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

2. 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.
What happens to waste generated by humans?

3. The Waste Stream
The total sum of human-generated waste is referred to as the waste stream. This includes:
Municipal solid waste is nonliquid waste that comes from homes, institutions, and small businesses.
Industrial solid waste includes waste from production of consumer goods, mining, agriculture, and petroleum extraction and refining.
Hazardous waste refers to solid or liquid waste that is toxic, chemically reactive, flammable, or corrosive.
Wastewater, used water from sinks, showers, washing machines, toilets, etc.

4. Municipal Solid Waste
According to the EPA, the U.S. produced 258 million tons of municipal solid waste in 2014.
Increase from about 88 million tons in 1960.
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.
What are our options in dealing with municipal solid waste?

5. 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

6. U.S. Domestic Waste

7. Open Dumps
Open dumps are piles of municipal garbage left in empty lots, pastures, and other exposed places.
Open dumps carry the greatest environmental and human health risks, due to potential contamination of water, soil, and air.
Open dump, Chitré, Panama

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

9. Sanitary Landfills
Sanitary landfills bury waste in the ground or pile it in large mounds engineered to prevent it from contaminating the environment.
Liners and collection systems prevent liquid leachate from escaping into the nearby groundwater.

10. When full, landfills are covered with clay and topsoil, and can be reclaimed for other uses.
Freshkills Park, New York City
Formerly the Freshkills Landfill.

11. 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

12. Philadelphia’s Trash Problem
Through the 1950s, Philadelphia relied mostly on landfills to deal with municipal solid waste.
Local landfills eventually reached capacity. Surrounding areas rejected plans for new landfills.
Waste was exported to other states, but this was expensive.
The city began building incinerators as an alternative to deal with the waste.

13. Incineration
Incineration is the burning of municipal solid waste in large furnaces.
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 and generate air pollution.

14. Philadephia began using incineration to reduce waste volume, but leftover ash still needed to be disposed.
Incinerators produce large, heavy particles of bottom ash, and lighter particles of fly ash.
These often contain high concentrations of heavy metals and other toxins.
The city contracted with a private company to haul the ash away on a barge called the Khian Sea.

15. Trade-Offs: Incineration, Advantages and Disadvantages

16. The Voyage of the Khian Sea
The barge was to be dumped on a man-made island owned by the company on the Bahamas, but it was turned away.
Also turned away by the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Panama, and Puerto Rico.
The ship’s cargo was renamed from “incinerator ash” to “general cargo” to “bulk construction material,” and eventually “topsoil fertilizer.”
The Haitian government was persuaded by the crew to accept 4,000 tons of the ash.

17. 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.
The ship finally returned to the United States across the Indian and Atlantic ocean. By the time it reached port, the ash was gone.

18. Waste-to-Energy – Refuse-derived Fuel
Modern incinerators are much more efficient.
Recyclable materials are recovered.
The energy released by the incinerators is converted to electricity, a process called waste-to-energy.
Cities may also take some waste and pelletize it and addd it to coal-fired power plants.

19. Modern incinerators must collect all of their fly ash and other pollutants through the use of electrostatic precipitators and scrubbers to comply with the Clean Air Act.

20. 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

21. Shrinking the Waste Stream
Recycling is the reprocessing of discarded materials into new, useful products, and it carries many benefits:
Less expensive than producing new raw materials.
Reduces space needed for landfills.
Lowers demand for raw resources.
Reduces energy consumption and air pollution.
Drawbacks include the high costs of sorting the material.
Waste Management recycling plant, Denver, Colorado.

22. Rates of recycling vary widely for different materials.

23. 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

24. Recycling Cont’d Benefits Example
Recycling 1 ton of aluminum saves 4 tons of bauxite, 700 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%.

25. How Recycling Works

26. 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!!

27. Composting is the biological degradation of organic material under aerobic conditions.
Only works for biodegradable materials.

28. Waste reduction is 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.

29. 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.
Some cities achieve this model by having separate collection routes for recycling and food waste.

30. Hazardous and Toxic Waste
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?
Hazardous waste site at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

31. 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.
Hazardous waste disposal did not have any legal requirements for disposal until the Love Canal disaster.

32. Love Canal
The Love Canal was originally intended to be a “model city” with a shipping lane that bypassed Niagara Falls and provided a source of hydroelectricity.
Planned by entrepreneur William T. Love.
The economic panic of caused the project to be abandoned after only a single mile was dug.
The abandoned Love Canal became a recreational swimming hole.

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

34. 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.
A wet spring caused leachate from the dumpsite to escape, oozing into yards, pavement, and the basements of neighboring homes.

35. Modern Marvels, Engineering Disasters 13

36. Passage of the RCRA
Following the disaster, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) of 1976 was passed to provide regulations for the treatment and storage of hazardous waste.
The EPA has “cradle-to-grave” authority over hazardous wastes, meaning they regulate and track their use, storage, treatment, and eventual disposal.

37. The cleanup at Love Canal also resulted in the passage of the 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.
Love Canal Superfund site, 2012.

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

39. Superfund Sites in Lake County
Petersen Sand and Gravel (Libertyville)
Former quarry, used as a dumping site for paint waste and solvents.
Cleanup completed, redeveloped as Independence Grove
Yeoman Creek Landfill (Waukegan)
Improperly lined landfill was allowing leachate to enter the soil and groundwater.

40. Superfund Sites in Lake County
Johns-Manville Corp. (Waukegan)
Asbestos disposal site at lakefront, just north of the power plant.

41. Superfund Sites in Lake County
Waukegan Harbor (Waukegan)
Outboard marine corporation (OMC) sites are contaminated with dumped hydraulic fluid.
Waukegan manufactured gas and coke plant (WCP) is contaminated with several contaminants, including arsenic and PCBs.

42. 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.

43. HAZARDOUS WASTE DISPOSAL
Developed countries often export hazardous waste to developing countries.
An international agreement was passed in 1994 called the Basel Convention that banned the export of hazardous waste.
One of the biggest sources of this exported waste is e-waste, electronic products that have reached the end of their “useful life”.

44. Electronic waste contains multiple heavy metals and other organic toxins.
In developing countries, people will burn and melt down this waste to extract the precious metals.
Many local county and city governments will have electronic waste collection events, to ensure it is not exported and recycled properly.

45. 7 toxic U.S. sites

46. 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.

47. 60 Minutes, 11/09/2008 “The Electronic Wasteland”

48. 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

49. What Can You Do? Hazardous Waste

50. 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.

51. 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

52. 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.

53. 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.

54. Conservation and Restoration Ecology