Solid and Hazardous Waste 23 Solid and Hazardous Waste

Overview of Chapter 23 Solid Waste Waste Prevention Hazardous Waste Reducing the Amount of Waste Reusing Products Recycling Materials Hazardous Waste Types of Hazardous Waste Management of Hazardous Waste © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Solid Waste US generates more solid waste per capita than any other country 1.98kg (4.34lb) per person per day 243 million tons in 2009 (down from 2007) Waste generation is highest in developed countries Instead of repairing items, they are replaced © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Types of Solid Waste Municipal solid waste Non-municipal solid waste Solid material discarded by homes, office buildings, retail stores, schools, etc. (changes over years….now more paper and plastic) Relatively small portion of solid waste produced Non-municipal solid waste Solid waste generated by industry, agriculture, and mining © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Composition of Municipal Solid Waste © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Open Dumps Open Dumps Open, unregulated dumps are still the predominant method of waste disposal in developing countries. Most developed countries forbid open dumping.

Disposal of Solid Waste Four methods to get rid of waste Sanitary Landfills (bury it) Incineration (burn it) Dump it Compost it (Recycling) © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Sanitary Landfill Compacting and burying waste under a shallow layer of soil. (54% of solid waste) Most common method of disposal Dirt takes up as much as 20% of landfill space. Since 1994, all operating landfills in the US have been required to control hazardous substances 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 © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Sanitary Landfill © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Exporting Waste Although most industrialized nations have agreed to stop shipping hazardous and toxic waste to less-developed countries, the practice still continues. Garbage imperialism also operates in wealthier countries. Indian reservations increasingly being approached to store wastes on reservations.

Sanitary Landfill Special Problem: Plastic Special Problem: Tires Much of plastic is from packaging Chemically stable and do not readily break down and decompose Special Problem: Tires Made from materials that cannot be recycled Can be incinerated or shredded © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Incineration Two positive things come from 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 Byproduct Bottom ash Fly ash © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Types of incinerators Mass burn is a large furnace that burns all solid waste except for unburnable items such as refrigerators. Recover energy. Creates air pollution problems. Modular incinerators are smaller incinerators that burn all solid waste. They are located at factories and so are less expensive to build. Refuse-derived fuel- is where only the combustible portion of solid waste is burned. Refuse is sorted to remove recyclable and unburnable materials. Higher energy content than raw trash. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Incineration and Resource Recovery Energy Recovery - Heat derived from incinerated refuse is a useful resource. Steam used for heating buildings or generating electricity.

Mass burn , waste to energy incineration Mass burn (below), Modular, Refuse-derived © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Incineration - Problems Production of hazardous air pollutants Carbon monoxide, particulates, heavy metals Reduced by Lime Scrubbers Electrostatic Precipitators Byproduct - Bottom ash and Fly ash Must be disposed of in hazardous waste landfills © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Composting Municipal Solid Waste Composting Includes: Food scraps, Sewage sludge, Agricultural manure, Yard waste Reduces yard waste in landfills Can be sold or distributed to community © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Waste Prevention Three Goals Reduce the amount of waste Reuse products Recycle materials © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Reducing Waste Purchase products with less packaging © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Reducing Waste Source reduction Pollution Prevention Act (1990) Products designed and manufactured to decrease the volume of solid waste Reuse and recycle wastes at the plant where they are generated Pollution Prevention Act (1990) Dematerialization Progressive decrease in the size and weight of a product as a result of technological improvements © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Reusing Products Refilling glass beverage bottles used to be standard Heavier glass required in reusable glass bottles- costs more to make and transport Cheaper to use lightweight, non-reusable glass Japan recycles almost all bottles Reused 20 times 11 US States have deposits on cans and bottles to promote reuse © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Recycling Materials Every ton of recycled paper saves: Recycle 17 trees 7000 gallons of water 4100 kwatt-hrs of energy 3 cubic yards of landfill space Recycle Glass bottles, newspapers, steel cans, plastic bottles, cardboard, office paper © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Recycling US recycles 38% of Municipal Solid Waste Recycling Paper This has increased due to consumer demand for recycled paper products Recycling Glass US recycles 25% Costs producers less than new glass (right) © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Recycling Recycling Aluminum Recycling Metals other than Aluminum Making new can from recycled one costs far less than making a brand new one (economic incentive) 51% of aluminum was recycled in 2009 Recycling Metals other than Aluminum Lead, gold, iron, steel, silver and zinc Metallic composition is often unknown Makes recycling difficult © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Recycling Recycling Plastic 14% of all plastic is recycled (2009) Less expensive to make from raw materials 28% of PET in water and soda bottles is recycled Most plastic containers are made of many types of plastic that must be separated to be recycled © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Recycling Recycling Tires Few products are made from old tires Playground equipment Trashcans Garden hose Carpet Roofing materials © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Integrated Waste Management © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Love Canal Toxic Waste Site Hazardous Waste Any discarded chemical that threatens human health or the environment Reactive, corrosive, explosive or toxic chemicals 1% of waste stream in US Love Canal Toxic Waste Site © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Hazardous Waste © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Hazardous Waste Dioxin PCBs Formed as byproduct of combustion of chlorine compounds Bioaccumulate and biomagnify through foodweb Cause cancer, effect reproductive, immune and nervous system PCBs Used as cooling fluid, fire retardant, lubricator Disposed of in open dumps, sewers and fields in 1970s - issue in groundwater today Endocrine disrupter © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Case-In-Point Hanford Nuclear Reservation © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Management of Hazardous Waste Chemical accidents National Response Center notified Typically involves oil, gasoline or other petroleum spill Current Management Policies Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (1976, 1984) (RCRA) Comprehensive program requiring rigorous testing and management of toxic and hazardous substances Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (1980) CERCLA Commonly known as Superfund © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Superfund Program Cleaning up existing hazardous waste: 400,000 waste sites Leaking chemical storage tanks and drums (below) Pesticides dumps Piles of mining wastes Must be cleaned up 2011 - over 11,000 sites on list © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

CERCLA Government does not have to prove anyone violated a law, or what role they played in a superfund site. Liability under CERCLA is “strict, joint, and several”, meaning anyone associated with a site can be held responsible for the entire clean-up cost.

Management of Hazardous Waste Superfund National Priorities List 2011: 1,290 sites on the list States with the greatest number of sites New Jersey (112) Pennsylvania (95) California (94) New York (87) Michigan (67) © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Brownfield 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.

Management of Hazardous Waste Biological Treatment of Hazardous Chemicals Bioremediation - use of bacteria and other microorganisms to break down hazardous waste into relatively harmless products 1000 species of bacteria and fungi Time consuming Inexpensive Phytoremediation- use of plants to absorb and accumulate hazardous materials in the soil Ex: Indian mustard removes heavy metals © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Examples of Phytoremediation © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Management of Hazardous Waste Source reduction Conversion to less hazardous materials Long-term storage © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Hazardous Waste Landfill © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.