Garbage !! Everyone produces waste the USA alone produces 11 billion tons of solid waste a year.

Types of Waste Municipal Solid Waste - generated by residential and commercial sources –food waste - glass –fabric-wood –paper-appliances –plastics- furniture –metal - auto parts

Types of Waste Hazardous waste - generated by residential, commercial, industrial, and agricultural sources –household cleaners … bleach, ammonia –outdated medicine –automotive products … oil, brake fluid, batteries –paint products … enamel, oil based paint, thinner –photographic chemicals –pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizers

Types of Garbage Industrial waste - broken into lots of categories –food products … meats, fat, oils, bones, offal … –furniture … wood, sawdust, plastic, glass, metal –paper products … paper, fiber, chemicals, inks –leather products … scraps, thread, dye, curing –electrical … metal, carbon, glass, rubber, resins

Types of Garbage Radioactive waste - generated by the power industry, the government, and research laboratories

Distribution of MSW Residential and commercial ~62 % –excluding hazardous and special Special (yard waste, batteries, bulky) ~ 5% Hazardous ~ 0.1% Industrial ~ 3.4% Construction ~ 14% Municipal Services ~ 9.5% Treatment plant sludge ~ 6.0%

an American generates about 4.3 pounds of solid trash per day

Originally people could simply dump their waste into an open pit or the ocean etc. Two basic reasons why this doesn’t work anymore 1.Volume of waste produced 2.Types of waste produced –non-biodegradable –toxic / hazardous

What do we do with all this waste ? Landfills Incineration Recycling

Landfills A landfill is a specially designed facility for the burial of municipal solid waste. They are designed in such a way that leachates, cannot leak down through the soil into the water table. leachates - water percolating through landfills produces leachate, which usually contains undesirable or toxic chemicals

Landfills Landfills are lined with a layer of clay-like soil at the bottom of the landfill. The next layer up is a synthetic lining, usually made of plastic. All remaining layers alternate between soil and garbage.

Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display. Sanitary landfill Figure

MSW Landfill

Trash is compacted into cells which contain only one days trash. Cells are arranged in rows and layers, called lifts

Storm runoff from a landfill must be contained

Drainage ditches run along the base of the landfill. The black pipe is part of the gas collection system.

Runoff is stored in lined ponds and tested before being treated and/or released

Leachate is directed into a standing pond where solids are allowed to settle and the liquid is tested and treated.

Methane and other gases are generated in landfills and must be safely vented, flared off or collected.

Once the landfill is full it is capped and grass or other plants are introduced

Groundwater around the landfill must be monitored even after the landfill is closed.

Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display. Waste incinerator Figure

Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display. Municipal waste disposal Figure