Solid wastes are only raw materials we’re too stupid to use. Arthur C Clarke Fresh Kills Landfill

Solid and Hazardous Waste Chapter 21

We Throw Away Huge Amounts of Useful Things and Hazardous Materials Solid waste – Industrial solid waste – Municipal solid waste (MSW) – Hazardous, toxic, waste Hazardous wastes – Organic compounds – Toxic heavy metals – Radioactive waste

We Can Burn or Bury Solid Waste or Produce Less of It Waste Management Waste Reduction Integrated waste management – Uses a variety of strategies

Integrated Waste Management

Integrated Waste Management: Priorities for Dealing with Solid Waste

“Americans make more trash than anyone else on the planet, throwing away about 7.1 pounds per person per day, 365 days a year. Across a lifetime that rate means, on average, we are each on track to generate 102 tons of trash. Each of our bodies may occupy only one cemetery plot when we’re done with this world, but a single person’s 102-ton trash legacy will require the equivalent of 1,100 graves. Much of that refuse will outlast any grave marker, pharaoh’s pyramid or modern skyscraper: One of the few relics of our civilization guaranteed to be recognizable twenty thousand years from now is the potato chip bag.” ― Edward Humes, Garbology: Our Dirty Love Affair with TrashEdward HumesGarbology: Our Dirty Love Affair with Trash

We Can Cut Solid Wastes by Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling Waste reduction is based on – Reduce – Reuse – Recycle Seven strategies: (1) Redesign manufacturing processes and products to use less material and energy (2) Redesign manufacturing processes to produce less waste and pollution

We Can Cut Solid Wastes by Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling Seven strategies cont… (3) Develop products that are easy to repair, reuse, remanufacture, compost, or recycle (4) Eliminate or reduce unnecessary packaging (5) Use fee-per-bag waste collection systems (6) Establish cradle-to grave responsibility (7) Restructure urban transportation systems

What Can You Do? Solid Waste

Solutions: State-of-the-Art Sanitary Landfill

Trade-Offs: Sanitary Landfills, Advantages and Disadvantages

Solutions: Phytoremediation

Trade-Offs: Phytoremediation, Advantages and Disadvantages

Case Study: Hazardous Waste Regulation in the United States 1976: Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) 1980: Comprehensive Environmental, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), or Superfund – Pace of cleanup has slowed – Superfund is broke Laws encouraging the cleanup of brownfields