 2000, 55% of aluminum beverage cans were recycled!

Recycling Other Metals Recycling Metals other than Aluminum Lead, gold, iron, steel, silver and zinc Metallic composition is often unknown and they are often mixed together! Makes recycling difficult

Recycling Recycling Plastic Less than 20% is recycled Less expensive to make from raw materials 35% of plastic soda bottles are recycled annually (PET = polyethylene terphthalate) Used to make carpeting, clothing, felt, auto parts, etc.

The Special Problem of Plastics… The amount of plastic in our solid waste stream is growing faster than any other component! More than half of this plastic is from packaging! The properties of each type of plastic (polystyrene, polyethylene, polypropylene) are different based upon their different chemical compositions Most plastics are chemically stable and do not break down in a landfill easily! A few are photodegradable, and may start to break down when exposed to sunlight; Very few are biodegradable, and can be decomposed by microorganisms

The Special Problem of Plastics… Plastic Bags! According to the WorldWatch Institute, “Factories around the world churned out a whopping 4-5 trillion of them in 2002”! China has instituted a plastic bag ban since 2008! So has San Francisco, CA and many other cities in the U.S. are now following suit!

Recycling Recycling Tires Few products are made from old tires Playground equipment Trashcans Garden hose Carpet Roofing materials 36% of tires are currently recycled to make other products

Integrated Waste Management

Integrated Waste Management Dealing with waste through a combination of approaches, including the three R’s, with a focus on source reduction! Much like integrated pest management, the goal is to use a variety of strategies to minimize municipal solid waste!

Hazardous Waste Any discarded chemical (solid, liquid, or gas) that threatens human health or the environment Reactive, corrosive, explosive or toxic chemicals Types of Hazardous Waste Dioxins PCBs Radioactive waste Love Canal

Legacy of Love Canal After it became apparent that residents (especially children) in the neighborhood had a high incidence of serious illnesses, it became the first location ever declared a “national emergency disaster area” due to hazardous waste….700 families were evacuated! Hooker Chemical Company disposed of 22,000 tons of chemical waste into the canal…which was later “donated” by Hooker to the school board A school and houses were built on the site, which began oozing haz. Waste several years later. Over 300 chemicals were identified in Love Canal’s hazardous waste!

Types of Hazardous Waste More than 700,000 chemicals are known to exist! How many are hazardous is unknown because most have never been tested for toxicity! According to the EPA, only 7% of the 3000 chemicals used in large quantities (over 500 tons annually) have undergone comprehensive studies for potential health impacts Acids, dioxins, abandoned explosives, heavy metals, PCB’s, pesticides, radioactive substances, solvents, infectious waste, nerve gas, etc (Just to name a few!)

Dioxins Dioxins are a group of about 75 similar compounds formed as unwanted by-products during the combustion of chlorine compounds. Sources include medical waste, municipal incinerators, iron ore mills, coal combustion, paper plants that use chlorine to bleach paper, etc. Dioxins are typically emitted as smoke particles, which then settle on plants, the soil, bodies of water, and are then incorporated into the food web. Dioxins are known to cause cancer in several kinds of lab animals!

PCB’s PCB’s = Poly-Chlorinated Biphenyls Extremely toxic to humans A group of 209 industrial chemicals composed of carbon, hydrogen, and chlorine used as cooling fluids in electrical transformers, vacuum pumps, and gas-transmission turbines, fire retardants, adhesives, lubricants, inks, etc. Manufactured between 1929 and 1979 Extremely toxic to humans Mass poisonings have occurred in Japan in 1968 (rice bran oil contaminated with PCB’s), and Taiwan in 1979! PCB’s are known endocrine disruptors which lead to reproduction problems, mental impairment, etc. Also a suspected carcinogen!

PCB’s PCB’s are chemically stable, meaning they DO NOT break down easily and persist for generations PCB’s can biomagnify as they travel through the food web, and they may bio-accumulate in fatty tissues within organisms including humans! Humans contact PCB’s mainly by eating food contaminated with them…particularly fish that lived in a contaminated area Banned by the EPA in the 1970’s

PCB’s Prior to the EPA ban in the 1970’s, PCB’s were dumped into fields, landfills, sewers, etc. so they still remain a threat today! Disposal of PCB’s: High-temperature incineration is the best way to handle PCB materials, but the cost is high and it is NOT practical to remove PCB’s that have leached into soil and water supplies Certain bacteria can break down the PCB’s, but they are a recent development and side-effects not fully known yet.

Case-In-Point Hanford Nuclear Reservation

Hanford Nuclear Reservation… At this point, U.S. weapons facilities are no longer producing nuclear weapons, but the radioactive and toxic wastes from their production still present a major environmental problem Hanford Nuclear Reservation is located in Washington state, along the Columbia River, and is the largest, most contaminated U.S. weapons facility Hanford was the main production site for the plutonium used in nuclear weapons.

Hanford Nuclear Reservation… Tons of highly radioactive solid and liquid wastes were stored or dumped into trenches, pits, tanks, ponds, etc. totaling about 1700 separate sites. More than 100,000 spent fuel rods are stored in 2 concrete pools of water…and as they corrode, they release radioactive uranium, plutonium, cesium, etc into the water Soil and water from these areas are contaminated, and the Columbia river is in danger!

Hanford Nuclear Reservation… Eventually, the spent nuclear fuel rods will be placed at Yucca Mountain, but the facility isn’t ready yet. Columbia river also threatened by millions of gallons of toxic waste and radioactive material stored in 174 large underground tanks….material boiled for years under the heat generated by it’s own radioactive decay! Some tanks may be explosive! Many are now leaking into the surrounding soil and water!

Hanford Nuclear Reservation… Cleanup is obviously complicated…and dangerous! Currently cleanup involves 7,000 workers and $1.7 BILLION PER YEAR! Cleanup has also created legal battles over the environmental and health effects of such a process…many of the workers have developed serious chronic illnesses because they come into close contact with toxic materials (inhaling beryllium, for example) Even after cleanup, Hanford will remain hazardous for thousands of years…since we have no technology to address widespread soil contamination! All of this is costing us $$$$$

Management of Hazardous Waste Managing hazardous wastes can be done, but it is very expensive…and not one country yet has an effective hazardous waste management program Chemical accidents National Response Center notified Typically involves oil, gasoline or other petroleum spill

Management of Hazardous Waste Current Management Policies: 2 Laws that dictate how hazardous waste is handled: Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (1976, 1984) is known as RCRA Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (1980) is known as CERCLA and commonly referred to as the “SUPERFUND” LAW

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Passed in 1976, amended in 1984; instructs the EPA to identify which waste is hazardous and to provide guidelines and standards to states for hazardous waste management programs Also bans hazardous waste from land disposal unless it is treated to reduce toxicity

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)…SUPERFUND LAW Program established in 1980 to clean up an estimated 400,000 abandoned and illegal hazardous waste sites around the U.S., many of which have leaking chemical storage tanks, and also include pesticide dumps, mining waste sites, but does NOT even include military complexes and nuclear weapons sites! By 2007, 10,753 sites were actively on the CERCLA Superfund list, while another 1,010 had already been cleaned up and removed from the list!

Management of Hazardous Waste

Management of Hazardous Waste Toxic waste sites are ranked according to the seriousness of the health threat…leading to the: Superfund National Priorities List 2006: 1558 sites on the list States with the greatest number of sites New Jersey (115) California (93) Pennsylvania (93) New York (86) Michigan (65) NOTE: the AVERAGE cost of cleaning up a single site is $20 MILLION!

Management of Hazardous Waste ISSUE: since the fed. Govt. cannot possibly pay for all the cleanup, the SUPERFUND Law states that the current landowner, prior owners, and anyone who has dumped waste or has transported waste to a particular site must share in the cleanup costs! RESULT: cleanup operations are mired in litigation for years, while no actual cleanup goes on…especially when companies are suing each other for the responsibility to clean up the sites!

Management of Hazardous Waste CERCLA Problems – due to litigation, cleanup occurs at a very slow pace…many sites not even being considered at this point CERCLA Positives – companies are now more aware of their toxic materials, and are disposing of them correctly in a safer way! Some sites are now much safer!

Management of Hazardous Waste Biological Treatment of Hazardous Chemicals Bioremediation = the use of bacteria and other microorganisms to break down hazardous waste into relatively harmless components Phytoremediation = the use of plants to absorb and accumulate hazardous materials from the soil.

Management of Hazardous Waste Management the Waste we are Producing Now (1) source reduction (2) conversion to less hazardous materials (3) long-term storage

Management of Hazardous Waste Hazardous Waste Landfill

Environmental Justice Environmental Justice and Ethical Issues Right of every citizen, regardless of age, race, gender, social class, to adequate protection from environmental hazards Fundamental human right Grassroots campaign Mandating environmental Justice- Federal Level

Environmental Justice International Waste Management Developed countries sometimes send their waste to developing countries Less expensive than following laws within the country Controversial aspect of waste management Basel Convention (1989) Restricts international transport of hazardous waste