Chapter 23 Solid and Hazardous Wastes

Types of Solid Waste Municipal Solid Waste Municipal solid waste (MSW) Relatively small portion of waste produced Non-municipal solid waste from industry, agriculture, and mining makes up a much larger % than MSW Municipal Solid Waste

Disposal of Solid Waste 3 methods Sanitary Landfills Incineration Recycling composting

Sanitary Landfill

Sanitary Landfill Problems Methane gas Contamination of surface & ground water Not a long-term remedy Few new facilities being opened Closing a full landfill is very expensive

Sanitary Landfill Special Problem: Plastic Special Problem: Tires 300 million tires are scrapped or dumped per year! Special Problem: Tires cannot be recycled Can be incinerated or shredded

Incineration Pros 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 Cons Byproduct ash

Waste Prevention Three Goals: (The 3 R’s) (1) REDUCE the amount of waste (2) Reuse products (3) Recycle materials http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=landfill+harmonic&FORM=HDRSC3#view=detail&mid=346C911E0F99614E8DC8346C911E0F99614E8DC8

Composting Reduces yard waste in landfills Can be sold or distributed to community Issues- ____________ Issues- contaminated clipping (pesticides) and heavy metals

Reducing Waste Purchase products with less packaging

Reusing Products Refilling glass bottles

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

Recycling Paper-62% Glass-31% Aluminum-51% Recycling Plastic-14% Less expensive to make from raw materials Tires- Making new can/bottle from recycled one costs far less than making a brand new one

Integrated Waste Management

Love Canal Toxic Waste Site Hazardous Waste Any discarded chemical that threatens human health or the environment Reactive, corrosive, explosive or toxic chemicals Love Canal Toxic Waste Site

Hazardous Waste

Case-In-Point Hanford Nuclear Reservation 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

Management of Hazardous Waste Superfund National Priorities List 2009: 1,264 sites on the list States w/ the greatest # of sites New Jersey (114) California (94) Pennsylvania (94) New York (85) Michigan (65) 400,000 waste sites estimated by fed. Gov. to exist We have Superfund sights in Maywood, Torrance…. http://www.epa.gov/SoCal/superfund/sfund-map.html

Management of Hazardous Waste Biological Treatment of Hazardous Chemicals Bioremediation - Time consuming Phytoremediation – use of bacteria and other microorganisms to break down hazardous waste into relatively harmless products

Management of Hazardous Waste (1) Source reduction (2) Conversion to less hazardous materials (3) Long-term storage http://www.usc.edu/org/cosee-west/Jun07Resources/07Waiting%20for%20the%20DDT%20tide%20to%20turn.pdf