Solid Waste

Solid Waste Hazardous Waste – poses danger to human health Industrial Waste – comes from manufacturing Municipal Waste – household waste

Reduce – Reuse - Recycle Reduce – minimizing disposal waste Reuse – get products that can be used over and over again for their purpose Recycle – give materials “another life” Primary Recycling – used to rebuild the same product (Plastic, Aluminum) Secondary Recycling – materials are used for lower quality goods – tires to form a track, plastic bottles to make decking materials Composting – other animals may eat, or…organic materials get decomposed and return to environment (reduces smell form garbage)

EPA 2012 DATA: Material % of material that is recycled Lead-acid batteries 95.9 Steel can 70.8 Newspaper 70 Yard Trimmings 57.7 Soda cans 54.6 Tires 44.6 Glass 34.1 Pet bottles 30.8 Electonics 29.2

P-A-Y-T – In order to encourage recycling, towns are beginning “Pay As You Throw”

Garbage Barge (1987) - NIMBY

“Old Landfills” No one wanted close to their home No regulation No testing for leachate – fluid at bottom of landfill “Heaps of Garbage”

“Modern Landfills”

Modern Landfills Federal laws prohibit them from being located near faults, floodplains, or wetlands Holes lined with membranes, and clay (impermeable) Frequently covered with soil Leachate is piped to “pond” and closely monitored Gases from site are piped and used to make electricity When hole is filled, it must be closed and capped, monitoring continues

Incinerators Waste can also be burned, and used to generate electicity

Hazardous Waste Tracking of hazardous materials from “Cradle to Grave” through the RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act) Corrosive – waste that corrodes metal Ignitable – Substances such as alcohol and gasoline that can catch on fire Reactive – Chemically unstable or react readily with other compounds Toxic – creates health risks when inhaled, injected, or absorbed

Disposal of Hazardous Waste Landfills – special areas that are heavily monitored, higher standards (liquids) Deep well injections – hole dug below water table

Radioactive Waste, Yucca Mountain, Nevada Not NIMBY Can keep secure Previous nuclear testing ahs been done there

Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Receives TransUranic Waste (TRU) – waste left over from the building of nuclear weapons

Low level vs high level waste EPA lists High Level – reactor waste, repossessing nuclear fuel, mining of uranium ore Low level – industrial, research, natural materials

Contaminated Waste Sites Superfund – sites established that need to be cleaned up

Love Canal Homes and school were built on top of a landfill Many Cancer Cases