Solid and Hazardous Waste

Question of the day: From when you woke up till Eco class, make a list of all the things you have thrown away? Do you think about the packaging of a product before you buy it? (How about those Starbucks/Wawa cups?) How often do you reuse objects, recycle objects?

Question of the day: List the top five materials that you think get thrown away into landfills. What is the difference between a sanitary landfill and an incinerator?

Overview of Chapter Solid Waste Waste Prevention Hazardous Waste Types of Solid Waste Waste Prevention Reducing the Amount of Waste Reusing Products Recycling Materials Hazardous Waste Types of Hazardous Waste Management of Hazardous Waste

Solid Waste US generates more solid waste per capita than any other country 1.98 kg per person per day (let’s just say 2 kg, books says 2.1kg) Types of Solid Waste Municipal solid waste Solid material discarded by homes, office buildings, retail stores, schools, hospitals, prisons, etc Relatively small portion of solid waste produced Non-municipal solid waste Solid waste generated by industry, agriculture, and mining

Zero waste family http://nomoredirtylooks.com/tag/zero-waste-family/

Composition of Municipal Solid Waste

Disposal of Solid Waste Three methods Sanitary Landfills Incineration Recycling

Sanitary Landfill Compacting and burying waste under a shallow layer of soil Most common method of disposal

Chester County Solid Waste Authority http://www.chestercountyswa.org/

Sanitary Landfill Problems Methane gas production by microorganisms Contamination of surface water & ground water by leachate Not a long-term remedy Few new facilities being opened Closing a full landfill is very expensive

Q of day: What company picks up your trash? Where does your trash go? Be specific. What are some problems with landfills?

Sanitary Landfill Special Problem of Plastic Special Problem of Tires Much of plastic is from packaging Chemically stable and do not readily break down and decompose Special Problem of Tires Cannot be melted and reused for tires Made from materials that cannot be recycled Can be incinerated or shredded

Tires http://tire-conversion.com/index.php/why-we-recycle/general-information Household Hazardous Waste Days Chester County, PA http://www.chestercountyswa.org/pdf/LHSchedule.pdf Delaware County, PA http://www.co.delaware.pa.us/recycle/hhw.html

Incineration Volume of solid waste reduced by 90% Produces heat that can make steam to generate electricity Produce less carbon emissions than fossil fuel power plants (right)

Incineration Types of Incinerators Mass burn (below) Modular Refuse-derived

Incinerator Problems Associated with Incineration Yields air pollution Produce large amounts of ash Site selection often controversial

Chester, PA “Trash to Steam” Plant http://www.delcotimes.com/articles/2009/07/06/news/doc4a51b600e9972546641127.txt?viewmode=fullstory http://www.covantaenergy.com/en/list-of-facilities/videos.aspx

Composting Includes: Reduces yard waste in landfills Food scraps Sewage sludge Agricultural manure Yard waste Reduces yard waste in landfills Can be sold or distributed to community

How to yard compost? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqWTYB_XLwE&feature=related

Period 5 Q of day: What are the top 3 things that are thrown away? What is the 4th? What can we/you do to prevent so much of the 4th going to landfills?

Dive! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HlFP-PMW6E Interesting concept

Waste Prevention Three Goals (1) Reduce the amount of waste (2) Reuse products (3) Recycle materials

Reducing Waste Purchase products with less packaging

Reducing Waste Source reduction Pollution Prevention Act (1990) Products are designed and manufactured in ways that decrease the volume of solid waste in the waste stream Pollution Prevention Act (1990) Dematerialization Progressive decrease in the size and weight of a product as a result of technological improvements

Reusing Products Refilling glass beverage bottles Heavier glass that costs more Japan recycles almost all bottles Reused 20 times

Recycling Materials Every ton of recycled paper saves: Recycle 17 trees 7000 gallons of water 4100 kwatt-hrs of energy 3 cubic yards of landfill space Recycle Glass bottles, newspapers, steel cans, plastic bottles, cardboard, office paper

Recycling Recycling Paper Recycling Glass US recycles 50% Many developed countries are higher Recycling Glass US recycles 25% Costs less than new glass Can be used to make glassphalt (right)

Recycling Recycling Aluminum Making new can from recycled one costs far less than making a brand new one

Recycling Recycling Metals other than Aluminum Recycling Plastic Lead, gold, iron, steel, silver and zinc Metallic composition is often unknown Makes recycling difficult Recycling Plastic Less than 20% is recycled Less expensive to make from raw materials

Recycling Recycling Tires Few products are made from old tires Playground equipment Trashcans Garden hose Carpet Roofing materials 36% of tires are currently recycled to make other products

Upcycle Project-. Create! Creativity! Terracycle Freecycle http://www.urbanfarmonline.com/urban-farm-magazine-and-books/urban-farm-exclusives/upcycle.aspx?cm_mmc=Vanity-_-upcycle-_-na-_-van

Recycling research continued Where can you recycle materials like? Computers

Single Stream recycling http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_RWqgXcP_k

Cell phone recycling http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCU4o_Ce9PM&NR=1&feature=fvwp The After Life of Cell Phones http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/13/magazine/13Cellphone-t.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 Terracycle- video and website

Integrated Waste Management

Question of the day 3: 1. What qualifies as hazardous waste? 2. Why do you think it needs separate disposal? What is Superfund? (just guess)

Hazardous Waste Any discarded chemical that threatens human health or the environment Reactive, corrosive, explosive or toxic chemicals Types of Hazardous Waste Dioxins PCBs Radioactive waste

Management of Hazardous Waste Chemical accidents National Response Center notified Typically involves oil, gasoline or other petroleum spill Current Management Policies Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (1976, 1984) Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (1980)

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (1976, 1984) The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) gives EPA the authority to control hazardous waste from the "cradle-to-grave." This includes the generation, transportation, treatment, storage, and disposal of hazardous waste. RCRA also set forth a framework for the management of non-hazardous solid wastes. The 1986 amendments to RCRA enabled EPA to address environmental problems that could result from underground tanks storing petroleum and other hazardous substances. HSWA - the Federal Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments - are the 1984 amendments to RCRA that focused on waste minimization and phasing out land disposal of hazardous waste as well as corrective action for releases. Some of the other mandates of this law include increased enforcement authority for EPA, more stringent hazardous waste management standards, and a comprehensive underground storage tank program.

Management of Hazardous Waste Cleaning up existing hazardous waste: superfund program 400,000 waste sites Leaking chemical storage tanks and drums (right) Pesticides dumps Piles of mining wastes Must be cleaned up

Love Canal First site of it’s kind. Sparked CERCLA. (aka Superfund) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKIM9sE0t6I&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1&safe=active http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/Hooker_Electrochemical_Quit_Claim_Deed_to_Board_of_Education.pdf

Case-In-Point Hanford Nuclear Reservation

Management of Hazardous Waste Superfund National Priorities List 2006: 1558 sites on the list States with the greatest number of sites New Jersey (115) California (93) Pennsylvania (93) New York (86) Michigan (65)

Superfund: What is it? Superfund is the name given to the environmental program established to address abandoned hazardous waste sites. It is also the name of the fund established by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, as amended (CERCLA statute, CERCLA overview). This law was enacted in the wake of the discovery of toxic waste dumps such as Love Canal and Times Beach in the 1970s. It allows the EPA to clean up such sites and to compel responsible parties to perform cleanups or reimburse the government for EPA-lead cleanups.

Management of Hazardous Waste Biological Treatment of Hazardous Chemicals Bioremediation Phytoremediation Management the Waste we are Producing Now (1) source reduction (2) conversion to less hazardous materials (3) long-term storage

Management of Hazardous Waste Hazardous Waste Landfill

Superfund research With a partner, log on to the EPA’s webpage for SUPERFUND. I will assign you a county. Pick a SUPERFUND site: Where is it? What is the contamination? Who are the parties involved (the polluters)? How is it being cleaned up? Is it cleaned up or is the site still active?