1. Chapter 23 Solid and Hazardous Wastes

2. Types of Solid Waste Municipal Solid Waste
Municipal solid waste (MSW)
Relatively small portion of waste produced
Non-municipal solid waste
from industry, agriculture, and mining
makes up a much larger % than MSW
Municipal Solid Waste

3. Disposal of Solid Waste
3 methods
Sanitary Landfills
Incineration
Recycling
composting

4. Sanitary Landfill

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

6. Sanitary Landfill Special Problem: Plastic Special Problem: Tires
300 million tires are scrapped or dumped per year!
Special Problem: Tires
cannot be recycled
Can be incinerated or shredded

7. Incineration Pros 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
Cons
Byproduct
ash

8. Waste Prevention Three Goals: (The 3 R’s)
(1) REDUCE the amount of waste
(2) Reuse products
(3) Recycle materials

9. Composting Reduces yard waste in landfills
Can be sold or distributed to community
Issues- ____________
Issues- contaminated clipping (pesticides) and heavy metals

10. Reducing Waste
Purchase products with less packaging

11. Reusing Products
Refilling glass bottles

12. Recycling Materials Every ton of recycled paper saves: Recycle
17 trees
7000 gallons of water
4100 kwatt-hrs of energy
3 cubic yards of landfill space
Recycle
Glass bottles, newspapers, steel cans, plastic bottles, cardboard, office paper

13. Recycling Paper-62% Glass-31% Aluminum-51% Recycling Plastic-14%
Less expensive to make from raw materials
Tires-
Making new can/bottle from recycled one costs far less than making a brand new one

14. Integrated Waste Management

15. Love Canal Toxic Waste Site
Hazardous Waste
Any discarded chemical that threatens human health or the environment
Reactive, corrosive, explosive or toxic chemicals
Love Canal Toxic Waste Site

16. Hazardous Waste

17. Case-In-Point Hanford Nuclear Reservation
Chemical accidents
National Response Center notified
Typically involves oil, gasoline or other petroleum spill
Current Management Policies
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (1976, 1984)
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (1980)
Commonly known as Superfund

18. Management of Hazardous Waste
Superfund National Priorities List
2009: 1,264 sites on the list
States w/ the greatest # of sites
New Jersey (114)
California (94)
Pennsylvania (94)
New York (85)
Michigan (65)
400,000 waste sites estimated by fed. Gov. to exist
We have Superfund sights in Maywood, Torrance….

19. Management of Hazardous Waste
Biological Treatment of Hazardous Chemicals
Bioremediation -
Time consuming
Phytoremediation –
use of bacteria and other microorganisms to break down hazardous waste into relatively harmless products

20. Management of Hazardous Waste
(1) Source reduction
(2) Conversion to less hazardous materials
(3) Long-term storage