Title: Solid Waste
1Solid Waste
2Consumption for Average U.S. Citizen over a 70
year life span
- 623 tons coal, oil, natural gas
- 613 tons sand, gravel, stone
- 26 million gallons of water
- 21,000 gallons of gasoline
- 51 tons of metals
- 50 tons of food
- 48 tons of wood
- 19 tons of paper
- 5.2 tons of syn. Plastic, rubber, fibers
- 5 tons fertilizer
3Waste for Average U.S. Citizen over a 70 year
life span
- 840 tons of agricultural waste
- 823 tons of garbage, industrial mining wastes
- 7 million gallons polluted water
- 70 tons of air pollutants
- 19,250 bottles
- 19,000 cans
- 7 automobiles
4Major categories of U.S. Solid Waste
Agricultural Waste Mining Waste Industrial
Waste Municipal Waste
5Major categories of U.S. Solid Waste
Agricultural Waste 56 Mining Waste 34
Industrial Waste 6 Municipal Waste 4
6Components of Agricultural Waste
- Crop residues anything that is not harvested
and used for food, fiber or energy - Animal wastes includes manures and carcasses
- Pesticide Herbicide residues
- Old equipment and fuel residues
7How can these be disposed of?
- Crop residues composting, plowing into the soil
(increases organic matter), or burning - Animal wastes composting, fertilizers,
pyrolysis - Heating under very high temperatures and
pressures to get oil - Other wastes are landfilled or disposed of in situ
8Components of Mining Waste
9Why are there so many tailings
- When you find the ore you are interested in, it
will be combined with other rocks, not as pure
form. - After you dig up the raw ore, it is pulverized
and the material of interest is extracted,
leaving behind the tailings - The purest ore that is found is taconite, a form
of iron. Its concentration is 30, leaving 70
tailings! - Most ores contain 1 or less of the material of
interest.
10Why are there so many tailings, continued
Strip mines make even more tailings than
under- Ground mines.
Left over soil can become tailings here along
with Mining waste.
11Legislation and efforts to reclaim mining areas
- 1977 Surface mining control and reclamation act
(one of the first efforts) - Land must be restored to its original contours
and use - Mining banned on prime agricultural land
- Effects on local watersheds must be minimized
12What can be done with tailings?
- Because of their thin, powdery nature, this is
tricky also contaminated with heavy metals such
as lead, zinc, cadmium, etc. These are toxic. - Ceramics especially high temperature tiles for
furnaces - Road surface materials
- Building materials (e.g. concrete blocks)
13What can be done with tailings?
- Only specific tailings can be used for a specific
purpose due to their complex chemistry. - Some tailings can contain radioactive compounds
like radon and must therefore be used with
extreme care!
14Components of Industrial Waste
- This is where we think of things such as chemical
waste, toxic wastes, etc. - The EPA estimates that only 10 of toxic wastes
are disposed of properly. - Some of these wastes are getting into local
drinking water supplies, food supplies, and
ecosystems..
15The Love Canal Story
161927
Arrow Shows Canal Location
17History of Love Canal
- 1942 1952 Hooker Chemical dumped 21,000 tons of
chemicals in the old canal in steel drums and
then covered them with fill dirt. - This was legal at the time.
- 1953 Hooker forced to sell canal area to Niagara
School Board for 1! - Did so under duress stated that canal area was
NOT safe! - School board had several realtors on it.
18History of Love Canal
- Between 1953 and 1977 an elementary school and
239 homes were built on or near the canal,
followed by a major subdivision of 710 homes - 1977 extremely heavy rains chemicals start
leaching into basements - In the meantime the area had higher than normal
rates of cancers and birth defects
191980
Canal
Note homes built next to and near canal.
20History of Love Canal
- 1978 residents evacuated from canal area after
over 200 different compounds are found - New York State spends 37 million relocating the
239 families closest to canal - Federal government relocates the remaining 710
families - RCRA begins
21Superfund sites in Oklahoma?
22You Betcha!
- Look at the handout
- Go over the flow chart
23Municipal Wastes
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25Municipal Wastes
- These can also be hazardous!
- Therefore, as of October 9, 1993, solid waste
facilities will be constructed as
Methane collection system
26How else can municipal waste be disposed of?
- Incineration
- Waste to energy programs
- Burn waste and generate steam to power an
electric power plant - Burn methane from waste in city vehicles or to
make electricity
27Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
- Since waste in the U.S. is primarily paper, a
large proportion of it can be recycled - If it not contaminated with food or covered with
the clay-based inks seen in shiny magazines,
etc. - With the amount of yard waste in Norman being
reduced by the compost facility, citizens get a
rebate from state government on their bill every
month
28See steady increase in steel cans recycled
29Also see steady increase in bottle recycling
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