1. Solid and Hazardous Waste

2. Core Case Study: E-Waste – An Exploding Problem
Electronic waste (e-waste) is the fastest growing solid waste problem
Most ends up in landfills and incinerators
Composition includes:
High-quality plastics
Valuable metals
Toxic and hazardous pollutants
Shipped to other countries
International Basel Convention
Bans transferring hazardous wastes from developed countries to developing countries
Not ratified by US!
European Union
Cradle-to-grave approach

3. Case Study: Recycling E-Waste
70% goes to China
Hazardous working conditions
Includes child workers
U.S. produces roughly 50% of the world’s e-waste
Recycles only 14%

4. We Throw Away Huge Amounts of Useful Things
Solid waste
Industrial solid waste
Mines, farms, industries
Municipal solid waste (MSW)
Trash
Waste ends up in:
Rivers, lakes, the ocean, and natural landscapes
The US generates more solid waste per capita than any other country!!!!

5. Case Study: Solid Waste in the United States
Leader in solid waste problem
In trash production, by weight, per person
98.5% of all solid waste is industrial waste
Most wastes break down very slowly
If at all

6. We Can Burn, Bury, or Recycle 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

7. We Can Cut Solid Wastes by Refusing, Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling
Waste reduction is based on:
Refuse – don’t use it
Reduce – use less
Reuse – use it over and over
Recycle
Composting
Using bacteria to decompose biodegradable waste

8. There Are Alternatives to the Throwaway Economy
Primary, closed-loop recycling
Materials recycled into same type
Secondary recycling
Materials converted to other products: tires
Types of wastes that can be recycled
Preconsumer, internal waste generated in manufacturing process
Postconsumer, external waste generated by product use
We increasingly substitute throwaway items for reusable ones
In general, reuse is on the rise
One solution: taxing plastic shopping bags
Ireland, Taiwan, the Netherlands

9. There Is Great Potential for Recycling
With incentives, the U.S. could recycle and compost 80% of its municipal solid waste
Composting
Mimics nature’s recycling of nutrients
Resulting organic matter can be used to:
Supply plant nutrients
Slow soil erosion
Retain water
Improve crop yield
Materials-recovery facilities (MRFs)
Can encourage increased trash production
Source separation
Pay-as-you-throw
Fee-per-bag

10. Recycling Paper Production of paper versus recycled paper
Energy use – world’s fifth largest consumer
Water use
Pollution
Easy to recycle
Uses 64% less energy
Produces 35% less water pollution
Produces 74% less air pollution

11. Recycling Plastics Plastics Currently only 7% is recycled in the U.S.
Composed of resins created from oil and natural gas
Currently only 7% is recycled in the U.S.
Many types of plastic resins
Difficult to separate

12. Burying Solid Waste Has Advantages and Disadvantages
Sanitary landfills
Waste place in hole, compacted, covered with soil layer
Bottom lined with clay or plastic liner
Collects leachate which is drained and treated for disposal
Charge fee for use

13. Burying Solid Waste Has Advantages and Disadvantages
Open dumps
Unsanitary, odiferous, leach harmful waste products into soil/water
Widely used in less- developed countries
Rare in developed countries
Large pit
Sometimes garbage is burned

14. Burning Solid Waste Has Advantages and Disadvantages
Waste-to-energy incinerators
To heat water or produce electricity
Landfills emit more air pollutants than modern waste-to-energy incinerators
Toxic chemicals that are filtered must be disposed of or stored
Ash disposal is hazardous waste!!!
Very expensive

15. Hazardous Waste Is a Serious and Growing Problem
Hazardous waste (toxic waste)
Threatens human health of the environment
Classes of hazardous waste
Organic compounds
Toxic heavy metals
Radioactive waste

16. We Can Detoxify Hazardous Wastes
Collect and then detoxify
Physical methods
Charcoal or resins filter
Chemical methods
Convert to less harmful chemicals
Use nanomagnets
Magnetic fields remove pollutant

17. We Can Detoxify Hazardous Wastes
Collect and then detoxify
Bioremediation
Use of biological agents to destroy toxins
Phytoremediation
Plants absorb, filter and remove contaminants
Plasma arch Torch
Electric current through air creates high temp- decomposes wastes
Incineration

18. We Can Store Some Forms of Hazardous Waste
Burial on land or long-term storage
Last resort only
Deep-well disposal
64% of hazardous liquid wastes in the U.S.
Surface impoundments
Lined pools for evaporation
Secure hazardous waste landfills
Expensive

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

20. Case Study: Hazardous Waste Regulation in the United States
1980 – Comprehensive Environmental, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)
National Priorities List
2013 – 1320 Superfund sites; 365 cleaned
Pace of cleanup has slowed
Superfund is broke
Laws encouraging the
cleanup of brownfields
Abandoned industrial sites

21. Grassroots Action Has Led to Better Solid and Hazardous Waste Management
Prevent construction of:
Incinerators, landfills, treatment plants, polluting chemical plants
Something must be done with hazardous wastes

22. 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

23. International Treaties Have Reduced Hazardous Waste
Basel Convention
1992 – in effect
1995 amendment – bans all transfers of hazardous wastes from industrialized countries to less-developed countries
2012 – ratified by 179 countries, but not the United States

24. International Treaties Have Reduced Hazardous Waste
2000 – delegates from 122 countries completed a global treaty
Control 12 persistent organic pollutants (POPs)
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

25. Case Study: Industrial Ecosystems: Copying Nature
Resource exchange webs
Waste as raw material
Ecoindustrial parks
Two major steps of biomimicry
Observe how natural systems respond
Apply to human industrial systems