ESC110 Chapter Thirteen: Solid and Hazardous Waste

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ESC110 Chapter Thirteen Solid and Hazardous
Waste
Principles of Environmental Science - Inquiry and
Applications, 1st Edition by William and Mary Ann
Cunningham
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Chapter Thirteen Readings

• Required ReadingsCunningham Cunningham,
  Chapter Thirteen Solid and Hazardous Waste

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Chapter Thirteen Objectives

• At the end of this lesson, you should be able to
• identify the major components of the waste
  stream, and describe how wastes have been - and
  are being - deposited of in North America and
  around the world.
• explain the differences between dumps, sanitary
  landfills, and modern, secure landfills.
• summarize the benefits, problems, and potential
  of recycling and reusing wastes.
• analyze some alternatives for reducing the waste
  we generate.
• understand what hazardous and toxic wastes are
  and how we dispose of them.
• evaluate the options for hazardous-waste
  management.
• outline some ways we can destroy or permanently
  store hazardous wastes.

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Chapter Thirteen Key Terms McGraw-Hill Course
Glossary
? biodegradable plastics ? bioremediation ?
brownfields ? composting ? demanufacturing ?
energy recovery ? hazardous waste ? mass burn ?
permanent retrievable storage

• photodegradable plastics
• ? recycling
• ? refuse-derived fuel
• ? sanitary landfills
• ? secure landfills
• ? Superfund
• ? Toxic Release Inventory
• ? waste stream

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Chapter Thirteen Topics

• Waste
• Waste-Disposal Methods
• Shrinking the Waste Stream and
• Hazardous and Toxic Wastes.

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Part 1 Waste
The United States produces 11 billion tons of
solid waste each year.

• Agricultural waste - about 50
• Residues produced by mining and primary metal
  processing - about 30
• Industrial waste - 400 million metric tons/year
• Municipal waste - 180 million metric tons/year

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Composition of U.S. Domestic Waste
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The Waste Stream

• Waste stream - the steady flow of varied wastes
  we all produce
• In spite of recent progress in recycling, many
  recyclable materials end up in the trash.
• Problem refuse mixing - recyclable and
  nonrecyclable materials, hazardous and
  nonhazardous materials

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Part 2 Waste Disposal Methods
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Open Dumps

• Predominant method of waste disposal in
  developing countries
• Illegal dumping
• Groundwater contamination

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Sanitary Landfills

• More than 1,200 of the 1,500 existing landfills
  in the U.S. have closed.
• Many major cities must export their trash.

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Garbage Imperialism

• Although most industrialized nations in the world
  have agreed to stop shipping hazardous and toxic
  waste to less developed countries, the practice
  still continues.
• Within rich nations, poor neighborhoods and
  minority populations are more likely to be the
  recipients of LULUs.
• Toxic wastes are sometimes recycled as building
  materials, fertilizer or soil amendments.

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Incineration and Resource Recovery

• Incineration - burning refuse
• Energy recovery - heat derived from incineration
  is a useful resource
• Refuse-derived fuel
• Mass burn - greater problems with air pollution
• Residual ash - toxic components or dioxins
• High construction costs

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Mass-Burn Garbage Incinerator
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Municipal Waste, 1995
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Part 3 Shrinking the Waste Stream
Recycling

• Reusing vs. recycling
• Recycling successes
• Problems fluctuating market prices,
  contamination

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Recycling Benefits, Incentives

• Recycling saves money, energy, raw materials, and
  land space, while also reducing pollution.
• Recycling encourages individual awareness and
  responsibility.
• Japan - probably the most successful recycling
  program in the world
• Creating incentives for recycling - public
  policies, consumer demand

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Source Separation in the Kitchen
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U.S. Recycled Materials - 1994
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Composting
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Demanufacturing

• Demanufacturing - the disassembly and recycling
  of obsolete consumer products
• Refrigerators and air conditioners produce CFC's
• Computers and other electronics produce both
  toxic and valuable metals
• Problem electronics that are turned in for
  recycling in the U.S. are sometimes dumped in
  developing countries

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Reuse

• Better than recycling or composting
• Salvage from old houses
• Glass and plastic bottles
• Large national companies favor recycling over
  reuse.

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Producing Less Waste

• The best way to reduce our waste stream
• Excess packaging of food and consumer products is
  one of our greatest sources of unnecessary waste.
• Photodegradable plastics break down when exposed
  to UV rays.
• Biodegradable plastics can be decomposed by
  microorganisms.
• There are problems with photodegradable and
  biodegradable plastics.

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The Three RsReduceReuseRecycle
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Part 4 Hazardous and Toxic Wastes

• What is hazardous waste?
• U.S. industries generate about about 265 million
  metric tons of officially classified toxic wastes
  each year.
• Chemical and petroleum industries - biggest
  sources of toxins

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Hazardous Waste Producers - United States
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Hazardous Waste Disposal

• Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
• Comprehensive Environmental Response,
  Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA or
  Superfund Act)
• Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act
  (SARA) - Toxic Release Inventory

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Tracking Toxic and Hazardous Wastes
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Superfund Sites
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National Priority List (NPL)

• EPA estimate 36,000 seriously contaminated sites
  in the U.S.
• General Accounting Office (GAO) estimate 400,000
  seriously contaminated sites
• NPL sites - waste sites that are especially
  hazardous to human health or environmental
  quality
• How clean is clean?
• Brownfields - liability risks discourage
  redevelopment

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Options for Hazardous Waste Management

• Produce less waste
• Physical treatments
• Incineration
• Chemical processing
• Bioremediation
• Permanent retrievable storage
• Secure landfills

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Secure Landfills