1. Solid and Hazardous Waste
Chapter 21

2. Rapidly Growing E-Waste from Discarded Computers and Other Electronics

3. Core Case Study: E-waste—An Exploding Problem
Electronic waste, e-waste: fastest growing solid waste problem
Composition includes
High-quality plastics
Valuable metals – mainly copper
Toxic and hazardous pollutants – mainly air and water runoff
The U.S. produces almost half of the world's e-waste but only recycles about 10% of it.

4. Recycling E-waste
Burn houses in distance and smoke where computer parts from
the United States are burned. China 2008
Migrant workers from Hunan and Szechuan provinces cracking open charred components to remove the copper at the burn village. Guiyu, China. May 2008
Ghana Burning of plastics to get to metals.

5. Core Case Study: E-waste—An Exploding Problem
International Basel Convention click for link
Bans transferring hazardous wastes from developed countries to developing countries. U.S. has not ratified this treaty yet.
European Union
Cradle-to-grave approach

6. International Toxics Progress Report Card
Grade based on ratification of four important Hazardous
Material treaties. See link below for more information
Countries that rank excellent:
(4 ratifications): -- Belgium -- Bulgaria -- China -- Denmark -- France -- Germany* -- Luxembourg -- Norway -- Slovenia -- Spain -- Sweden -- Switzerland -- United Kingdom
Notable countries that are failing (0 Ratifications) include: -- Russia -- United States -- Israel -- Malta
Click for link

7. Core Case Study: E-waste—An Exploding Problem
What should be done?
Recycle
E-cycle
Reuse
Prevention approach: remove the toxic materials

8. 21-1 What Are Solid Waste and Hazardous Waste, and Why Are They Problems?
Concept Solid waste represents pollution and unnecessary waste of resources, and hazardous waste contributes to pollution, natural capital degradation, health problems, and premature deaths.

9. WASTING RESOURCES
Solid waste: any unwanted or discarded material we produce that is not a liquid or gas.
Municipal solid waste (MSW): often called garbage or trash and produce by homes and workplaces.
Industrial solid waste: produced by mines, agriculture, and industries that supply people with goods and services.
Hazardous (toxic) waste: threatens human health or the environment because it is toxic, chemically active, corrosive or flammable.

10. WASTING RESOURCES Hazardous (toxic) waste can be classified as:
Organic compounds: such as various solvents, pesticides, PBC’s and dioxins.
Nondegradable toxic heavy metals: such as lead, mercury and arsenic.
Highly radioactive: produced by nuclear power plants and nuclear weapons facilities.

11. WASTING RESOURCES
The United States produces about a third of the world’s solid waste and buries more than half of it in landfills.
About 97% (7.6 billion tons) is industrial solid waste. EPA 2008 data.
About 3% (250 million tons) is MSW.
Click for more info on waste from EPA

12. EPA data on waste production in U.S.

13. EPA waste generation by material U.S.

14. We Throw Away Huge Amounts of Useful Things and Hazardous Materials
80–90% of hazardous wastes produced by developed countries
Why reduce solid wastes?
¾ of the materials are an unnecessary waste of the earth's resources. We can recycle instead of mix and bury them.
Huge amounts of air pollution, greenhouse gases, and water pollution is produced in producing the products we use and often discard

15. Solid Waste in the United States
Leader in solid waste problem
What is thrown away?. Data Page 563
Leader in trash production, by weight, per person
Recycling is helping

16. What Harmful Chemicals Are in Your Home?
Cleaning
Gardening
Disinfectants
Pesticides
Drain, toilet, and window cleaners
Weed killers
Ant and rodent killers
Spot removers
Flea powders
Septic tank cleaners
Paint Products
Paints, stains, varnishes, and lacquers
Paint thinners, solvents, and strippers
Automotive
Figure 21.2
Harmful chemicals found in many homes. The U.S. Congress has exempted disposal of these materials from government regulation. Question: Which of these chemicals are in your home?
Wood preservatives
Gasoline
Artist paints and inks
Used motor oil
General
Antifreeze
Dry-cell batteries (mercury and cadmium)
Battery acid
Brake and transmission fluid
Glues and cements
Fig. 21-2, p. 562

17. Natural Capital Degradation: Solid Wastes Polluting a River in Indonesia

18. Hundreds of Millions of Discarded Tires in a Dump in Colorado, U.S.

19. 21-2 How Should We Deal with Solid Waste?
Concept A sustainable approach to solid waste is first to reduce it, then to reuse or recycle it, and finally to safely dispose of what is left.

20. We Can Burn or Bury Solid Waste or Produce Less of It
Waste Management
Reduce the environmental impact of MSW without seriously trying to reduce the amount of waste produced
Waste Reduction
Less waste and pollution are produced as well as reuse, recycle, and composting programs
Integrated waste management
Uses a variety of strategies for both waste reduction and waste management

21. Solutions: Reducing Solid Waste
Refuse: to buy items that we really don’t need.
Reduce: consume less and live a simpler and less stressful life by practicing simplicity.
Reuse: rely more on items that can be used over and over.
Repurpose: use something for another purpose instead of throwing it away.
Recycle: paper, glass, cans, plastics…and buy items made from recycled materials.

22. Integrated Waste Management
Fig 21-5

23. Integrated Waste Management: Priorities for Dealing with Solid Waste
Fig 21-6

24. We Can Cut Solid Wastes by Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling
Seven strategies:
(1) Redesign manufacturing processes and products to use less material and energy
(2) Redesign manufacturing processes to produce less waste and pollution
(3) Develop products that are easy to repair, reuse, remanufacture, compost, or recycle
(4) Eliminate or reduce unnecessary packaging
(5) Use fee-per-bag waste collection systems
(6) Establish cradle-to grave responsibility
(7) Restructure urban transportation systems

25. What Can You Do? Solid Waste
Fig 21-7

26. 21-3 Why Is Reusing and Recycling Materials So Important?
Concept Reusing items decreases the use of matter and energy resources and reduces pollution and natural capital degradation; recycling does so to a lesser degree.

27. Reuse is an important way to reduce solid waste and pollution and to save money
Reuse involves cleaning and using materials over and over and thus increasing the typical life span of a product.
Salvaging automobile parts from older cars
Yard sales
Flea markets
Secondhand stores
Auctions

28. Case Study: Use of Refillable Containers
Reuse and recycle
Refillable glass beverage bottles
Refillable soft drink bottles made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic
Paper, plastic, or reusable cloth bags
Pros
Cons

29. Energy Consumption Involved with Using Different Types of 350 ml Containers
Fig 21-8

30. There Are Two Types of Recycling (1)
Recycling involves reprocessing discarded solid materials into new, useful products.
Five major types of materials that can be recycled: paper products, glass, aluminum, steel, and some plastics.
Primary, closed-loop recycling
Recycled into new products of the same type
Secondary recycling
Waste products are turned into different products
Types of wastes that can be recycled
Preconsumer: internal waste (manufacturing)
Postconsumer: external waste (consumer use)
Preconsumer waste makes up more than ¾ of the total.

31. There Are Two Types of Recycling (2)
Key questions:
Are the items separated for recycling actually recycled?
Will businesses and individuals complete the recycling loop by buying products that are made from recycled materials?

32. We Can Mix or Separate Household Solid Wastes for Recycling
Materials-recovery facilities (MRFs o “murfs”). Expensive to build, operate and maintain
Mixed waste is separated into what can be reused by industry or recycled, the rest is burned to produce steam or electricity
Source separation: Produces less air and water pollution, cost less to implement than MRF’s, saves more energy and provides more jobs.
Pay-as-you-throw
Fee-per-bag
Which program is more cost effective?
Which is friendlier to the environment?

33. We Can Copy Nature and Recycle Biodegradable Solid Wastes
Composting involves allowing decomposer bacteria to recycle yard trimmings, food scraps, and other biodegradable organic wastes.
Individual
Municipal
Uses:
To supply plant nutrients.
Slow soil erosion
Retain water
Improve crop yields
Restore eroded soil
Restore strip-mined land or overgrazed areas.
Successful program in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

34. Backyard Composter Drum: Bacteria Convert Kitchen Waste into Compost

35. Trade-Offs: Recycling, Advantages and Disadvantages
Fig 21-12

36. We Can Encourage Reuse and Recycling (1)
What hinders reuse and recycling?
Misleading accounting system (market price does not include the harmful environmental and health costs)
Uneven playing field (resource-extracting industries receive more tax breaks and subsidies)
Demand and price paid for recycled materials fluctuates (buying goods made with recycled materials is not a priority)
Encourage reuse and recycling
Government
Increase subsidies and tax breaks for using such products
Decrease subsidies and tax breaks for making items from virgin resources

37. We Can Encourage Reuse and Recycling (2)
Fee-per-bag collection
Encorage or require government purchases of recycled products to increase demand and lower prices.
New laws requiring companies to take back and recycle or reuse packaging and electronic waste discarded by consumers.
Citizen pressure to require labels on all products listing recycled content and amounts of any hazardous materials they contain.

38. 21-4 The Advantages and Disadvantages of Burning or Burying Solid Waste
Concept Technologies for burning and burying solid wastes are well developed, but burning contributes to pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, and buried wastes eventually contribute to pollution and land degradation.

39. Waste-to-energy incinerators
Incineration with energy recovery is one of several waste-to-energy (WtE) technologies such as gasification and anaerobic digestion.
Incinerators reduce the mass of the original waste by 80–85 % and the volume (already compressed somewhat in garbage trucks) by 90 % .
However, without air pollution devices, incinerators pollute the air with particulates, carbon monoxide, toxic metals and other toxic materials.
The highly toxic fly ash must be safely disposed of. This usually involves additional waste miles and the need for specialist toxic waste landfill elsewhere.
87 MSW Incinerators in U. S.
No plans to build more
Hazardous waste incinerators = Click link

40. Trade-Offs: Incineration, Advantages and Disadvantages
Fig 21-14

41. Solutions: A Waste-to-Energy Incinerator with Pollution Controls

42. Burying solid waste has advantages and disadvantages
Types of landfills.
Open dumps: fields or holes in the ground where garbage is deposited and sometimes burned. Widely used in developing countries.
Sanitary landfills: solid wastes are spread out in thin layers, compacted, and covered daily with a fresh layer or clay or plastic foam to reduce leakage, risk of fire, odor and accessibility to vermin.

43. Burying solid waste has advantages and disadvantages
All landfills eventually leak.
In United States radioactive materials from nuclear weapons facitilities run by the Department of Energy were being dumped into regular landfills with little tracking of their dispersal, despite public opposition.

44. Trade-Offs: Sanitary Landfills, Advantages and Disadvantages
Fig 21-16

45. Solutions: State-of-the-Art Sanitary Landfill

46. What Can You Do? Reuse
Fig 21-9

47. RECYCLING
Primary (closed loop) recycling: materials are turned into new products of the same type.
Secondary recycling: materials are converted into different products.
Used tires shredded and converted into rubberized road surface.
Newspapers transformed into cellulose insulation or pencils (City of Oxnard).

48. EPA data on recycling in U. S.

49. EPA recycling by product

50. EPA Discards per capita to landfill

51. Europe MSW per capita 2008 data
U.S. equivalent in kg/yr in
2008 = 747 kg/person/yr
Source Austrian consultancy firm TBU

52. We Can Separate Household Solid Wastes for Recycling
Materials-recovery facilities (MRFs)
Click for Oxnard’s Del Norte MRF
Recyclable Household Hazardous Waste Program "ABOP" Program:
Antifreeze, Batteries, Oil and Paint Recycling
For other HazMats call: for appointment

53. Recycling in Oxnard
Click to City
web page

54. EPA data management of MSW

55. Environmental Paper Network
The Environmental Paper Network represents over
100 organizations working together to accelerate social
and environmental transformation in the pulp and paper
industry.  Our goals are to protect the world’s last
endangered forests, safeguard our global climate, and
ensure abundant, clean drinking water and respect for
community and indigenous rights.
Click for Environmental Paper Network

56. 90% of office paper has NO recycled content!

57. Virgin vs Postconsumer paper

58. Recycling Terms
POSTCONSUMER MATERIAL: Those end products generated by consumers that have been separated or diverted from the solid waste stream. The critical words here are "end products" and "consumers." Products, scraps and materials still in the production or value-added process do not qualify. Examples that do qualify include office wastepaper, junkmail and magazines from people's homes, undeliverable mail at the Postal Service's dead-letter office, office wastepaper, and shipping packaging from delivered products.
PRECONSUMER MATERIALS: Recovered materials other than postconsumer material. Preconsumer materials have not met their intended end-use by a consumer, and include allowable waste left over from manufacturing, converting and printing processes. Examples: mill converting scraps, preconsumer deinking material, pulp substitutes.

60. Backyard Composter Drum: Bacteria Convert Kitchen Waste into Compost

61. Biosolid digesters

62. Gill’s Onion Site
Click for Gills Onions system

63. Discarded Solid Waste Litters Beaches

64. Bioplastics
Sources: Corn, Soy, Sugarcane, Switchgrass or any organic you can make monomer from.
Benefits: biodegradable. The basic ingredient of corn-based plastics is polylactide, or PLA. Most PLA has to go to a commercial composting plant to be decomposed
Cost to make PLA bottle 5-10% more than fossil fuel plastics
PLA can't be recycled along with regular petroleum-based plastics.

65. NatureWorks Bioplastics
“Ingeo™ biopolymers are already proving themselves in success
commercial applications in the areas of fiber and nonwovens,
films, extruded and thermoformed containers, and extrusion and
emulsion coatings.”
Click for link to NaureWorks

66. Mirel Bioplastics Click for link to Mirel
Cambridge, Mass.-based Metabolix has developed a brand of biodegradable plastic called Mirel that decomposes in soil, compost or even water. It's made from genetically engineered microbes that convert corn sugar into polymers in a fermentation process.
-Film grade (for blown and cast film applications): Can be used for
agricultural mulch film, compost bags, retail bags, and packaging.
-Injection molding grade: Can replace polystyrene or polypropylene for use in many consumer retail products and high-performance applications. 
-Extrusion sheet and thermoforming grade: Can be used for gift cards, large format graphics, and storage containers.
-Developmental grades (for foam, blow molding, non-woven,
and monofilament): Can be used for a variety of products,
including containers and bottles, personal care and hygiene products, and safe shipping and packing materials.
Click for link to Mirel

67. Trade-Offs: Recycling, Advantages and Disadvantages
Fig 21-12

68. 21-4 The Advantages and Disadvantages of Burning or Burying Solid Waste
Concept Technologies for burning and burying solid wastes are well developed, but burning contributes to pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, and buried wastes eventually contribute to pollution and land degradation.

69. Waste-to-energy incinerators
Incineration with energy recovery is one of several waste-to-energy (WtE) technologies such as gasification and anaerobic digestion.
Incinerators reduce the mass of the original waste by 80–85 % and the volume (already compressed somewhat in garbage trucks) by 95-96 % .
The highly toxic fly ash must be safely disposed of. This usually involves additional waste miles and the need for specialist toxic waste landfill elsewhere.
87 MSW Incinerators in U. S.
No plans to build more
Burn around 13% of our MSW for energy
Hazardous waste incinerators = Click link

70. Solutions: A Waste-to-Energy Incinerator with Pollution Controls
Fig 21-13

72. Trade-Offs: Incineration, Advantages and Disadvantages
Fig 21-14

73. Fig 21-15 When landfill is full, layers of soil and clay seal in trash
Topsoil
Sand
Electricity generator building
Clay
Garbage
Methane storage and compressor building
Leachate treatment system
Probes to detect methane leaks
Pipes collect explosive methane for use as fuel to generate electricity
Methane gas recovery well
Leachate storage tank
Compacted solid waste
Figure 21.15
Solutions: state-of-the-art sanitary landfill, which is designed to eliminate or minimize environmental problems that plague older landfills. Since 1997, only modern sanitary landfills are allowed in the United States. As a result, many small, older local landfills have been closed and replaced with larger regional landfills. Question: How do you think sanitary landfills could develop leaks of toxic liquids?
Leachate pipes
Groundwater monitoring well
Leachate pumped up to storage tank for safe disposal
Garbage
Sand
Synthetic liner
Leachate monitoring well
Sand
Groundwater
Clay and plastic lining to prevent leaks; pipes collect leachate from bottom of landfill
Clay
Fig 21-15
Subsoil

74. Trade-Offs: Sanitary Landfills, Advantages and Disadvantages
Fig 21-16

75. 21-5 How Should We Deal with Hazardous Waste?
Concept A sustainable approach to hazardous waste is first to produce less of it, then to reuse or recycle it, then to convert it to less hazardous materials, and finally, to safely store what is left.

76. We Can Use Integrated Management of Hazardous Waste
Integrated management of hazardous wastes
Produce less
Convert to less hazardous substances
Rest in long-term safe storage
Increased use for postconsumer hazardous waste

77. Integrated Hazardous Waste Management
Fig 21-17

78. Solutions: Phytoremediation
Fig 21-18

79. TRADE-OFFS Phytoremediation Advantages Disadvantages Easy to establish
Slow (can take several growing seasons)
Inexpensive
Effective only at depth plant roots can reach
Can reduce material dumped into landfills
Some toxic organic chemicals may evaporate from plant leaves
Figure 21.19
Advantages and disadvantages of using phytoremediation to remove or detoxify hazardous waste. Question: Which single advantage and which single disadvantage do you think are the most important? Why?
Produces little air pollution compared to incineration
Some plants can become toxic to animals
Low energy use
Fig , p. 579

80. TRADE-OFFS Plasma Arc Advantages Disadvantages Small High cost
Produces CO2 and CO
Mobile. Easy to move to different sites
Can release particulates and chlorine gas
Figure 21.20
Advantages and disadvantages of using a plasma arc torch to detoxify hazardous wastes. Question: Which single advantage and which single disadvantage do you think are the most important? Why?
Can vaporize and release toxic metals and radioactive elements
Produces no toxic ash
Fig , p. 580

81. We Can Store Some Forms of Hazardous Waste
Burial on land or long-term storage
Deep-well disposal
Surface impoundments
Secure hazardous landfills

82. TRADE-OFFS Deep-Well Disposal Advantages Disadvantages
Safe method if sites are chosen carefully
Leaks or spills at surface
Leaks from corrosion of well casing
Wastes can often be retrieved if problems develop
Existing fractures or earthquakes can allow wastes to escape into groundwater
Figure 21.21
Advantages and disadvantages of injecting liquid hazardous wastes into deep underground wells. Question: Which single advantage and which single disadvantage do you think are the most important? Why?
Easy to do
Output approach that encourages waste production
Low cost
Fig , p. 580

83. Surface Impoundment in Niagara Falls, New York, U.S.

84. TRADE-OFFS Surface Impoundments Advantages Disadvantages
Low construction costs
Groundwater contamination from leaking liners (or no lining)
Low operating costs
Air pollution from volatile organic compounds
Can be built quickly
Overflow from flooding
Figure 21.23
Advantages and disadvantages of storing liquid hazardous wastes in surface impoundments. Question: Which single advantage and which single disadvantage do you think are the most important? Why?
Wastes can often be retrieved if necessary
Disruption and leakage from earthquakes
Can store wastes indefinitely with secure double liners
Output approach that encourages waste production
Fig , p. 581

85. Solutions: Secure Hazardous Waste Landfill
Fig 21-24

86. What Can You Do? Hazardous Waste
Fig 21-25

87. Hazardous Waste Regulations in the United States
Two major federal laws regulate the management and disposal of hazardous waste in the U.S.:
1976: Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
Cradle-to-the-grave system to keep track waste.
1989: Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)
Commonly known as Superfund program.

88. Hazardous Waste Regulations in the United States
The Superfund law was designed to have polluters pay for cleaning up abandoned hazardous waste sites.
Only 70% of the cleanup costs have come from the polluters, the rest comes from a trust fund financed until 1995 by taxes on chemical raw materials and oil.

89. Leaking Barrels of Toxic Waste at a Superfund Site in the United States

90. 21-6 How Can We Make the Transition to a More Sustainable Low-Waste Society?
Concept Shifting to a low-waste society requires individuals and businesses to reduce resource use and to reuse and recycle wastes at local, national, and global levels.

91. Grassroots Action Has Led to Better Solid and Hazardous Waste Management
“Not in my backyard” = NIMBY
Produce less waste
“Not in anyone’s backyard”
“Not on planet Earth”

92. We Can Make the Transition to Low-Waste Societies
Norway, Austria, and the Netherlands
Committed to reduce resource waste by 75%
East Hampton, NY, U.S.
Reduced solid waste by 85%

93. Animation: Economic types