Solid and Hazardous Waste Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen Topics Waste; Waste-Disposal Methods; Shrinking the Waste Stream; and Hazardous and Toxic Wastes. 2

WASTE According to EPA, US produces 11 billion tons of solid waste annually. –About half is agricultural waste. –More than one-third is mining related. –Industrial Waste million metric tons. Hazardous/Toxic - 60 million metric tons. –Municipal Waste million metric tons. Waste Stream Two kg per person / per day. 2/3 tons/person/yr 2X as much as Europe or Japan 5-10X as much as developing countries 3

The Waste Stream Waste stream - the steady flow of varied wastes we all produce In spite of recent progress in recycling, many recyclable materials end up in the trash. Problem: refuse mixing of –recyclable and non-recyclable materials, –hazardous and non-hazardous materials 4

Municipal Solid Waste Composition in the US ( by weight before recycling) Cunningham & Cunningham 2006 (EPA 2000)5

Waste Disposal Methods 6

Predominant method of waste disposal in developing countries Illegal dumping Groundwater contamination Open Dumps 7

Sanitary Landfills More than 1,200 of the 1,500 existing landfills in the U.S. have closed. Many major cities must export their trash. 8

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Exporting Waste ‘Garbage Imperialism’ Although most industrialized nations in the world have agreed to stop shipping hazardous and toxic waste to less developed countries, the practice still continues. Within rich nations, poor neighborhoods and minority populations are more likely to be the recipients of LULUs (locally unwanted land uses). Toxic wastes are sometimes “recycled” as building materials, fertilizer or soil amendments. 10

Incinerator Types Refuse-Derived Fuel - Refuse is sorted to remove recyclable and unburnable materials. Higher energy content than raw trash. Mass Burn - Everything smaller than major furniture and appliances loaded into furnace. Creates air pollution problems. Reduces disposal volume by 80-90%. –Residual ash usually contains toxic material. 11

Mass-Burn Garbage Incinerator 12

Municipal Waste,

Shrinking the Waste Stream Reusing vs. recycling Recycling successes, eg –New Jersey has 60% recycling rate –2/3 of all aluminum cans recycled Problems: –fluctuating market prices, –contamination Recycling 14

Recycling Benefits, Incentives Recycling saves money, energy, raw materials, and land space, while also reducing pollution. Recycling encourages individual awareness and responsibility. Japan - probably the most successful recycling program in the world Creating incentives for recycling - public policies, consumer demand 15

Separation in the Kitchen 16

U.S. Recycling Rates Cunningham & Cunningham 2006 (EPA 2003)17

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Rabanco Recycling 19

UW Paper Recycling 20

Shrinking the Waste Stream Composting –Biological degradation of organic material under aerobic conditions. Demanufacturing –Disassembly and recycling of obsolete consumer products. Reuse –Reusable glass container makes an average of 15 round-trips between factory and customer before it has to be recycled. 21

Composting 22

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Producing Less Waste The best way to reduce our waste stream Excess packaging of food and consumer products is one of our greatest sources of unnecessary waste. Photodegradable plastics break down when exposed to UV rays. Biodegradable plastics can be decomposed by microorganisms. There are problems with photodegradable and biodegradable plastics, eg, –don’t degrade completely, –littering is considered ok with these degradable products ??? 29

The “Three R’s” (in order of desirablity) Reduce Reuse Recycle 30

sources sinks 31

Hazardous and Toxic Wastes What is hazardous and toxic waste? - Discarded material containing substances known to be fatal, toxic, mutagenic, carcinogenic, or teratogenic to humans or other life forms; or ignitable, corrosive, explosive or reactive. U.S. industries generate about about 265 million metric tons of officially classified toxic wastes each year. Chemical and petroleum industries - biggest sources of toxins. 32

Hazardous Waste Producers - United States 33

Hazardous Waste Disposal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund Act) – 1980 & 1995 Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) - Toxic Release Inventory

Tracking Toxic and Hazardous Wastes Cradle to Grave 35

Superfund Sites National Priority List placed 1,551 sites on Superfund cleanup list by

National Priority List (NPL) EPA estimate: 36,000 seriously contaminated sites in the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) estimate: 400,000 seriously contaminated sites NPL sites - waste sites that are especially hazardous to human health or environmental quality 37

Superfund Sites Total costs for hazardous waste cleanup in the US are estimated between $370 billion and $1.7 trillion. –For years, most of the funding has gone to legal fees, but this situation has improved over past several years. Studies of Superfund sites reveal minorities tend to be over-represented in these neighborhoods. 38

How Clean is Clean Brownfields - Contaminated properties that have been abandoned or are not being used up to potential because of pollution concerns. –Up to one-third of all commercial industrial sites in urban core of many big cities fall into this category. In many cases, property owners complain that unreasonably high purity levels are demanded in remediation programs. 39

Hazardous Waste Management Options Produce Less Waste –Avoid creating wastes in the first place –Recycle and Reuse Convert to Less Hazardous Substances –Physical Treatment (Isolation) –Incineration –Chemical Processing (Transformation) –Bioremediation (Microorganisms) 40

Hazardous Waste Management Options Store Permanently –Retrievable Storage Can be inspected and periodically retrieved. –Secure Landfills Modern, complex landfills with multiple liners and other impervious layers and monitoring systems. 41

(Botkin & Keller 2000) 42

Secure Landfills (Cunningham & Cunningham 2006)43

Bioremediation use of biological organisms to remove pollution or restore environmental quality (Cunningham & Cunningham 2006)44

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Industrial Ecology (Kalundborg, Denmark) Local Farms Coal-fired power plant Sulfuric acid producer homes Fish farm Pharmaceutical plant Sheetrock plant Horticulture greenhouses Cement manufacturer Oil refinery 46

Industrial Ecology (Kalundborg, Denmark) Oil refinery Local Farms Coal-fired power plant Sulfuric acid producer homes Fish farm Pharmaceutical plant Sheetrock plant Horticulture greenhouses Cement manufacturer Oil refinery Steam Heat 47

Industrial Ecology (Kalundborg, Denmark) Oil refinery Local Farms Coal-fired power plant Sulfuric acid producer homes Fish farm Pharmaceutical plant Sheetrock plant Horticulture greenhouses Cement manufacturer Oil refinery Natural gas Sulfur 48

Industrial Ecology (Kalundborg, Denmark) Oil refinery Local Farms Coal-fired power plant Sulfuric acid producer homes Fish farm Pharmaceutical plant Sheetrock plant Horticulture greenhouses Cement manufacturer Oil refinery CaSO 4 from SO 2 Fly ash from emissions 49

Industrial Ecology (Kalundborg, Denmark) Oil refinery Local Farms Coal-fired power plant Sulfuric acid producer homes Fish farm Pharmaceutical plant Sheetrock plant Horticulture greenhouses Cement manufacturer Oil refinery Sludge as fertilizer High nutrient sludge from fermentation vats 50

Industrial Ecology (Kalundborg, Denmark) Oil refinery Local Farms Coal-fired power plant Sulfuric acid producer homes Fish farm Pharmaceutical plant Sheetrock plant Horticulture greenhouses Cement manufacturer Oil refinery 51

Drug testing Lab Residential homes Barracks Office buildings Sewer pipes Manholes 52

Summary: Solid Waste Waste Disposal Methods Shrinking the Waste Stream –Recycling Hazardous and Toxic Wastes –Federal Legislation RCRA CERCLA –Management Options 53