Solid and Hazardous Waste

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Solid and Hazardous Waste

• Chapter 17

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Question 1

• What is solid waste, and how much do we produce?
  (p.389-390)

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Solid Waste

• Any unwanted or discarded solid material
• There is no solid waste in nature
• Garbage solid waste we produce directly
• What did you throw away yesterday?

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Why Should We Care?

• Unnecessary waste of resources
• Production of solid products leads to ALL other
  forms of pollution!

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The U.S. Produces 1/3 of the Worlds Solid
Waste!!!
Sewage sludge 1
Mining and oil and gas production 75
Municipal 1.5
Industry 9.5
Agriculture 13
Fig. 17-2, p. 390
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What Happens to MSW?

• 55 goes to Landfills
• 30 is Recycled
• 15 is Burned / Incinerated
• e-waste (electronic waste) is the fastest
  growing waste problem

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Question 2

• How do waste management waste reduction differ,
  and what are 6 ways to reduce solid waste?
  (p.390-392)

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Waste Management Reduction

• Waste Management
• Bury it or Burn it
• High-waste approach
• Waste Reduction
• There is no away
• Low-waste approach
• Preferred solution (prevention)

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Six Ways to Reduce Waste

1. Consume less
2. Redesign manufacturing processes and products to
   use less material and energy
3. Use less toxic material in manufacturing
4. Make easily repairable recyclable products
5. Design products to last longer
6. Eliminate or reduce packaging

These principles can reduce solid waste by
60-80!!!
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What Can You Do?
What Can You Do?
Solid Waste

• Follow the four R's of resource use Refuse,
  Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.
• Ask yourself whether you really need a particular
  item.
• Rent, borrow, or barter goods and services when
  you can.
• Buy things that are reusable, recyclable, or
  compostable, and be sure to reuse, recycle, and
  compost them.
• Do not use throwaway paper and plastic plates,
  cups, and eating utensils, and other disposable
  items when reusable or refillable versions are
  available.
• Use e-mail in place of conventional paper mail.
• Read newspapers and magazines online.
• Buy products in concentrated form whenever
  possible.

Fig. 17-4, p. 391
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Question 3

• What is the ecoindustrial revolution, and how can
  we shift from selling things to selling services
  ? (p.392-393)

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Ecoindustrial Revolution

• A change in industrial manufacturing to be
  cleaner and more sustainable (mimics how nature
  handles waste)
• Recycle materials
• Resource exchange web waste of one manufacturer
  becomes raw materials for another
• Savings in lowered pollution, waste disposal and
  material can be enormous
• Healthier work environment

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Selling Services Instead of Things

• Eco-leasing instead of buying a product, a
  customer would lease/rent the services from the
  company

Example RHS has a service contract for our
copiers. They are maintained regularly. They will
be picked up by the company at the end of the
contract and reusable parts will be removed.
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Question 4

• What can be reused / recycled, and what are the
  advantages and disadvantages of reusing and
  recycling materials? (p.394-398)

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Reuse

• Cleaning using materials over over
• Examples of Reusable Items
• eating utensils
• car parts
• house and building materials
• cloth towels diapers
• rechargeable batteries
• TVs, computers, cell phones
• glass and plastic bottles
• grocery bags
• clothing

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Pros Cons Reuse

• Advantages
• Saves Money
• Cuts pollution waste
• Reduces use of matter energy resources

• Disadvantages
• Exposure to toxins in e-waste (developing
  countries)
• People scavenging for reuseable materials in
  dumps exposed to toxins disease

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Recycling

• Reprocessing discarded solid materials into new,
  useful products
• Examples of Recyclable Items
• paper products
• glass
• aluminum
• steel
• plastic
• plants (composting)

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2 Recycling Methods

• Closed-Loop Recycling
• Original ? Same
• Downcycling
• Original ? Different

?
?
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Pros Cons Recycling

• Advantages
• Less pollution
• Saves energy
• Saves raw materials
• Less landfill space
• Saves money on products
• Creates jobs

• Disadvantages
• Some materials are costly to recycle
• Some areas have ample landfill space
• Landfills lose money
• Inconvenient for some

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How to Encourage Recycling

• Provide tax breaks for companies who Reuse
  Recycle
• PAUT (Pay-As-You-Throw) Systems
• consumers charged for amt of trash, but not
  recycling
• Laws requiring companies to take back recycle
  packaging
• Ban e-waste in MSW

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Question 5

• What are the advantages and disadvantages of
  burning burying solid waste? (p.398-400)

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In the U.S.

• Bury (landfill) 54
• Burn (incinerate) 16
• Recycle- 30
• Burning solid waste is primarily for energy
  production (heat and electricity) and waste
  reduction

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Pros Cons Burning

• Advantages
• Reduce waste
• Fast
• Produces energy (electricity)

• Disadvantages
• Expensive to build
• Air pollution
• Toxic ash remains
• Highly opposed in US

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Burying

• Most MSW is buried in landfills that will
  eventually leak toxic liquids into soil
  groundwater
• Open Dumps
• Common in developing nations
• Sanitary Landfills
• Used in developed countries
• Wastes spread in thin layers covered w/ clay or
  plastic foam, lined to prevent leaks

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Sanitary Landfill
When landfill is full, layers of soil and
clay seal in trash
Topsoil
Sand
Electricity generator building
Clay
Methane storage and compressor building
Garbage
Leachate treatment system
Probes to detect methane leaks
Pipe collect explosive methane gas used as fuel
to generate electricity
Methane gas recovery
Leachate storage tank
Compacted solid waste
Groundwater monitoring well
Garbage
Leachate pipes
Leachate pumped up to storage tanks for safe
disposal
Sand
Synthetic liner
Leachate monitoring well
Groundwater
Sand
Clay and plastic lining to prevent leaks
pipes collect leachate from bottom of landfill
Clay
Subsoil
Fig. 17-11, p. 400
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Pros Cons Burying

• Advantages
• Low odor
• Low groundwater pollution
• Low cost to build operate
• Holds large amount
• Ample sites in some areas
• Can be reused when full

• Disadvantages
• Noisy dusty
• Air pollution (CH4, CO2)
• Eventually leaks
• Slow decomposition
• Cheap cost discourages reuse recycle

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Question 6

• What is hazardous waste how can we deal with
  it? (p.401-406)

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Hazardous Waste

• Any waste that is toxic, ignitable, corrosive or
  reactive enough to explode or release toxic fumes
  
• Developed countries produce 80-90

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Harmful Chemicals in Your Home
What Harmful Chemicals Are In Your Home?
Cleaning Disinfectants Drain, toilet, and
window cleaners Spot removers Septic tank
cleaners Paint Latex and oil-based paints
Paint thinners, solvents, and strippers
Stains, varnishes, and lacquers Wood
preservatives Artist paints and
inks General Dry-cell batteries (mercury
and cadmium) Glues and cements
Gardening Pesticides Weed killers Ant and
rodent killers Flea powders Automotive
Gasoline Used motor oil Antifreeze Battery
acid Solvents Brake and transmission
fluid Rust inhibitor and rust remover
Disposal of some of these items is exempt from
government regulation
Fig. 17-13, p. 402
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Managing Hazardous Waste

• Resource Conservation Recovery Act (RCRA)
• Regulates 5 of hazardous waste
• EPA
• Sets standards issues permits
• Superfund (CERCLA)
• Identifies cleans hazardous waste sites on a
  priority basis
• Love Canal, NY was 1st Superfund Site
• Originally polluters paid, now taxpayers pay
• (avg 20 million per site 1250 sites on list!)

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Detoxifying Hazardous Waste

• Bioremediation
• Uses bacteria enzymes to breakdown hazardous
  compounds
• Phytoremediation
• Uses plants to absorb toxins from soil water
• Deep Underground Wells
• Pumped deep below ground
• Surface Impoundments
• Stored in containment ponds

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Question 7

• Why are lead and mercury dangerous, and what can
  we do to reduce exposure ? (p.406-409)

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Lead and Mercury

• Since they are both elements, they cannot be
  broken down
• Both cause various types of nervous system damage
  (brain damage)

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Lead Exposure Solutions

• Eliminate leaded gasoline paint worldwide
  (banned in late 70s in U.S.)
• Eliminate lead solder in plumbing food cans
• Remove lead paint from old buildings
• Replace plumbing pipes containing lead

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Mercury Exposure

• Mercury comes from natural (volcanos) human
  sources (burning coal / waste)
• We can breath, absorb consume it
• Solutions
• Eliminate Hg in coal, batteries, fluorescent
  bulbs
• Avoid eating certain seafood (shark, mackerel,
  tuna) esp children women
• Reduce Hg emissions from coal burning plants

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Question 8

• How can we make the transition to a more
  sustainable, low-waste society ? (p.409-410)

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Achieving a Low Waste Society

• Produce less wastes of all kinds
• Reduce our ecological footprint
• International treaties to ban or phase out use of
  certain highly toxic, fat soluble (stores up in
  organisms) chemicals such as DDT, PCB, dioxins

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Achieving a Low Waste Society

• REMEMBER
• Everything is connected
• There is no away for the wastes we produce
• Dillution is not the solution for pollution
• The BEST CHEAPEST way to deal w/ waste
  pollution is to produce less and recycle more