1. Chapter 21 Solid and Hazardous Waste

2. Core Case Study: E-waste—An Exploding Problem (1)
Electronic waste, e-waste: fastest growing solid waste problem
Most ends up in landfills and incinerators
Composition includes
High-quality plastics
Valuable metals
Toxic and hazardous pollutants

3. Core Case Study: E-waste—An Exploding Problem (2)
Shipped to other countries
What happens in China and India?
International Basel Convention
Bans transferring hazardous wastes from developed countries to developing countries
European Union
Cradle-to-grave approach

4. Core Case Study: E-waste—An Exploding Problem (3)
What should be done?
Recycle
E-cycle
Reuse
Prevention approach: remove the toxic materials

5. Rapidly Growing E-Waste from Discarded Computers and Other Electronics
Figure 21.1: Rapidly growing electronic waste (e-waste) from discarded computers and other electronic devices consumes resources and pollutes the air, water, and land with harmful compounds. Questions: Have you disposed of an electronic device lately? If so, how did you dispose of it?
Fig. 21-1, p. 557

6. 21-1 What Are Solid Waste and Hazardous Waste, and Why Are They Problems?
Concept Solid waste contributes to pollution and represents the unnecessary consumption of resources; hazardous waste contributes to pollution as well as to natural capital degradation, health problems, and premature deaths.

7. We Throw Away Huge Amounts of Useful Things and Hazardous Materials (1)
Solid waste
Industrial solid waste
Mines, farms, industries
Municipal solid waste (MSW)
Trash
Hazardous waste (toxic waste)
Threatens human health of the environment
Organic compounds
Toxic heavy metals
Radioactive waste

8. We Throw Away Huge Amounts of Useful Things and Hazardous Materials (2)
80–90% of hazardous wastes produced by developed countries
U.S. is the largest producer
Why reduce solid wastes?
¾ of the materials are an unnecessary waste of the earth's resources
Huge amounts of air pollution, greenhouse gases, and water pollution

9. 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
Figure 21.2: Harmful chemicals are found in many homes. The U.S. Congress has exempted disposal of these materials from government regulation. For more details on hazardous chemicals in household products see and the Cancer Prevention Coalition website at Question: Which of these chemicals are in your home?
Automotive
Wood preservatives
Artist paints and inks
Gasoline
Used motor oil
General
Antifreeze
Dry-cell batteries
(mercury and cadmium)
Battery acid
Brake and transmission fluid
Glues and cements
Fig. 21-2, p. 559

10. Natural Capital Degradation: Solid Wastes Polluting a River in Indonesia
Figure 21.3: Natural capital degradation.
These solid wastes pollute a river in Jakarta, Indonesia, a city of more than 11 million people. The man in the boat is looking for items to salvage or sell.
Fig. 21-3, p. 560

11. Solid Waste in the United States
Leader in solid waste problem
What is thrown away?
Leader in trash production, by weight, per person
Recycling is helping

12. Total and Per Capita Production of Municipal Solid Waste in the U.S.
Figure 21.4: This graph shows the total and per capita production of municipal solid waste in the United States, 1960–2008. (Data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)
Fig. 21-4, p. 560

13. Hundreds of Millions of Discarded Tires in a Dump in Colorado
Figure 21.5: Hundreds of millions of discarded tires have accumulated in this massive tire dump in Midway, Colorado (USA). Lehigh Technologies has developed a recycling method that uses liquid nitrogen to freeze the scrap tires, making them brittle. The rubber is then pulverized into a fine powder, which can be used in a variety of products such as paints, sealants, and coatings. A preventive approach to managing this waste would be to double the average lifetime of tires in order to reduce the number thrown away each year.
Fig. 21-5, p. 561

14. 21-2 How Should We Deal with Solid Waste?
Concept A sustainable approach to solid waste is first to reduce it, then to reuse or recycle it, and finally to safely dispose of what is left.

15. We Can Burn or Bury Solid Waste or Produce Less of It
Waste Management
Reduce harm, but not amounts
Waste Reduction
Use less and focus on reuse, recycle, compost
Integrated waste management
Uses a variety of strategies

16. Integrated Waste Management
Figure 21.6: Integrated waste management: Wastes are reduced through reuse, recycling, and composting or managed by burying them in landfills or incinerating them. Most countries rely primarily on burial and incineration. Question: What happens to the solid waste you produce?
Fig. 21-6, p. 562

17. Integrated Waste Management: Priorities for Dealing with Solid Waste
Figure 21.7: Integrated waste management: The U.S. National Academy of Sciences suggests these priorities for dealing with solid waste. To date, these waste-reduction priorities have not been followed in the United States or in most other countries. Instead, most efforts are devoted to waste management through disposal (bury it, burn it, or send it somewhere else). Question: Why do you think most countries do not follow these priorities, even though they are based on reliable science? (Data from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. National Academy of Sciences)
Fig. 21-7, p. 562

18. Science Focus: Garbology
William Rathje: analyzes garbage in landfills
Landfills and trash decomposition
Much slower than previously thought

19. We Can Cut Solid Wastes by Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling (1)
Waste reduction is based on
Reduce
Reuse
Recycle

20. We Can Cut Solid Wastes by Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling (2)
Six strategies:
Redesign manufacturing processes and products to use less material and energy
Develop products that are easy to repair, reuse, remanufacture, compost, or recycle
Eliminate or reduce unnecessary packaging
Use fee-per-bag waste collection systems
Establish cradle-to grave responsibility
Restructure urban transportation systems

21. What Can You Do? Solid Waste
Figure 21.8: Individuals matter.
You can save resources by reducing your output of solid waste and pollution. Questions: Which three of these actions do you think are the most important? Why? Which of these things do you do?
Fig. 21-8, p. 563

22. 21-3 Why Are Reusing and Recycling Materials So Important?
Concept Reusing items decreases the consumption of matter and energy resources, and reduces pollution and natural capital degradation; recycling does so to a lesser degree.

23. Reuse: Important Way to Reduce Solid Waste, Pollution, and Save Money
Reuse: clean and use materials over and over
Downside of reuse in developing countries
Salvaging poor exposed to toxins
Flea markets, yard sales, second-hand stores, eBay, Craigslist, freecycle.org
Rechargeable batteries

24. Case Study: Use of Refillable Containers
Reuse and recycle
Refillable glass beverage bottles
Refillable soft drink bottles made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic
Bottle deposits create jobs and reduce litter and landfill amounts
Paper, plastic, or reusable cloth bags
Pros
Cons

25. What Can You Do? Reuse Figure 21.9: Individuals matter.
There are many ways to reuse the items we purchase. Question: Which of these suggestions have you tried and how did they work for you?
Fig. 21-9, p. 565

26. There Are Two Types of Recycling
Primary, closed-loop recycling
Materials recycled into same type: aluminum cans
Secondary recycling
Materials converted to other products: tires
Types of wastes that can be recycled
Preconsumer: internal waste
Postconsumer: external waste

27. We Can Mix or Separate Household Solid Wastes for Recycling (1)
Materials-recovery facilities (MRFs)
Can encourage increased trash production
Source separation
Pay-as-you-throw
Fee-per-bag
Which program is more cost effective?
Which is friendlier to the environment?

28. We Can Mix or Separate Household Solid Wastes for Recycling (2)
Composting
Individual
Municipal
Benefits
San Francisco, 2009
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

29. Backyard Composter Drum: Bacteria Convert Kitchen Waste into Compost
Figure 21.10: Bacteria convert plant wastes into rich compost in this backyard kitchen composter drum. When the compost is ready, the device can be wheeled out and emptied into vegetable and flower gardens.
Fig , p. 566

30. Case Study: Recycling Paper
Production of paper versus recycled paper
Energy use: world’s fifth largest consumer
Water use
Pollution
Countries that lead recycling efforts
Replacement of chlorine-based bleaching chemicals with H2O2 or O2

31. Case Study: Recycling Plastics
Plastics: composed of resins created from oil and natural gas
Most containers discarded: 4% recycled
Litter: beaches, oceans
Kills wildlife
Gets into food chain and seafood

32. Discarded Solid Waste Litters Beaches
Figure 21.11: Discarded solid waste litters beaches, poses a threat to beach users, and washes into the ocean and threatens marine animals.
Fig , p. 568

33. Individuals Matter: Mike Biddle’s Contribution to Recycling Plastics
Mike Biddle and Trip Allen: MBA Polymers, Inc.
Leaders in plastic recycling
Plants in
U.S.
China
Australia

34. Science Focus: Bioplastics (1)
Plastics from soybeans: not a new concept
Key to bioplastics: catalysts that speed reactions
Sources
Corn
Soy
Sugarcane

35. Science Focus: Bioplastics (2)
Sources cont…
Switchgrass
Chicken feathers
Some garbage
CO2 from coal-burning plant emissions
Benefits: lighter, stronger, cheaper, and biodegradable

36. Trade-Offs: Recycling
Figure 21.12: Recycling solid waste has advantages and disadvantages (Concept 21-3). Questions: Which single advantage and which single disadvantage do you think are the most important? Why?
Fig , p. 569

37. We Can Encourage Reuse and Recycling (1)
What hinders reuse and recycling?
Market prices don’t include harmful costs associated with production, use, discarding
Recycling industries get less favorable government treatment than large industries do
Prices for recycled materials fluctuate

38. We Can Encourage Reuse and Recycling (2)
Government
Increase subsidies and tax breaks for using such products
Decrease subsidies and tax breaks for making items from virgin resources
Fee-per-bag collection
New laws
Citizen pressure

39. 21-4 The Advantages and Disadvantages of Burning or Burying Solid Waste
Concept Technologies for burning and burying solid wastes are well developed, but burning contributes to air and water pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, and buried wastes eventually contribute to the pollution and degradation of land and water resources.

40. Solutions: A Waste-to-Energy Incinerator with Pollution Controls
Figure 21.13: Solutions.
A modern waste-to-energy incinerator with pollution controls burns mixed solid wastes and recovers some of the energy to produce steam to use for heating or producing electricity. Great Britain burns about 90% of its MSW in incinerators and Denmark burns about 54%, compared to 13% in the United States and 8% in Canada. To be economically feasible, incinerators must be fed huge volumes of trash every day. This encourages trash production and discourages reuse, recycling, and waste reduction. Questions: Would you invest in such a project? Why or why not?
Fig , p. 571

41. Trade-Offs: Waste-to-Energy Incineration
Figure 21.14: Waste-to-energy incineration of solid waste has advantages and disadvantages (Concept 21-4). These trade-offs also apply to the incineration of hazardous waste. Since 1985, more than 280 new incinerator projects have been delayed or canceled in the United States because of high costs, concern over air pollution, and intense citizen opposition. Questions: Which single advantage and which single disadvantage do you think are the most important? Why?
Fig , p. 571

42. Burying Solid Waste Has Advantages and Disadvantages
Open dumps
Widely used in less-developed countries
Rare in developed countries
Sanitary landfills

43. Solutions: State-of-the-Art Sanitary Landfill
Figure 21.15: Solutions.
A state-of-the-art sanitary landfill is designed to eliminate or minimize environmental problems that plague older landfills. Since 1997, only modern sanitary landfills have been permitted in the United States. As a result, many small, older landfills have been closed and replaced with larger local or regional landfills. Question: Some experts say that these landfills will eventually develop leaks and could emit toxic liquids. How do you think this could happen?
Fig , p. 572

44. Trade-Offs: Sanitary Landfills
Figure 21.16: Using sanitary landfills to dispose of solid waste has advantages and disadvantages (Concept 16-4). Questions: Which single advantage and which single disadvantage do you think are the most important? Why?
Fig , p. 572

45. 21-5 How Should We Deal with Hazardous Waste?
Concept A sustainable approach to hazardous waste is first to produce less of it, then to reuse or recycle it, then to convert it to less hazardous materials, and finally, to safely store what is left.

46. We Can Use Integrated Management of Hazardous Waste
Integrated management of hazardous wastes
Produce less
Convert to less hazardous substances
Rest in long-term safe storage
Increased use for postconsumer hazardous waste

47. Integrated Hazardous Waste Management
Figure 21.17: Integrated hazardous waste management: The U.S. National Academy of Sciences has suggested these priorities for dealing with hazardous waste (Concept 21-5). Question: Why do you think that most countries do not follow these priorities? (Data from U.S. National Academy of Sciences)
Fig , p. 573

48. Case Study: Recycling E-Waste
70% goes to China
Hazardous working conditions
Includes child workers
Reduce toxic components in electronics
Dell and HP take recycle their products
Europe has high-tech smelters with strict standards

49. We Can Detoxify Hazardous Wastes
Collect and then detoxify
Physical methods
Chemical methods
Use nanomagnets
Bioremediation
Phytoremediation
Incineration
Using a plasma arc torch

50. Solutions: Phytoremediation
Figure 21.18: Solutions.
Phytoremediation involves using various types of plants that function as pollution sponges to clean up contaminants such as radioactive substances (left), organic compounds (center), and toxic metals (right) from soil and water. (Data from American Society of Plant Physiologists, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Edenspace)
Fig , p. 575

51. Trade-Offs: Plasma Arc
Figure 21.19: Using a plasma arc torch to detoxify hazardous wastes has advantages and disadvantages. Questions: Which single advantage and which single disadvantage do you think are the most important? Why?
Fig , p. 576

52. We Can Store Some Forms of Hazardous Waste (1)
Burial on land or long-term storage
Last resort only
Deep-well disposal
64% of hazardous liquid wastes in the U.S.

53. Trade-Offs: Deep-Well Disposal
Figure 21.20: Injecting liquid hazardous wastes into deep underground wells has advantages and disadvantages. Questions: Which single advantage and which single disadvantage do you think are the most important? Why?
Fig , p. 576

54. We Can Store Some Forms of Hazardous Waste (2)
Surface impoundments
Lined ponds or pits
Secure hazardous landfills

55. Surface Impoundment in Niagara Falls, New York
Figure 21.21: This surface impoundment for storing liquid hazardous wastes is located in Niagara Falls, New York (USA). Such sites can pollute the air and nearby ground water and surface water.
Fig , p. 577

56. Trade-Offs Surface Impoundments
Figure 21.22: Storing liquid hazardous wastes in surface impoundments has advantages and disadvantages. Questions: Which single advantage and which single disadvantage do you think are the most important? Why?
Fig , p. 577

57. Solutions: Secure Hazardous Waste Landfill
Figure 21.23: Solutions.
This diagram shows how hazardous wastes can be isolated and stored in a secure hazardous waste landfill.
Fig , p. 577

58. What Can You Do? Hazardous Waste
Figure 21.24: Individuals matter.
You can reduce your output of hazardous wastes (Concept 21-5). Questions: Which two of these measures do you think are the most important? Why?
Fig , p. 578

59. Case Study: Hazardous Waste Regulation in the United States (1)
1976: Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
EPA sets standards and gives permits
Cradle to grave
Covers only 5% of hazardous wastes

60. Case Study: Hazardous Waste Regulation in the United States (2)
1980: Comprehensive Environmental, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)
National Priorities List
2010: 1300 sites, 340 sites cleaned so far
Pace of cleanup has slowed
Superfund is broke
Laws encouraging the cleanup of brownfields

61. Leaking Barrels of Toxic Waste at a Superfund Site in the United States
Figure 21.25: These leaking barrels of toxic waste were found at a Superfund site in the United States that has since been cleaned up.
Fig , p. 578

62. 21-6 How Can We Make the Transition to a More Sustainable Low-Waste Society?
Concept Shifting to a low-waste society requires individuals and businesses to reduce resource use and to reuse and recycle wastes at local, national, and global levels.

63. Grassroots Action Has Led to Better Solid and Hazardous Waste Management
“Not in my backyard”
Produce less waste
“Not in anyone’s backyard”
“Not on planet Earth”

64. Providing Environmental Justice for Everyone Is an Important Goal
Everyone is entitled to protection from environmental hazards
Which communities in the U.S. have the largest share of hazardous waste dumps?
Environmental discrimination

65. International Treaties Have Reduced Hazardous Waste (1)
Basel Convention
1992: in effect
1995 amendment: bans all transfers of hazardous wastes from industrialized countries to less-developed countries
2009: Ratified by 195 countries, but not the United States

66. International Treaties Have Reduced Hazardous Waste (2)
2000: Delegates from 122 countries completed a global treaty
Control 12 persistent organic pollutants (POPs)
“Dirty dozen”
DDT, PCBs, dioxins
Everyone on earth has POPs in blood
2000: Swedish Parliament law
By 2020 ban all chemicals that are persistent and can accumulate in living tissue

67. We Can Make the Transition to Low-Waste Societies
Norway, Austria, and the Netherlands
Committed to reduce resource waste by 75%
East Hampton, NY, U.S.
Reduced solid waste by 85%
Follow guidelines to prevent pollution and reduce waste

68. Case Study: Industrial Ecosystems: Copying Nature
Biomimicry: using natural principles to solve human problems
Nature: wastes of one organism are nutrients for another; apply to industry
Ecoindustrial parks
Two major steps of biomimicry
Observe how natural systems respond
Apply to human industrial systems

69. Three Big Ideas
The order of priorities for dealing with solid waste should be to produce less of it, reuse and recycle as much of it as possible, and safely dispose of what is left.
The order of priorities for dealing with hazardous waste should be to produce less of it, reuse or recycle it, convert it to less hazardous material, and safely store what is left.
We need to view solid wastes as wasted resources and hazardous wastes as materials that we should not be producing in the first place.