1. Warm-Up / Review Produces electricity chemically
Energy sources that are still in development
Includes lifestyle changes
Produces electricity using the temperature difference between two layers of water
Percentage of energy that does useful work
Alternative energy
Fuel cell
Energy efficiency
Energy conservation
Ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC)

2. Chapter 19: Waste 19-1 Solid Waste
Solid Waste: any discarded solid material (from junk mail to cars)
Amount of solid waste/person in the U.S. has more than doubled since the 1960’s
Space: many towns are running out of space to dispose of the amt. of waste that people create
Population: ↑ population = ↑ waste = ↓ land available/person
Avg. person in U.S. produces 4.4 pounds of waste / day

3. Most natural materials (ex. newspapers, paper bags, cotton, leather)
Biodegradable: can be broken down by biological processes (ex. plant & animal matter)
Most natural materials (ex. newspapers, paper bags, cotton, leather)
Nonbiodegradable: cannot be broken down by biological processes
Synthetic materials (ex. polyester, nylon, plastic)
Plastic Problems: made from petroleum & natural gas, some discarded plastics may accumulate and last for hundreds of years

4. Municipal Solid Waste: wastes produced by households and business
Only 2% of the total solid waste in the U.S.
Enough to fill a convoy of garbage trucks that would stretch around the Earth about 6 times!!!
Growing much faster than mining or agricultural waste

5. Solid Waste from Manufacturing, Mining, & Agriculture
Manufacturing: 56% - scrap metal, plastics, paper, sludge, ash
Consumers indirectly create it by purchasing products that have been manufactured
Mining: rock & minerals that are left over from excavation and processing
Left exposed in large heaps, dumped in oceans or rivers, or disposed of by refilling and landscaping abandoned mines
Agricultural Waste: 9% - crop wastes and manure - biodegradable

6. Solid Waste Management
Landfill: permanent waste-disposal facility where wastes are put in the ground and covered each day with a layer of soil, plastic, or both
more than 50% of municipal and manufacturing solid waste
keep waste from causing problems w/ the environment
must not come into contact
w/ soil & groundwater surrounding
a landfill

7. Problems With Landfills
Leachate: liquid that has passed through compacted solid waste in a landfill
a.k.a. “trash juice” – 4th period S09
May contain chemicals from paints, pesticides, cleansers, batteries, appliances, etc.
Monitoring wells & storage tanks measure and store leachate (treated as wastewater)
Improper monitoring can flow into groundwater supplies and make water from nearby wells unsafe to drink
Methane – produced by organic waste
Usually pumped out of landfills and used as fuel
If not monitored safely – can cause dangerous explosions
Space – we are running out of space we are willing to develop for new landfills
Materials are not decomposing as fast as we can fill landfills
Even newspaper takes several years to decompose

10. Safeguarding Landfills
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
Requires new landfills be built w/ safeguards to reduce pollution problems
Must be lined w/ clay and a plastic liner
Must have systems for collecting and treating leachate
Vent pipes must be installed to carry methane out
Increases the cost
Finding acceptable places is difficult (must be close to the city producing the waste, but far enough from residents who object)
This further increases cost through transport or legal fees to fight citizens

11. Incinerators – burn solid waste
Do not separate materials, so cleansers, batteries, paints that should not be burned end up in the air as polluting gases
Ash must be disposed of in a landfill
Take up less space in landfills, but can be more toxic than it was before it was incinerated
Release small amounts of poisonous gases and particles of toxic heavy metals into the air

13. 19-2: Reducing Solid Waste
Source Reduction: any change in design, manufacture, purchase, or use of materials or products to reduce their amount or toxicity before they become municipal solid waste
Reducing Solid Waste
Buy Less – buy products that have less packaging & last longer, or can be reused more than once (ex. dish towels instead of paper towels, rechargeable batteries instead of regular batteries)
Design Products to Last Longer – manufacturers could redesign products to:
use less material
last longer
be easily repaired
Remember perceived and planned obsolescence from the Story of Stuff

14. Recycling: reusing materials or recovering valuable materials from waste or scrap
Making products from recycled materials usually save energy, water, and other resources
Ex. 95% less energy is needed to produce a can from recycled aluminum than from ore
Buy Recycled Products! – vote w/ your dollars and close the loop!
Steps of Recycling:
collect & sort discarded materials by type
take to a recycling facility
clean discarded materials
shred or crush
reuse the shredded or crushed material to make new products

15. Composting – “A rind is a terrible thing to waste.”
Yard waste makes up >15% of a community’s solid waste – NONE has to go into a landfill
Compost Piles – may contain the following: Yard trimmings, Fruit & Vegetable scraps, Coffee grounds, Eggshells, Stale bread, etc.
Warm, moist, dark conditions allow bacteria to grow and break down waste rapidly
Compost: dark brown, crumbly material made from decomposed plant and animal matter that is spread on gardens & fields to enrich the soil (Gardener’s Black Gold)
Some cities have large, central compost facilities
Effective way of handling waste from food-processing plants & restaurants, manure from animal-feed lots, municipal sewage sludge

18. Changing the Materials We Use
Drink Boxes – combo. of foil, cardboard, and plastic – hard to recycle (can’t separate the 3 components)
Solution: put drinks in recyclable glass, cardboard, or aluminum containers
Newspapers can be recycled to make cardboard, egg cartons, building materials, etc.
Aluminum cans can make new cans, lawn chairs, siding for houses, cookware, etc.
Plastic Bottles can make non-food containers, insulation, carpet yarn, textiles, scouring pads, toys, plastic lumber, etc.
Blue Jeans make great house insulation

19. Degradable Plastics
Photodegradable Plastic: breaks down into pieces when left in the sun for many weeks
Green Plastic: blending the sugars in plants w/ a special chemical agent to make plastic
Production requires 20-50% less fossil fuel than regular plastics
Bacteria in soil eat the sugars – cause the plastic to eventually fall apart into small pieces
Problem: plastic parts are only reduced to smaller pieces

21. 19-3: Hazardous Waste
Hazardous Waste: any waste that is a risk to the health of humans or other living things
Love Canal, Niagara Falls, NY
Improperly stored or discarded wastes were leaking into the air, soil, groundwater
What happened? – see case study

22. Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
Producers of hazardous waste must keep records of how their wastes are handled from manufacture to approved disposal facility
Producer is legally responsible for any future problems
All treatment & disposal facilities must be designed to prevent environmental pollution

23. The Superfund Act Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Right to sue owners of hazardous waste sites who illegally dumped waste
Right to force owners to pay for cleanup
Created a fund of money to pay for cleaning up abandoned hazardous waste sites “Superfund Sites”

25. Hazardous Waste Management
Preventing Hazardous Waste
Produce less of it
Redesign manufacturing methods to produce less or no hazardous waste
Chemicals to clean metal parts of machines can be replaced w/ tiny plastic beads (used like a sandblaster) – reuse many times, not hazardous when disposed of, often saves money
Find a way to reuse waste – companies work w/ other companies to that can use materials they normally throw away
Conversion into Nonhazardous Substances – some wastes can be treated w/ chemicals to make the wastes less hazardous (ex. lime can be added to acids to neutralize them)

26. Land Disposal – most of the hazardous waste produced in the U. S
Land Disposal – most of the hazardous waste produced in the U.S. is disposed of on land
Deep-Well Injections: wastes are pumped deep into the ground, absorbed into a dry layer of rock below the level of groundwater, covered w/ cement to prevent contamination of groundwater
Surface Impoundment: pond that has a sealed bottom, wastes settle to the bottom, water evaporates & leaves room for more wastes
Concentrated / solid hazardous wastes are often put in barrels and buried in landfills
Extra safety precautions to prevent leakage
If not properly maintained – leaks may result in contamination of air, soil, or groundwater

28. Biologically Treating Hazardous Waste
Certain bacteria can be used to clean up an area that has been contaminated w/ hazardous substances like mercury, arsenic, and cyanide
Flowering plants and Trees that absorb heavy metals can be planted in contaminated areas
Chemicals can also be used to neutralize and absorb hazardous wastes

29. Incinerating Hazardous Waste
Generally the most expensive form of waste disposal
Need pollution-control devices, need to be carefully monitored, leftover ash needs to be buried
Disposal Facilities for long-term storage
Must be closely monitored
Must be in sites that will not be damaged by movements of the Earth for thousands of yrs.
Exporting Hazardous Waste
Until recently, companies would often get rid of hazardous wastes by sending them to landfills in other states – especially less populated southern states
Also exported through international trade agreements (may be a facility in another country that specializes in treating, disposing of, or recycling a particular hazardous waste)

30. Hazardous Wastes at Home
Common Hazardous Household Products: motor oil, paints, batteries, computers, mobile phones, pesticides, fertilizers, cleaners, antifreeze
Some cities collect materials only once or twice a year
Other Cities have permanent facilities where residents can drop off hazardous waste
It is illegal to pour motor oil on the ground or throw it in the trash
Take it to an auto service station
Some cities have designated oil-collection
receptacles

31. Warm-Up-ish
You have 20 minutes to study & turn in your ScrapES book - Put it on the Group 4 Lab Table.
If EVERYONE isn’t studying, we’ll start the test immediately.
Review – Any questions???

32. Garbage Moguls Video Guide
Main Points: 1. 2. 3.
 What I found most interesting/surprising:
Questions I have: