Solid Waste Management

Did you know?? One ton of recycled paper uses 64% less energy 50% less water Causes 74% less air pollution

Saves 17 trees Creates 5 times more jobs than one ton of paper product made from virgin wood pulp.

Did you know?? New York City alone throw out enough garbage each DAY to fill the Empire State Building. In one day, Americans get rid of 20,000 cars and 4,000 trucks.

In the U.S. Industry, people and institutions produced 230 million pounds of waste in 1999.

This amount of trash equals almost 5 pounds of waste per person per day.

Municipal solid waste is waste that consists of paper, yard waste, food and plastic. Solid waste management can be handled in several ways.

WAYS TO DISPOSE WASTES Open landfill – Just a hole in the ground where trash is dumped. Soil is placed over the trash to help keep the smell down. These types of landfills were used in the 1960’s and have no lining.

Sanitary landfills - A landfill is a regulated area where wastes are placed in the land. Landfills are constructed in several layers to prevent contamination of the soil and water around them and to handle odor, gases and waste volume.

Examples: Municipal Waste Landfill, Construction and Demolition Waste Resource Recovery (Waste-to-energy facilities)

Steps in creating a sanitary landfill 1. Landfill is lined with a plastic liner and several feet of clay on the bottom and sides of the hole.

This lining prevents most substances from leaking out of the landfill into the ground and water.

2. Wastes are compacted and covered with several inches of soil on a daily basis to help reduce odor, and to control litter, insects and rodents.

3. Landfills must be monitored in order to prevent the contamination of groundwater and other areas around the landfill.

4. Newer landfills have leachate collection systems 4. Newer landfills have leachate collection systems. Collects water that has percolated through the landfill and contains contaminate substances (leachates/leeching).

5. Methane collection system 5. Methane collection system. Landfill gas (LFG) forms when trash begins to decompose in an anaerobic environment. Landfill gas consists of 50 % methane and 50% carbon dioxide. Some landfills collect the gases and convert them to electricity.

6. The primary decomposers of garbage are bacteria and fungi. Decomposers – organisms that break down dead organic wastes.

7. The amount of moisture and air, temperature, light and the decomposing material all affect the rate at which microbes can digest the garbage.

8. According to the EPA, 25% of all monitored landfills in the US are leaking their contents into the groundwater.  

Landfill Construction Simulation http://polaris.umuc.edu/mts/ENVM/newsimu/02-constr/constr.html

SOLID WASTE BREAKDOWN Paper: 2-4 weeks Cotton rags: 1-5 months Orange peel: 6 months Wool sock: 12 months Plastic bags: 10-20 yrs. Leather shoes: 25-40 yrs. Aluminum cans: 200-500 yrs. Glass bottle: undetermined By 2010, there may not be many places where our trash can go.

RCRA Resource conservation and Recovery Act (1976) This is a federal law which helps to govern our waste management system.

*To protect public from harm caused by waste disposal. *To encourage reuse, reduction and recycling *To clean-up spilled or improperly stored wastes

Combustion One way in which we try and reduce the amount of waste is by combustion. Combustion is disposing of trash by controlled burning.

These stations are sometimes called WTE facilities because as the wastes burn energy is produced.

1. Combustion of trash reduces the volume of the wastes by 90% and the mass by 75%.

2. Burning at such high temperatures destroys harmful compounds and kills disease-causing bacteria.

3. Burning trash also creates energy and it can convert water into steam to generate electricity.

4. Combustion also pollutes the air 4.Combustion also pollutes the air. A scrubber uses a liquid spray to neutralize acidic gases in combustion smoke. Filters are also used to remove ash particles from the smoke.

Biomediation Plants WTE plants may also use heated tanks filled with bacteria to break down wastes. By products are METHANE.

Then the methane is burned to produce heat and ELECTRICITY most of which is used in the plant itself.

Composting Biological way to rid of wastes. Worm, bacteria, fungi decompose fruit and other organisms decompose piles of fruit & veggies, food scraps, wood and lawn clippings

Composting begins by microorganisms digesting and excreting the organic matter into the pile. As the temperature rises more organisms are attracted to the pile.

The product of composting is a dark brown substance called humus The product of composting is a dark brown substance called humus. Humus is very rich in nutrients and an important part of good soil

Paper vs. Plastic Plastics buried in a landfill can take an estimated time of up to 500 years to break down..

Plastic is made from long complicated chains of atoms called polymers Plastic is made from long complicated chains of atoms called polymers. Bacterial and other decomposers do not find these polymers very appetizing.

Some plastics are photodegradable, which means they break down in the presences of light.

Other plastics are biodegradable, which means that they degrade by the action of microbes(bacteria/fungi)

Biodegradable plastic bags have been developed Biodegradable plastic bags have been developed. They are made of plastic webbing and cornstarch.

Paper presents a space problem Paper presents a space problem. There is more paper used than plastics but it does not compact. Paper will not rot when sealed air tight.

WASTE PREVENTION – REDUCE, REUSE AND RECYCLE There are three goals of waste prevention.

Reduce the amount of waste Reuse as much as possible Recycle materials

REDUCE We have many disposable materials in our society. We have been referred to as the “throw away society.”

Source Reduction alters the design, manufacture or use of materials to reduce the amount and toxicity of the waste generated.

Purchasing durable goods and products with little or no packaging.

Using environmentally friendly cleaning products and using small amounts to clean.

REUSE Reusing items rather than throwing them in the trash is another way in which we can reduce the amount of waste. Give items away for redistribution.

RECYCLE Recycling is a series of activities that reuse a product’s raw materials to manufacture new products.

1. Collect the materials: glass, plastic, steel, paper, plastic and aluminum

2. Manufacturing: Each recyclable has its own process where it is broken down and then made into something new.

3. Recycling loop is completed when recycled products are bought 3. Recycling loop is completed when recycled products are bought. Buying recycled products also saves resources for future generations.

Amount of items being recycled: 42% of all paper 40% of plastic soft drink bottles 55% of aluminum cans 56% of all steel packaging

Paper, especially newsprint, is recycled and used on farms to enrich soil and livestock bedding.   Not all glass can be recycled.

Plastics are recycled based on their SPI code numbers 1-7. Metals that are commonly recycled are steel and aluminum.

Recycling aluminum cans have diverted more than two billion pounds of aluminum from the landfills.

Recycling DOES make a difference!!!!!!

Penn Waste Single Streaming http://www.pennwaste.com/recycling/pw_single_stream_recycling.asp