Solid Waste

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Solid Waste
2
Waste Disposal

• Municipal solid wastewaste materials from homes,
  businesses and other parts of the community
• Other solid waste comes from construction debris
  and certain agricultural and industrial wastes.

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Waste Disposal

• Three methods of handling solid waste
• Bury it
• Burn it
• Recycle it

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Waste Disposal

• Landfills
• Open dumps were used until relatively recently.
  (1976)
• Leachate is a polluted liquid made when rainwater
  dissolves chemicals
• Sanitary landfills hold municipal solid waste,
  construction debris, and some types of
  agricultural and industrial waste
• They have plastic liners and are capped with clay
  to prevent rainwater from entering.

5
Waste Disposal

• Incineration
• Burning of solid waste
• Do not take up much space
• Do not pose a risk of polluting groundwater
• Waste-to-energy plants
• Use heat to produce electricity
• Release some pollution into the air
• Some waste still remains
• More expensive to build

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Recycling

• Biodegradable
• A substance that can be broken down and recycled
  by bacteria

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Recycling

• Metals
• Iron and aluminum can be melted and reused
• Glass
• Melted to make new glass containers, fiberglass,
  bricks, tiles and reflective paints

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Recycling

• Paper
• Pulp is a thick liquid made from wood, and
  recycled paper can be turned into pulp, also
• Plastic
• Made from resins left over from petroleum
  products
• Can be heated, stretched, and molded into plastic
  products

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Solid Waste Management

• Reduce
• Reuse
• Recycle