SOLID WASTE:

1
SOLID WASTE

• . . .any unwanted or discarded material that is
  not a liquid or a gas

2
What is hazardous Waste

• Defined as any discarded solid or liquid material
  that
• Contains one or more of 39 toxic, carcinogenic,
  mutagenic, or teratogenic compounds at levels
  that exceed established limits (pesticides,
  solvents, paint thinners)
• Catches fire easily (gasoline, paints, solvents)

3
Hazardous waste cont.

• Is reactive or unstable enough to explode (acids
  , bases, ammonia, chlorine bleach)
• Is capable of corroding metal containers such as
  tanks, drums (cleaning agents, drain cleaners)
• This does not include radioactive wastes, mining
  wastes, etc.

4
What are our options on how to deal with solid
waste?

• Prevention REDUCE
• Management
• RECYCLE what can be
• REUSE
• Biologically or chemically TREAT what can be, or
  incinerate the waste that cant be recycled or
  reused
• BURY the rest

5
How can we REDUCE waste?

• Decrease consumption
• Redesign manufacturing processes and products to
  use less material and therefore less waste
  (lighter cars, less dangerous materials)

• Individuals can use less hazardous cleaning
  products
• Eliminate unnecessary packaging

6
REUSE Makes resources last longer

• Glass bottles
• Should we ban all non-reusable bottles?
• Charge a deposit on reusable bottles?
• What about Diapers?
• it takes 100 yrs. To break down a disposable
  diaper in a landfill
• to launder cloth diapers it takes 9 times more
  air pollution and 10 times as more water
  pollution as it takes to make disposables

• Tires
• Can be made into retreads
• Artificial reefs
• Can be burned to produce energy (possible air
  pollution)

7
RECYCLE

• Compost
• Organic materials are broken down and organisms
  make soil from these materials (leaves, paper,
  wood)
• Water, air, microorganisms are needed for this to
  happen

• Closed-loop is the most desirable type
• Newspaper into newspaper, aluminum cans into
  aluminum cans, and automobiles into automobiles
  (Presently only 30 of all aluminum ( 64 of
  cans) is being recycle in USA)
• What is recyclable in this area?

8
BURY THE REST LANDFILLS

• NIMBY
• Factors taken into consideration when a land fill
  is sited Geology, hydrology, proximity to
  people, transportation and wildlife, cost of land
• How is the landfill constructed?
• Clay and plastic liners
• Pipes to drain leachate (rainwater contaminated
  as it percolates through the solid waste)