` Area IV: Pollution IVA4: Solid Waste

` 24-1 Wasting Resources Solid waste is another kind of resource; the U.S. is not utilizing this resource well l U.S. produces 33% of world’s solid waste l solid waste is unwanted/discarded material that is not liquid/gaseous  goods and services produce it indirectly  municipal solid waste (garbage/trash) comes mostly from homes and workplaces l solid waste is a sign of a society’s waste of its resources

` Fig Sources of waste in U.S.

` 24-2 Producing Less Waste l waste management: high-waste approach that accepts waste production as a result of economic growth  it attempts to reduce environmental harm  it transfers the waste from one part of the environment to another

` 24-2 Producing Less Waste l waste reduction: low-waste approach sees solid waste as a potential resource, which should be reused, recycled, or composted  it discourages waste production  it encourages waste reduction and prevention  saves matter and energy resources, reduces pollution, helps protect biodiversity, and saves money (maybe)

` Fig Dealing with waste

` 24-2 Producing Less Waste l to cut waste production and promote sustainability:  consume less  use less materials and energy and produce less waste and pollution by redesigning manufacturing processes and products  develop products that are easily repaired, reused, remanufactured, composted, or recycled  design products with long lives  eliminate or reduce unnecessary packaging

` 24-2 Producing Less Waste l a design revolution has encouraged the use of less material and energy for each unit of goods and services  products that use less material have been substituted for previous products  products, which take less material/energy to produce, have been made l a resource productivity revolution will get 75–90% more work/service from each unit of material resources that we use

` 24-3 Ecoindustrial Revolution The ecoindustrial revolution will reduce waste production by copying nature l one manufacturer’s wastes become raw materials for another manufacturer; “industrial ecosystem” or “biomimicry”  this reduces the costs of controlling pollution  it reduces exposure to toxic and hazardous materials; improves the health of workers  biomimicry stimulates companies to pursue creative, beneficial products (for example, 3M Company’s Pollution Prevention Pays (3P))

` Fig Industrial ecosystem

` 24-3 Ecoindustrial Revolution l a service flow/product stewardship economy is based on selling services instead of goods; customers lease or rent the services that goods provide  product uses minimum amount of materials  product lasts as long as possible  product is easy to maintain, repair, remanufacture, reuse, or recycle  this type of service is based on eco-leasing (for example, Xerox Corporation and Ray Anderson’s INTERFACE company)

` 24-4 Reuse Reusing products helps reduce resource use, waste, and pollution; it also saves money l developing countries reuse their products, but there is a health hazard for the poor l U.S. e-waste goes to developing countries l large city dumps expose scavengers to toxins and infectious diseases l refillable containers create jobs, costs less for the product, and lessen waste l many items can be reused/borrowed

` Fig Energy consumption

` 24-5 Recycling Recycling collects waste materials, turns them into useful products, and sells the new products l five types of materials can be recycled:  paper products  glass  aluminum  steel  some plastics l recycling saves money and creates jobs, more than burning or landfilling wastes

` Fig Benefits of recycling

` 24-5 Recycling l recycling processing consists of two methods; primary recycling is preferred  primary/closed-loop recycling: new products of the same type are created from the waste: new newspaper from old newspaper  secondary/downcycling converts waste materials into different products l pre-consumer/internal waste is generated from a manufacturing process that is recycled

` 24-5 Recycling l post-consumer/external waste is generated by consumer use of products l composting biodegradable organic wastes is a great way to mimic nature l solid waste recycling can be done in a materials-recovery facility (MRF)  machines shred and separate the mixed waste and sell raw materials to manufacturers  wastes are recycled and/or burned to produce energy, but such plants are expensive  must process a large input of garbage

` Sorting trash

` Bales

` Fig Materials recovery facility (MRF)

` 24-5 Recycling l source separation recycling relies on households and businesses to separate their trash  this produces less air and water pollution  lower startup costs and operating costs  saves more energy and provides more jobs  pay-as-you-throw (PAUT) waste collection systems charge for the mixed waste that is picked up but not for the recycled, separated materials

` 24-5 Recycling l plastic recycling is not feasible because of these problems  plastics are difficult to isolate in different materials  not much individual plastic resin is recoverable per product  recycled resin is much more expensive than virgin plastic resin

` Fig How plastics are made

` 24-5 Recycling l a new polymer, polyactide (ACT), made by Cargill and Dow is being used to produce plastic containers, which can be composted for a soil conditioner l the economics of recycling depends on the costs one counts  environmental and health benefits outweigh the costs of recycling  some materials cost more than it is worth

` 24-5 Recycling l factors that hinder reuse and recycling are:  cost of a product does not include harmful environmental health costs in its life cycle  resource-extracting industries receive government tax breaks and subsidies while recycle and reuse industries do not  landfill charges are low in the U.S. (due to lots of space?)  the demand and price for recycled materials fluctuates so less interest in committing to it

` Fig Life-cycle analysis of a shirt

` 24-6 Burning and Burying Solid Waste l municipal solid waste is burned in waste-to- energy incinerators, which produces steam for heating or producing electricity l disadvantages of burning solid waste include:  high operating costs  air pollution concerns  citizen opposition to the process

` Fig Waste-to-energy incinerator

` 24-6 Burning and Burying Solid Waste l most solid waste is buried in landfills, which can leak toxins into soil and water  open dumps in the ground hold garbage; sometimes it is covered with dirt  sanitary landfills spread the solid waste out in thin layers, compact it, and cover it daily with clay/plastic foam  modern landfills line the bottom with an impermeable liner, which collects leachate  leachate is collected, stored in tanks, and then sent to a sewage treatment plant

` Fig Sanitary landfill

` Achieving a Low-Waste Society l NIMBY: Not In My Backyard l NOPE: Not On Planet Earth or ‘not in anyone’s backyard’ l in 2000, a global treaty to control twelve persistent organic pollutants (POPs) was developed; 50 countries must sign for effectiveness  POPs are toxic chemicals stored in the fatty tissue of humans and other organisms  12 chemicals, the dirty dozen, need to be phased out, detoxified, and/or isolated

` Achieving a Low-Waste Society l four principles for transitioning to a low- waste society  everything is connected  there is no place to send wastes “away”  diluting waste is not the solution to pollution  the best solution is to prevent waste and pollution and, then, reuse/recycle the materials that we use