Waste Management Chapter 22

What does a societies garbage say about it? How would the trash in a landfill from 50 years ago be different than the trash in a landfill today? How does the trash in a developing country look different then in a developed country? Why might landfills some day be considered a “mine” for resources?

Types of Solid Waste http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/ materials/organics/food/fd-basic.htm MSW – Municipal Solid Waste - Information from epa.gov Date from EPA 2005

Waste Management –Source Reduction

Makes a closed loop for organic resources Composting Makes a closed loop for organic resources

Waste Management – Recovery & Recycling What products are the easiest (and often most efficient) to recycle? Glass and Metals Why? Just melt them down & save on energy used to mine/make more http://your.kingcounty.gov/solidwaste/garbage-recycling/what-happens-to-my-recyclables.asp?mfile=KCrecycling.wmv&loc=server#video http://your.kingcounty.gov/solidwaste/garbage-recycling/multimedia.asp

Sanitary Landfill http://uccpbank.k12hsn.org/cours es/APEnvironmentalScience/course %20files/multimedia/lesson82/ani mations/5b_Modern_Landfill.html Why doesn’t most waste in a sanitary landfill decompose? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qL1pQgy2Rss How do physical and hydrological conditions at a site affect its suitability for a landfill?  Doesn’t get a lot of water, so that not a lot of leachate is produced. High levels of clay and silt in the soil Above the water table   What is generally used as a barrier in landfills and why do landfills need multiple barriers? Use plastic liners and clay. Lower chance of pollutants escaping from the landfill. Monitoring the Site Soil tests/water tests of the groundwater and local streams/rivers

Incineration Can provide energy Less goes to land fills If not done properly, lots of air pollution http://uccpbank.k12hsn.org/courses/APEnvironmentalScience/course%20files/multimedia/lesson82/animations/5b_Incineration.html Ironically a lot of communities don’t use these because in order for them to be profitable, the community has to ensure a certain amount of garbage and as waste is reduced incinerators become less profitable.

Hazardous Waste http://your.kingcounty.gov/solidwaste/facilities/hazwaste.asp

E-Waste http://your.kingcounty.gov/solidwaste/wdidw/category.asp?CatID=8 http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=5274959n&tag=contentBody;storyMediaBox 60 minutes video on e-waste

Surface Impoundment

Deep-well injection

Relevant Laws

U.S. Ocean Dumping Act Prevents dumping of industrial waste, sewage, radioactive waste, and medical waste Garbage Patch in the Pacific Ocean Twice the size of texas, biggest landfill in the world, impact on animals Some comes from ships dumping stuff, or containers falling off big cargo boats, but a fair amount just comes from urban run-off that makes it way through steams, to rivers, to the ocean

RCRA Resource Conservation and Recovery Act EPA controls all waste (hazardous & non-hazardous) “cradle to grave” Includes landfills, waste transport, waste storage

CERCLA Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act Commonly known as Superfund Overseen by the EPA Goal: Mandates the development of priority lists and the clean up of hazardous waste sites. http://projects.publicintegrity.org/superfund/ Blue are proposed sites, red are current sites, and green are deleted sites http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/wa.htm

CERLA Passed in 1980 1960’s &1970’s – Rises of industry Left lots of hazardous waste & chemicals around Cuyahoga River Flows through the city of Cleveland, which released many pollutants River has “burned” many times, mostly from oil/gasoline on top of the water

Love Canal – THE major event From 1942 to 1953 a landfill known as the love canal, was contaminated by Hooker chemical and then sold to the city after being covered up by layers of dirt. The city then allowed homes and schools to be built over the landfill and people started to feel the effects of the hazardous waste through sickness, cancer, birth defects... The people living on top of the landfill eventually had to leave their homes. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/ 2c/Hooker_Electrochemical_Quit_Claim_Deed_to_Bo ard_of_Education.pdf

Brownfields Once a site has been designated as clean it becomes a “Brownfield” http://www.epa.gov/swerosps/bf/basic_i nfo.htm Duwamish River? http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/p acificnw/2014703392_pacificpduwamish17 .html

Recycling in Maple Valley - http://your. kingcounty Recycling in Maple Valley - http://your.kingcounty.gov/solidwaste/garbage- recycling/recycling.asp Cedar Grove Composting - http://www.cedar-grove.com/ What can be composted in Maple Valley? http://your.kingcounty.gov/solidwaste/garbage- recycling/food-collection.asp#cities http://wmnorthwest.com/maplevalley/index.html