1. Solid and Hazardous Waste
Chapter 21

2. Case Study: Love Canal, NY

3. Core Case Study: E-waste—An Exploding Problem (1)
Electronic waste, e-waste: fastest growing solid waste problem
Composition includes
High-quality plastics
Valuable metals
Toxic and hazardous pollutants

4. Core Case Study: E-waste—An Exploding Problem (3)
What should be done?
Recycle
E-cycle
Reuse
Prevention approach: remove the toxic materials

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

6. 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.

7. Case Study: Love Canal, NY
1980: Comprehensive Environmental, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), or Superfund
Polluters pay for cleanup (the idea)
Tax payers foot the bill for cleanup (reality)
Pace of cleanup has slowed

8. We Throw Away Huge Amounts of Useful Things and Hazardous Materials (1)
Solid waste
Industrial solid – comes from industry
Municipal solid waste (MSW) – “trash”
Hazardous, toxic, waste – threatens human health or the environment

9. Hazardous Waste Hazardous wastes can be: Examples of hazardous waste:
Poisonous
Chemically reactive
Flammable
Examples of hazardous waste:
Organic compounds
Toxic heavy metals
Radioactive waste

10. Yucca Mountain

11. Yucca Mountain

12. Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP)

13. We Throw Away Huge Amounts of Useful Things and Hazardous Materials (2)
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
Huge amounts of air pollution, greenhouse gases, and water pollution

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

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

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

17. We Can Burn or Bury Solid Waste or Produce Less of It
Waste Management
Waste Reduction
Integrated waste management
Uses a variety of strategies

18. Integrated Waste Management

19. Processing and manufacturing Products
Raw materials
Processing and manufacturing
Products
Solid and hazardous wastes generated during the manufacturing process
Waste generated by households and businesses
Figure 21.5
Integrated waste management: wastes are reduced through recycling, reuse, and composting or managed by burying them in landfills or incinerating them. Most countries rely primarily on burial and incineration. Question: What happens to the solid waste you produce?
Food/yard waste
Remaining mixed waste
Plastic
Glass
Metal
Paper
Hazardous waste
To manufacturers for reuse or for recycling
Compost
Hazardous waste management
Incinerator
Landfill
Fertilizer
Fig. 21-5, p. 565

20. Integrated Waste Management: Priorities for Dealing with Solid Waste

21. We Can Cut Solid Wastes by Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling (1)
Waste reduction is based on
Reduce
Reuse
Recycle

22. 7 strategies industries and communities can use to reduce resource use, waste, and pollution
Redesign manufacturing processes and products to use less material and energy
Redesign manufacturing process to produce less waste and pollution (ecoindustrial revolution)
Develop products that are easy to repair, reuse, remanufacture, compost, or recycle.
Eliminate or reduce unnecessary packaging
Use fee-per-bag waste collection systems
Establish cradle-to-grave responsibility laws
Restructure urban transportation systems

23. Milkman – 1950s & 60s

24. “If only nature would find a way to cover these oranges so we didn't need to waste so much plastic on them”

25. What Can You Do? Solid Waste

26. Reuse: Important Way to Reduce Solid Waste, Pollution and to Save Money
Reuse: clean and use materials over and over
Example – Glass soda bottles, glass milk bottles
Downside of reuse in developing countries
-Exposure to disease

27. Case Study: Use of Refillable Containers
Reuse and recycle
Refillable glass beverage bottles
Paper, plastic, or reusable cloth bags
Pros
Cons

28. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastics

29. Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) plastics

30. Commonly Used Plastics
#1 PLASTICS: POLYETHYLENE TEREPHTHALATE (PET)
Common uses: 2-liter soda bottles, single-use water bottles, cooking oil bottles, peanut butter jars, etc.
#2 PLASTICS: HIGH DENSITY POLYETHYLENE (HDPE)
Common uses: detergent bottles, yoghurt tubs, milk jugs, bottle caps, backpack frames, hard hats, hula hoops, etc.
#3 PLASTICS: POLYVINYL CHLORIDE (PVC)
Common uses: plastic pipes, Saran wraps, outdoor furniture, flooring, siding, etc.
#4 PLASTICS: LOW DENSITY POLYETHYLENE (LDPE)
Common uses: plastic film, grocery bags, dry cleaning bags, produce bags, trash can liners, food storage containers
#5 PLASTICS: POLYPROPYLENE (PP)
Common uses: bottle caps, food containers, drinking straws, etc
PLASTIC #6: POLYSTYRENE (PS)
Common uses: packaging pellets or "Styrofoam® peanuts," cups, plastic tableware, meat trays, to-go "clam shell" containers.

31. Energy Consumption Involved with Using Different Types of 350 ml Containers

32. What Can You Do? Reuse

33. There Are Two Types of Recycling
Primary, closed-loop recycling
Materials are recycled into new products of the same type
Ex. Aluminum cans to aluminum cans
Secondary recycling
Waste material converted to different products
Plastic bottles to park benches

34. Types of wastes that can be recycled
Preconsumer – generated by manufacturing process
Postconsumer – generated by consumer use of products

35. Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs)
Machines or workers separate mixed waste
recover valuable materials for sale to manufacturers as raw materials
paper, plastics, and other combustible wastes are recycled or burned to produce steam or electricity to run the recovery plant or to sell to nearby industries or homes.

36. Science Focus: Bioplastics
Plastics from plants
Sources
Corn
Soy
Sugarcane
Algae
Compostable

37. Trade-Offs: Recycling, Advantages and Disadvantages

38. Burning Solid Waste Has Advantages and Disadvantages
Waste-to-energy incinerators
Burns (incinerates) waste to produce energy
Advantages
Reduces volume of MSW by 90%
Disadvantages
Air pollution (CO2, toxic metals, dioxin)
Remaining waste (fly ash) is toxic and must be disposed of in special landfills

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

40. Trade-Offs: Incineration, Advantages and Disadvantages

41. Burying Solid Waste Has Advantages and Disadvantages
Open dumps
Fields or holes in the ground where garbage is deposited
Sanitary landfills
Waste spread out in thin layers
Compacted
Covered daily with clay or foam

42. Leaching and Leachate
Leaching – process in which various chemicals in the upper layers are dissolved and carried to lower layers
Leachate – water that has percolated through a solid and leached out chemicals
Concern about groundwater contamination

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

44. When landfill is full, layers of soil and clay seal in trash
Topsoil
Sand
Electricity generator building
Clay
Leachate treatment system
Garbage
Methane storage and compressor building
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
Subsoil

45. Trade-Offs: Sanitary Landfills, Advantages and Disadvantages

46. 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

47. Integrated Hazardous Waste Management

48. We Can Detoxify Hazardous Wastes
Collect and then detoxify
Physical methods
Chemical methods
Bioremediation
Phytoremediation
Nanomagnets
Incineration

49. Solutions: Phytoremediation

50. Trade-Offs: Phytoremediation, Advantages and Disadvantages

51. Trade-Offs: Plasma Arc, Advantages and Disadvantages

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

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

54. Trade-Offs Surface Impoundments, Advantages and Disadvantages

55. Solutions: Secure Hazardous Waste Landfill

56. What Can You Do? Hazardous Waste

57. Case Study: Hazardous Waste Regulation in the United States
1980: Comprehensive Environmental, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), or Superfund
Polluters pay for cleanup (the idea)
Tax payers foot the bill for cleanup (reality)
Pace of cleanup has slowed
Laws encouraging the cleanup of brownfields
Brownfields – abandoned industrial and commercial sites
In most cases, contaminated with hazardous waste
Can be cleaned up and turned into parks

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

59. 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.

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

61. Providing Environmental Justice for Everyone Is an Important Goal
Which communities in the U.S. have the largest share of hazardous waster dumps?