1. Chapter 24 Solid and Hazardous Waste

2. Overview of Chapter 24 Solid Waste Waste Prevention Hazardous Waste
Types of Solid Waste
Waste Prevention
Reducing the Amount of Waste
Reusing Products
Recycling Materials
Hazardous Waste
Types of Hazardous Waste
Management of Hazardous Waste
Environmental Justice

3. Solid Waste
US generates more solid waste per capita than any other country
2.1kg per person per day (that’s about 4.5 POUNDS!)
Types of Solid Waste
Municipal solid waste
Solid material discarded by homes, office buildings, retail stores, schools, hospitals, prisons, etc
Relatively small portion of solid waste produced
Non-municipal solid waste
Solid waste generated by industry, agriculture, and mining

4. Composition of Municipal Solid Waste

5. Disposal of Solid Waste
Three methods
Sanitary Landfills
Incineration
Recycling

6. Sanitary Landfill
Compacting and burying waste under a shallow layer of soil
Most common method of disposal

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

9. Sanitary Landfill Special Problem of Plastic Special Problem of Tires
Much of plastic is from packaging
Chemically stable and do not readily break down and decompose
Special Problem of Tires
Cannot be melted and reused for tires
Made from materials that cannot be recycled
Can be incinerated or shredded

10. Incineration 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 (right)

11. Incineration Types of Incinerators Mass burn (below) Modular
Refuse-derived

12. Incinerator Problems Associated with Incineration
Yields air pollution (mercury, arsenic, cadmium, other heavy metals, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxides, etc.)
Produce large amounts of ash (still need a landfill)
Site selection often controversial

13. Composting Includes: Reduces yard waste in landfills
Food scraps
Sewage sludge
Agricultural manure
Yard waste
Reduces yard waste in landfills
Can be sold or distributed to community

14. Waste Prevention Three Goals (1) Reduce the amount of waste
(2) Reuse products
(3) Recycle materials

15. Reducing Waste Purchase products with less packaging
Buy in bulk to cut down on packaging

16. Reducing Waste Source reduction
Products are designed and manufactured in ways that decrease the volume of solid waste in the waste stream

17. Reducing Waste
Pollution Prevention Act (1990) – first U.S. law to focus on reduction of waste at the source
Requires EPA to identify source reduction measures
Requires manufacturers to report their source reduction and recycling activities to the EPA
Dematerialization
Progressive decrease in the size and weight of a product as a result of technological improvements

18. Reusing Products Refilling glass beverage bottles
Heavier glass that costs more
Japan recycles almost all bottles
Reused 20 times on avg. before being discarded
Many products (boxes, scrap paper, storage containers) have other uses that can extend the life of the materials they are made of! Be creative.

19. Recycling Materials
Recycling: In the NE USA, most communities recycle:
Glass bottles, newspapers, alum/steel cans, plastic bottles, cardboard, office paper

20. Recycling Recycling Paper Every ton of recycled paper saves:
US recycles 50%
Many developed countries are higher
Every ton of recycled paper saves:
17 trees
7000 gallons of water
4100 kwatt-hrs of energy
3 cubic yards of landfill space
Recycling Glass
US recycles 25%
Costs less than new glass
Can be used to make glassphalt (right)

21. Recycling Recycling Aluminum
Making a new can from recycled one costs far less than making a brand new one, and requires far less energy!

22. Recycling Aluminum
In 2000, 55% of aluminum beverage cans were recycled!

23. Recycling Other Metals
Recycling Metals other than Aluminum
Lead, gold, iron, steel, silver and zinc
Metallic composition is often unknown and they are often mixed together!
Makes recycling difficult

24. Recycling Recycling Plastic Less than 20% is recycled
Less expensive to make from raw materials
35% of plastic soda bottles are recycled annually (PET = polyethylene terphthalate)
Used to make carpeting, clothing, felt, auto parts, etc.

25. The Special Problem of Plastics…
The amount of plastic in our solid waste stream is growing faster than any other component!
More than half of this plastic is from packaging!
The properties of each type of plastic (polystyrene, polyethylene, polypropylene) are different based upon their different chemical compositions
Most plastics are chemically stable and do not break down in a landfill easily!
A few are photodegradable, and may start to break down when exposed to sunlight; Very few are biodegradable, and can be decomposed by microorganisms

26. The Special Problem of Plastics…
Plastic Bags! According to the WorldWatch Institute, “Factories around the world churned out a whopping 4-5 trillion of them in 2002”!
China has instituted a plastic bag ban since 2008!
So has San Francisco, CA and many other cities in the U.S. are now following suit!

27. Recycling Recycling Tires Few products are made from old tires
Playground equipment
Trashcans
Garden hose
Carpet
Roofing materials
36% of tires are currently recycled to make other products

28. Integrated Waste Management

29. Integrated Waste Management
Dealing with waste through a combination of approaches, including the three R’s, with a focus on source reduction!
Much like integrated pest management, the goal is to use a variety of strategies to minimize municipal solid waste!

30. Hazardous Waste
Any discarded chemical (solid, liquid, or gas) that threatens human health or the environment
Reactive, corrosive, explosive or toxic chemicals
Types of Hazardous Waste
Dioxins
PCBs
Radioactive waste
Love Canal

31. Legacy of Love Canal
After it became apparent that residents (especially children) in the neighborhood had a high incidence of serious illnesses, it became the first location ever declared a “national emergency disaster area” due to hazardous waste….700 families were evacuated!
Hooker Chemical Company disposed of 22,000 tons of chemical waste into the canal…which was later “donated” by Hooker to the school board
A school and houses were built on the site, which began oozing haz. Waste several years later.
Over 300 chemicals were identified in Love Canal’s hazardous waste!

32. Types of Hazardous Waste
More than 700,000 chemicals are known to exist!
How many are hazardous is unknown because most have never been tested for toxicity!
According to the EPA, only 7% of the 3000 chemicals used in large quantities (over 500 tons annually) have undergone comprehensive studies for potential health impacts
Acids, dioxins, abandoned explosives, heavy metals, PCB’s, pesticides, radioactive substances, solvents, infectious waste, nerve gas, etc (Just to name a few!)

33. Dioxins
Dioxins are a group of about 75 similar compounds formed as unwanted by-products during the combustion of chlorine compounds.
Sources include medical waste, municipal incinerators, iron ore mills, coal combustion, paper plants that use chlorine to bleach paper, etc.
Dioxins are typically emitted as smoke particles, which then settle on plants, the soil, bodies of water, and are then incorporated into the food web.
Dioxins are known to cause cancer in several kinds of lab animals!

34. PCB’s PCB’s = Poly-Chlorinated Biphenyls Extremely toxic to humans
A group of 209 industrial chemicals composed of carbon, hydrogen, and chlorine used as cooling fluids in electrical transformers, vacuum pumps, and gas-transmission turbines, fire retardants, adhesives, lubricants, inks, etc.
Manufactured between 1929 and 1979
Extremely toxic to humans
Mass poisonings have occurred in Japan in 1968 (rice bran oil contaminated with PCB’s), and Taiwan in 1979!
PCB’s are known endocrine disruptors which lead to reproduction problems, mental impairment, etc.
Also a suspected carcinogen!

35. PCB’s
PCB’s are chemically stable, meaning they DO NOT break down easily and persist for generations
PCB’s can biomagnify as they travel through the food web, and they may bio-accumulate in fatty tissues within organisms including humans!
Humans contact PCB’s mainly by eating food contaminated with them…particularly fish that lived in a contaminated area
Banned by the EPA in the 1970’s

36. PCB’s
Prior to the EPA ban in the 1970’s, PCB’s were dumped into fields, landfills, sewers, etc. so they still remain a threat today!
Disposal of PCB’s: High-temperature incineration is the best way to handle PCB materials, but the cost is high and it is NOT practical to remove PCB’s that have leached into soil and water supplies
Certain bacteria can break down the PCB’s, but they are a recent development and side-effects not fully known yet.

37. Case-In-Point Hanford Nuclear Reservation

38. Hanford Nuclear Reservation…
At this point, U.S. weapons facilities are no longer producing nuclear weapons, but the radioactive and toxic wastes from their production still present a major environmental problem
Hanford Nuclear Reservation is located in Washington state, along the Columbia River, and is the largest, most contaminated U.S. weapons facility
Hanford was the main production site for the plutonium used in nuclear weapons.

39. Hanford Nuclear Reservation…
Tons of highly radioactive solid and liquid wastes were stored or dumped into trenches, pits, tanks, ponds, etc. totaling about 1700 separate sites.
More than 100,000 spent fuel rods are stored in 2 concrete pools of water…and as they corrode, they release radioactive uranium, plutonium, cesium, etc into the water
Soil and water from these areas are contaminated, and the Columbia river is in danger!

40. Hanford Nuclear Reservation…
Eventually, the spent nuclear fuel rods will be placed at Yucca Mountain, but the facility isn’t ready yet.
Columbia river also threatened by millions of gallons of toxic waste and radioactive material stored in 174 large underground tanks….material boiled for years under the heat generated by it’s own radioactive decay!
Some tanks may be explosive!
Many are now leaking into the surrounding soil and water!

41. Hanford Nuclear Reservation…
Cleanup is obviously complicated…and dangerous!
Currently cleanup involves 7,000 workers and $1.7 BILLION PER YEAR!
Cleanup has also created legal battles over the environmental and health effects of such a process…many of the workers have developed serious chronic illnesses because they come into close contact with toxic materials (inhaling beryllium, for example)
Even after cleanup, Hanford will remain hazardous for thousands of years…since we have no technology to address widespread soil contamination!
All of this is costing us $$$$$

43. Management of Hazardous Waste
Managing hazardous wastes can be done, but it is very expensive…and not one country yet has an effective hazardous waste management program
Chemical accidents
National Response Center notified
Typically involves oil, gasoline or other petroleum spill

44. Management of Hazardous Waste
Current Management Policies: 2 Laws that dictate how hazardous waste is handled:
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (1976, 1984) is known as RCRA
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (1980) is known as CERCLA and commonly referred to as the “SUPERFUND” LAW

45. Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
Passed in 1976, amended in 1984; instructs the EPA to identify which waste is hazardous and to provide guidelines and standards to states for hazardous waste management programs
Also bans hazardous waste from land disposal unless it is treated to reduce toxicity

46. Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)…SUPERFUND LAW
Program established in 1980 to clean up an estimated 400,000 abandoned and illegal hazardous waste sites around the U.S., many of which have leaking chemical storage tanks, and also include pesticide dumps, mining waste sites, but does NOT even include military complexes and nuclear weapons sites!
By 2007, 10,753 sites were actively on the CERCLA Superfund list, while another 1,010 had already been cleaned up and removed from the list!

47. Management of Hazardous Waste

48. Management of Hazardous Waste
Toxic waste sites are ranked according to the seriousness of the health threat…leading to the:
Superfund National Priorities List
2006: sites on the list
States with the greatest number of sites
New Jersey (115)
California (93)
Pennsylvania (93)
New York (86)
Michigan (65)
NOTE: the AVERAGE cost of cleaning up a single site is $20 MILLION!

49. Management of Hazardous Waste
ISSUE: since the fed. Govt. cannot possibly pay for all the cleanup, the SUPERFUND Law states that the current landowner, prior owners, and anyone who has dumped waste or has transported waste to a particular site must share in the cleanup costs!
RESULT: cleanup operations are mired in litigation for years, while no actual cleanup goes on…especially when companies are suing each other for the responsibility to clean up the sites!

50. Management of Hazardous Waste
CERCLA Problems – due to litigation, cleanup occurs at a very slow pace…many sites not even being considered at this point
CERCLA Positives – companies are now more aware of their toxic materials, and are disposing of them correctly in a safer way!
Some sites are now much safer!

51. Management of Hazardous Waste
Biological Treatment of Hazardous Chemicals
Bioremediation = the use of bacteria and other microorganisms to break down hazardous waste into relatively harmless components
Phytoremediation = the use of plants to absorb and accumulate hazardous materials from the soil.

52. Management of Hazardous Waste
Management the Waste we are Producing Now
(1) source reduction
(2) conversion to less hazardous materials
(3) long-term storage

53. Management of Hazardous Waste
Hazardous Waste Landfill

54. Environmental Justice
Environmental Justice and Ethical Issues
Right of every citizen, regardless of age, race, gender, social class, to adequate protection from environmental hazards
Fundamental human right
Grassroots campaign
Mandating environmental Justice- Federal Level

55. Environmental Justice
International Waste Management
Developed countries sometimes send their waste to developing countries
Less expensive than following laws within the country
Controversial aspect of waste management
Basel Convention (1989)
Restricts international transport of hazardous waste