1. Solid and Hazardous Waste
“There is no ‘waste’ in nature and no ‘away’ to which things can be thrown.”
- Barry Commoner

2. Philadelphia’s Trash Problem
Through the 1970s, the city of Philadelphia was experiencing a growing problem of how to handle its waste.
Local landfills had long since been reached capacity, forcing the city to hire private companies to export its waste to other states.
These other states stopped accepting this waste in the early 1980s.

3. Philadelphia’s Waste Problem
The city decided to begin using incineration as a way to reduce the volume of trash it was collecting by 70%.
However, the ash that was leftover still needed to be disposed of, and it had much greater concentrations of toxins.
Another private company was hired to haul the ash away on a barge called the Khian Sea.

4. The Voyage of the Khian Sea
The barge was to be dumped on a man-made island on the Bahamas, but it was turned away.
Also turned away by the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Panama, and Bermuda.
The Haitian government was persuaded by the crew to accept 4,000 tons of the ash.
It was described as “topsoil fertilizer”.
By the time the government was alerted to the true nature of the cargo, the ship had left.

5. The Voyage of the Khian Sea
The Khian sea made its way across the Atlantic, towards southeast Asia.
The name and registration country of the ship was changed twice.
Unsuccessfully attempted to unload the cargo in Morocco, Yugoslavia, Sri Lanka, and Singapore.

6. The Voyage of the Khian Sea
The ship finally returned to the United States across the Indian and Atlantic ocean. By the time it reached port, the ash was gone.

7. Waste in Natural Systems
According to the Law of Conservation of Mass,
“Matter cannot be created or destroyed, it only changes form.”
Any waste produced within an ecosystem, cycles back through the system.
When plants are consumed in a fire…
Carbon-based sugars enter the air as carbon dioxide and water vapor.
Non-combustible minerals like potassium are left behind as ash.
Future plants will absorb these materials again through photosynthesis or their roots.
What happens to human-generated waste?

8. WASTE
According to EPA, U.S. produces 11 billion tons of solid waste annually.
The sum total of all the waste produced by individuals, industries, mining, and agriculture is referred to as the waste stream.
The waste stream includes multiple forms of waste, from many different sources.

9. Agricultural Waste
Left over plant material, manure, pesticides, herbicides.

10. Mining Waste (tailings)
Ore, gravel, and wastewater from mining operations.

11. Industrial Waste
Leftover materials and waste chemicals from manufacturing and processing.

12. Municipal Solid Waste
Garbage from households, businesses, schools, etc.

13. Waste Degradation
Municipal solid waste is a mixture of multiple types of materials.
Material that can be broken down by naturally occurring decomposers is called biodegradable.
Food scraps, yard trimmings, etc.
Material that is synthetic or not able to be broken down is called non-degradable.
Plastics, glass.

14. What Harmful Chemicals Are in Your Home?
Cleaning
Gardening
Disinfectants
Pesticides
Drain, toilet, and window cleaners
Weed killers
Ant and rodent killers
Spot removers
Flea powders
Septic tank cleaners
Paint Products
Paints, stains, varnishes, and lacquers
Paint thinners, solvents, and strippers
Automotive
Figure 21.2
Harmful chemicals found in many homes. The U.S. Congress has exempted disposal of these materials from government regulation. Question: Which of these chemicals are in your home?
Wood preservatives
Gasoline
Artist paints and inks
Used motor oil
General
Antifreeze
Dry-cell batteries (mercury and cadmium)
Battery acid
Brake and transmission fluid
Glues and cements
Fig. 21-2, p. 562

15. U.S. Domestic Waste

16. WASTE DISPOSAL METHODS
Since 1960, municipal solid waste (MSW) production has increased from 88 million tons to 250 million tons annually. (2010 EPA MSW Fact Sheet)
There are a limited number methods used to dispose of this waste.
Open Dumps
Villages of people will leave their waste in a shared open area.
The waste is exposed, attracts wildlife, and is aesthetically unpleasant.
Open dumps are illegal in most developed countries.

17. Open dump, Barrow, Alaska. Photograph from National Geographic.

18. Hundreds of Millions of Discarded Tires in a Dump in Colorado, U.S.

19. WASTE DISPOSAL METHODS
Sanitary Landfills
Large, excavated pit that is lined at the bottom with clay and plastic.
Prevents the escape of water that drains through the landfill, called leachate.
Refuse compacted and covered everyday with a layer of dirt.

20. TRADE-OFFS Sanitary Landfills Advantages Disadvantages No open burning
Noise and traffic
Little odor
Dust
Low groundwater pollution if sited properly
Air pollution from toxic gases and trucks
Releases greenhouse gases (methane and CO2) unless they are collected
Can be built quickly
Low operating costs
Figure 21.16
Advantages and disadvantages of using sanitary landfills to dispose of solid waste (Concept 21-4). Question: Which single advantage and which single disadvantage do you think are the most important? Why?
Slow decomposition of wastes
Can handle large amounts of waste
Output approach that encourages waste production
Filled land can be used for other purposes
No shortage of landfill space in many areas
Eventually leaks and can contaminate groundwater
Fig , p. 576

21. Sanitary Landfills

22. Sanitary Landfills

23. Landfills
Historically, landfills have been the most convenient, inexpensive waste-disposal option.
Costs are increasing due to the need to construct new landfills farther away from major cities.
Suitable landfill sites are becoming scarce.
Increasingly, communities are rejecting new landfills.

24. Incineration
Communities suffering from a lack of space often turn to the burning of solid waste, called incineration.
Incineration has the advantage of reducing the volume of solid waste by about 70%.
The remaining ash must still be buried in a landfill.
Incinerators are expensive to construct and usually have higher tipping fees than landfills.

25. Trade-Offs: Incineration, Advantages and Disadvantages

26. Incinerator Types
Refuse-Derived Fuel - Refuse is sorted to remove recyclable and unburnable materials.
Waste Management of Philadelphia now converts the burnable material into pellets which are placed into coal-fired power plants.

27. Mass Burn - Everything smaller than major furniture and appliances loaded into furnace.
Creates air pollution problems.
Residual ash may contain toxic material.

28. Mass-Burn Garbage Incinerator

29. SHRINKING THE WASTE STREAM
Recycling is the reprocessing of discarded materials into new, useful products.
Less expensive than producing new raw materials.
Reduces space needed for landfills.
Japan recycles about half of all household and commercial wastes.
Lowers demand for raw resources.
Reduces energy consumption and air pollution.

30. TRADE-OFFS Recycling Advantages Disadvantages
Reduces air and water pollution
Can cost more than burying in areas with ample landfill space
Saves energy
Reduces mineral demand
May lose money for items such as glass and some plastics
Reduces greenhouse gas emissions
Reduces solid waste production and disposal
Figure 21.12
Advantages and disadvantages of recycling solid waste (Concept 21-3). Question: Which single advantage and which single disadvantage do you think are the most important? Why?
Reduces profits for landfill and incinerator owners
Helps protect biodiversity
Can save landfill space
Source separation is inconvenient for some people
Important part of economy
Fig , p. 573

31. U.S. Recycling Rates

32. Recycling Cont’d Benefits Example
Recycling 1 ton of aluminum saves 4 tons of bauxite, kg of petroleum coke and pitch, and keeps 35 kg of aluminum fluoride out of the air.
Producing aluminum from scrap instead of bauxite ore cuts energy use by 95%.

33. Recycling Potential Problems Market prices fluctuate wildly.
The recycled materials must be separated by type.
There are several different forms of plastics, labeled #1-7.
Each must be separated before recycling is possible.

34. How Recycling Works

35. SHRINKING THE WASTE STREAM
Composting
Biological degradation of organic material under aerobic conditions.
Only works for biodegradable materials.

36. SHRINKING THE WASTE STREAM
Waste Reduction
The cheapest and most effective way to reduce waste is to not produce it at all.
Excess packaging of food and consumer products is one of our greatest sources of unnecessary waste.

37. How Can We Limit the Amount of Waste We Produce?
Reduce – reduce the amount of waste produced in the first place
For example, avoiding over-packaged goods and using dish towels instead of paper towels.
Reuse – reusing products rather than throwing them away
For example, reusing plastic bags, use plastic sandwich containers rather than disposable bags, bring your own grocery bags to the store)
Recycle – see previous slides

38. Upcycling
Upcycling is the process of converting old or discarded materials into something more useful
It’s basically reusing (one of the 3 r’s)
Upcycling is not a new concept. Some of the best examples of modern-day upcycling come from the 1930s-40s when families had very little economic or material resources. In this age of thrift, they reused almost everything, repurposing items over and over until they were no longer useful: Feed sacks became dresses or old doors became the new dining room table.
A bucket made from an old tire..genius!!

39. Integrated waste management
Integrated waste management arranges all of the strategies of dealing with MSW in order from top-to-bottom.
By utilizing the top methods first, the amount of material that must be incinerated or buried is minimized.
The San Francisco Department of Public Works is a good example of this strategy.

40. Integrated Hazardous Waste Management
Produce Less Hazardous Waste
Convert to Less Hazardous or Nonhazardous Substances
Put in Perpetual Storage
Change industrial processes to reduce or eliminate hazardous waste production
Natural decomposition
Landfill
Incineration
Underground injection wells
Thermal treatment
Chemical, physical, and biological treatment
Surface impoundments
Recycle and reuse hazardous waste
Underground salt formations
Dilution in air or water
Figure 21.17
Integrated hazardous waste management: priorities suggested by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences for dealing with hazardous waste (Concept 21-5). To date, these priorities have not been followed in the United States and in most other countries. Question: Why do you think that most countries do not follow these priorities? (Data from U.S. National Academy of Sciences)
Fig , p. 577

41. Dirty Jobs Season 1, Episode 4
Recyclable materials are collected in special containers. These are collected, machine-sorted, and hand-sorted.
Dirty Jobs Season 1, Episode 4

42. Compostable material, primarily food scraps, is collected in a separate run.

43. HAZARDOUS AND TOXIC WASTES
EPA estimates U.S. industries generate 265 million metric tons of officially classified hazardous wastes annually.
At least 40 million metric tons of toxic and hazardous wastes are released into the environment each year.
What is hazardous waste?

44. Hazardous Waste
Legally, hazardous waste is any discarded liquid or solid that contains substances known to be:
Fatal to humans or laboratory animals in low doses.
Toxic, carcinogenic, mutagenic, or teratogenic to humans or other life-forms.
Ignitable with a flash point less than 60o C.
Corrosive
Explosive or highly reactive.

45. Love Canal
Founded by William Love, who was trying to design a city that ran off hydroelectric power.
Love began digging a canal to Niagara Falls, but the project was abandoned.
The area became popular as a local swimming hole.

46. Love Canal
Hooker Chemical bought the land and used the canal as a dumpsite for several hazardous chemicals.
The city of Niagara Falls, desperate for inexpensive land to accommodate a growing population, pressured Hooker Chemical to sell.

47. Love Canal The quit deed issued when the property was sold stated,
“Prior to the delivery of this instrument of conveyance, the grantee herein has been advised by the grantor that the premises above described have been filled, in whole or in part, to the present grade level thereof with waste products resulting from the manufacturing of chemicals”
“…no claim, suit, action or demand of any nature whatsoever shall ever be made by [Niagara Falls School District], its successors or assigns, against [Hooker]”

48. Love Canal
In spite of the warnings, the school district constructed a school immediately adjacent to the canal dump site.
The school playground was constructed immediately on top.
Dozens of homes were also constructed adjacent to the canal once the school was completed.

49. Modern Marvels, Engineering Disasters 13

50. Hazardous Waste Disposal
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) of (amended in 1984).
Comprehensive set of laws that require the proper treatment and storage of hazardous wastes.
Companies must track and account for all wastes from their creation (cradle) to eventual disposal (grave).

51. Cradle to Grave

52. Federal Legislation
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA).
Also known as the “Superfund”
Aimed at rapid containment, cleanup, or remediation of abandoned toxic waste sites.
Anyone associated with a site can be held responsible for the entire clean-up cost.

53. Leaking Barrels of Toxic Waste at a Superfund Site in the United States

54. Superfund Sites in Lake County
Petersen Sand and Gravel (Libertyville)
Site of illegal dumping of paint and solvents.
Cleanup completed, redeveloped as Independence Grove
Yeoman Creek Landfill (Waukegan)
Improperly lined landfill

55. Superfund Sites in Lake County
Johns-Manville Corp. (Zion)
Asbestos disposal site in present-day Illinois Beach state park.
Waukegan Harbor (Waukegan)
Multiple contaminated sites – hydraulic fluid contamination in the harbor, waste from coke plant in the soil

56. Superfund Sites in Lake County
H.O.D. Landfill
Improperly sealed, vinyl chloride entering groundwater.
Retrofitted with methane collection, used to heat nearby high school.

57. 7 toxic U.S. sites

58. HAZARDOUS WASTE DISPOSAL
Although most industrialized nations have agreed to stop shipping hazardous and toxic waste to less- developed countries, the practice still continues.
An international agreement was passed in 1994 called the Basel Convention that banned the export of hazardous waste.
In spite of this ban, electronic waste is still often smuggled to poorer countries.

59. 60 Minutes, 11/09/2008 “The Electronic Wasteland”

60. Hazardous Waste Management
Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) of 1976
Intended to regulate and ensure the safety of thousands of chemicals used in the manufacture of many products and contained in many products
Companies must notify the EPA before introducing new chemicals into the marketplace, but are not required to provide safety data
In other words, any new chemical is viewed as safe, unless the EPA (with a very limited budget) can show that it is indeed harmful

61. What Can You Do? Hazardous Waste

62. Nuclear Waste
Since the first commercial nuclear power plant opened in Pennsylvania in 1958, the amount of nuclear waste produced has continually grown.
High-level nuclear waste is primarily used fuel rods that are still radioactively active, but not enough to be used to sustain a fission reaction.
Low-level nuclear waste consists of any protective clothing or other handling materials used by plant workers.

63. Nuclear Half-Life
All radioactive elements have a half-life; the amount of time needed for half of the material to decay into smaller, non-radioactive elements.
Polonium-218, for example, has a half-life of 3 days.
After 3 days: 50% remains.
After 6 days, 25% remains.
After 9 days, 12.5% remains.
Other waste products have a much longer half-life, requiring a long-term storage solution.
Strontium-90: 29 years
Plutonium-239: 24,000 years

64. High Level Waste Storage
Used fuel rods will initially be placed in cooling pools. Water will be used to remove heat produced as the rods decay.

65. High Level Waste Storage
Once the fuel is stable enough, it can be placed in dry cask storage. These containers are made of thick steel, preventing any radiation from escape.
Presently, these containers are all kept on the site of the reactor itself.

66. Conservation and Restoration Ecology