23Solid and Hazardous Waste

Overview of Chapter 23  Solid Waste  Waste Prevention  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  Solid material discarded by homes, office buildings, retail stores, schools, etc.  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.

Disposal of Solid Waste  Three methods  Sanitary Landfills  Incineration  Recycling © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Sanitary Landfill  Compacting and burying waste under a shallow layer of soil  Most common method of disposal  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.

Sanitary Landfill  Special Problem: Plastic  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  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.

Incineration - Types of Incinerators  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 1. Reduce the amount of waste 2. Reuse products 3. 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  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:  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  US recycles 62.1%  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  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.

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  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)  Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (1980) Commonly known as Superfund © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

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

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.

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 1. Source reduction 2. Conversion to less hazardous materials 3. Long-term storage © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

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