1. SOLID, TOXIC & HAZARDOUS WASTE

2. Managing Solid Waste Disposal
Waste Stream – the steady flow of matter from raw materials, through manufacturing, product formation and marketing, and on to its final resting place – a solid waste dump
Some waste contain valuable resources – reduce, reuse, recycle
Americans produce 4.5 pounds of solid waste per day
76% ends up in landfills

3. Waste
Waste = any unwanted material or substance that results from human activity or process
Municipal solid waste (MSW) = non-liquid waste that comes from homes, institutions, and small businesses
Industrial solid waste (ISW) = waste from production of consumer goods, mining, agriculture, and petroleum extraction and refining
Hazardous waste =solid or liquid waste that is toxic, chemically reactive, flammable, or corrosive
Wastewater = water used in a household, business, or industry, as well as polluted runoff from our streets and storm drains

4. Sources Greatest source in US – mining & agriculture
MSW relatively small proportion of solid waste
#1 paper
#2 yard trimmings
#3 food

5. WASTE DISPOSAL METHODS
Open dump – unsanitary, dangerous, malodorous, vermin-infested
Poor often live on or near
Sanitary landfill
Lined with layers of clay & plastic to decrease leachate
Leachate collected & treated as wastewater
Trash alternately compacted & covered with soil
Pipes collect methane (source of energy of burned off)
Site selection important (geologically, proximity to source)

6. Sanitary Landfill
To protect against environmental contamination, landfills must be located away from wetlands, earthquake-prone faults, and 20 ft above water table

7. Landfills have drawbacks
Experts believe that leachate will eventually escape
The liner will become punctured
Leachate collection systems eventually aren’t maintained
It is hard to find places suitable for landfills
The Not-In-My-Backyard (NIMBY) syndrome
The “Garbage barge” case
In 1987, Islip, New York’s landfills were full, and a barge traveled to empty the waste in North Carolina, which rejected the load
It returned to Queens to incinerate the waste, after a 9,700 km (6,000 mile) journey

8. NYC Garbage Barge
The garbage was finally burned in New York, and the 430 tons of ash sent to Islip to be buried.

9. Landfills can be transformed after closure
Thousands of landfills lie abandoned
Managers closed smaller landfills and made fewer larger landfills
In 1988, the U.S. had nearly 8,000 landfills
Today there are fewer than 1,700
Growing cities converted closed landfills into public parks
Flushing Meadows in Queens, New York, was redeveloped for the 1939 World’s Fair

10. WASTE DISPOSAL METHODS
Toxic Colonialism – send solid & hazardous waste to developing countries
US exports 80% of its e-waste to Asia (contain heavy or toxic metals)
Poor neighborhoods & Native American reservations (no resources to fight waste disposal)
Ocean Dumping
Illegal
Ocean Dumping Ban Act of 1988
Prohibits dumping sewage sludge, industrial waste, medical wastes, MSW
Great Pacific Garbage Patch

11. Great Pacific Garbage patch

12. Great Pacific Garbage Patch

13. WASTE DISPOSAL METHODS
Incineration
a controlled process in which mixed garbage is burned at very high temperatures
Reduces amount of landfill volume 80-90%
Refuse Derived Fuel – non-combustibles removed
Mass Burn Incinerators – burn anything smaller that a refrigerator
More cost effective
Releases air pollutants & require post-combustion controls

14. Many incinerators create energy
Incineration is used to reduce the volume of waste and generate electricity
Waste-to-energy facilities (WTE) = use the heat produced by waste combustion to create electricity
More than 100 facilities are in use across the U.S.
They can process nearly 100,000 tons of waste per day
But, they take many years to become profitable
Companies contract with communities to guarantee a minimum amount of garbage
Long-term commitments interfere with the communities’ later efforts to reduce waste

15. A typical solid waste incinerator

16. Improved disposal methods
Most industrialized nations now bury waste in lined and covered landfills or burn it in incineration facilities
In the U.S., recycling is decreasing pressure on landfills

17. DIOXINS Chlorinated hydrocarbons
Most toxic TCDD (2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin)
Naturally produced during forest fires
Anthropogenic sources – incinerators, smelters, chlorine bleaching at paper mills, tobacco smoke
Bioaccumulate & biomagnify
Teratogenic (birth defects), immunotoxic, carcinogen, liver damage, rashes, skin discoloration
Love Canal, NY & “A Civil Action”

19. Reducing Waste Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Reduce Reuse Recycle
Decrease packaging
Source reduction (redesign to use less material)
Reuse
Use the waste for another or the same purpose
Reuse plastic grocery bags
Reuse glass containers (glass bottle can be used 15 times)
Recycle
Convert to another product
Open loop recycling – convert to a different product
Closed-loop recycling – recycled to same product

20. RECYCLING Must be profitable Reduces air pollution Steps
Collection and processing of materials
Materials Recovery Facilities (MRFs)-items sorted, cleaned & prepared
Use recyclables to make new products
Consumers purchase goods from recycled materials

21. Paper Recycling
Paper making process energy & water intensive, also uses chlorine – makes sense to recycle
Open-loop recycling
1st – de-ink
Mix with fresh pulp (fibers shorten each time recycled)
Uses less chlorine & water
Reduces air pollution
Fewer trees harvested

22. Composting Diverts food and yard waste from the waste stream
Converting organic waste into mulch or humus through natural biological process of decomposition
Enriches soil, reduces erosion
Home composting
Municipal composting
Established area in which yard wastes & tree trimmings converted to mulch (a green fertilizer)

23. Recycling has grown rapidly and can expand
The EPA calls the growth of recycling “one of the best environmental success stories of the late 20th century”
Recycling rates vary widely, depending on the product
67% of major appliances are recycled
Only 6% of plastics are recycled

24. Recycling rates vary widely in the U.S.

25. Recycling Difficulties
Plastic difficult to recycle
Soda bottles (PET plastics) recycled into carpets, clothing, bottles & packaging
Contamination with PVC plastic can render PET unusable for recycling
Recycled plastic more expensive
Biodegradable plastics only partially biodegradable
Photodegradable (in a landfill???)
Tires
Can be reused (not recycled – vulcanized rubber cannot be remelted)
Difficult to bury
Shredded to use in playgrounds & as artificial mulch
Incinerated for energy

26. Recycling Difficulties
Lead & Lead Toxicity
Recycled from automobile batteries
Bioaccumulates in bone
Leads to mental retardation, lowered IQs, hyperactivity, ADHD, learning disorders
Max level 10µg/dL of blood

27. Demanufacturing
Taking apart household items & retrieve recyclable components
Refrigerators, stoves, televisions, air conditioners
Computers, electronics, etc

28. Hazardous Wastes
Any wastes that are flammable, explosive, corrosive or highly reactive
Chemicals that are toxic, carcinogenic, mutagenic, teratogenic
Not radioactive wastes
Most is recycled, stored or converted to less hazardous material

29. Hazardous Waste Hazardous waste is defined as:
Ignitable = substances that easily catch fire (natural gas, alcohol)
Corrosive = substances that corrode metals in storage tanks or equipment
Reactive = substances that are chemically unstable and readily react with other compounds, often explosively or by producing noxious fumes
Toxic = substances that harm human health when they are inhaled, are ingested, or contact human skin

30. Hazardous wastes have diverse sources
Industry = produces the largest amount of hazardous waste
But waste generation and disposal is highly regulated
Mining
Households = now the largest producer of unregulated hazardous waste
Paints, batteries, oils, solvents, cleaning agents, pesticides
Small businesses
Agriculture
Utilities
Building demolition

31. Organic compounds can be hazardous
Particularly hazardous because their toxicity persists over time
Synthetic organic compounds = resist decomposition
Keep buildings from decaying, kill pests, and keep stored goods intact
Their resistance to decay causes them to be persistent pollutants
They are toxic because they are readily absorbed through the skin
They can act as mutagens, carcinogens, teratogens, and endocrine disruptors

32. Heavy metals can be hazardous
Lead, chromium, mercury, arsenic, cadmium, tin, and copper
Used widely in industry for wiring, electronics, metal plating, pigments, and dyes
They enter the environment when they are disposed of improperly
Heavy metals that are fat soluble and break down slowly can bioaccumulate and biomagnify

33. PCBs Polychlorinated biphenyls – chlorinated hydrocarbons
Persistent and bioaccumulate & biomagnify
Made in US until 1976
Used in electric transformers, capacitors, pumps & turbines
Used as adhesive, lubricants, fire retardants, hydraulic fluids
Acute exposure - causes nausea, diarrhea, vomiting
Chronic – interferes with endocrine system
Removed by bioremediation or incineration

34. “E-waste” is a new and growing problem
Electronic waste (“e-waste”) = waste involving electronic devices
Computers, printers, VCRs, fax machines, cell phones
Disposed of in landfills, but should be treated as hazardous waste
Some people and businesses are trying to use and reuse electronics to reduce waste

35. Managing Hazardous Wastes
Easiest way to control – avoid using
Green chemistry –redesigning chemical processes to be less hazardous
Physical processes
using charcoal to absorb toxins
Distilling
Incineration (PCBs) – but can release dioxins
Long term storage in secure landfills
Bioremediation –using bacteria or other microbes to break down
Natural or genetically engineered (PCBs, organic solvents, pesticides)

36. Managing Hazardous Wastes
Phytoremediation – using plants (possibly genetically engineered) to absorb & accumulate toxic materials from the soil
Sunflowers remove lead
Poplar trees remove many contaminants
Canola removes selenium
Plants become contaminated & must be disposed of properly
Slow process
Only works to depth of roots

37. Hazardous Waste Disposal
For many years, hazardous waste was discarded without special treatment
Public did not know it was harmful to human health
Assumed the substances would disappear or be diluted in the environment
Since the 1980s, cities designate sites or special collection days to gather household hazardous waste

38. Hazardous Waste Disposal
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA, 1976)
Main legislation that controls hazardous waste disposal
States are required to manage hazardous waste
Intended to ensure testing and ensure correct disposal methods (prevent illegal dumping)
Large generators of hazardous waste must obtain permits and must be tracked “from cradle to grave”

39. Love Canal NY 1978
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y.--Twenty five years after the Hooker Chemical Company stopped using the Love Canal here as an industrial dump, 82 different compounds, 11 of them suspected carcinogens, have been percolating upward through the soil, their drum containers rotting and leaching their contents into the backyards and basements of 100 homes and a public school built on the banks of the canal.

40. Love Canal, NY The first declared national environmental disaster
Entire community evacuated
Chemical hazardous wastes stored in the canal for decades
Dump closed & house built
Tanks began leaking, children developed chemical burns
Miscarriages & birth defects
Years of litigation – company required to clean up site
Impetus for passing Superfund Act (CERCLA)

41. CERCLA & SARA
Comprehensive Emergency Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA, Superfund Act, 1980)
Amended in 1984 – Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA)
Intended to allow the feds to respond quickly to hazardous waste contamination
Established a federal program to clean up U.S. sites polluted with hazardous waste
Experts identify polluted sites, take action to protect groundwater near these sites, and clean up the pollution

42. CERCLA & SARA
EPA administers the act & determines which sites require attention
Supertoxic, carcinogenic, mutagenic, teratogenic
Chemicals of greatest concern
Lead
Trichloroethylene
Toluene
Benzene
PCBs
Chloroforms
Phenol
Arsenic
Cadmium
Chromium

43. Superfund: harmful sites
Harmful sites are:
Placed on the EPA’s National Priority List
Ranked according to the level of risk to human health that they pose
Cleaned up on a site-by-site basis as funds are available
The EPA is required to hold public hearings and inform area residents of its findings and to receive feedback

44. CERCLA & SARA Sites placed on the National Priorities List
Currently 1,162 sites (113 in NJ) as of 1/24/14
Include abandoned factories, smelters, mills, refineries & chemical plants
If unable to determine who is responsible for damage, cleanup is paid for from Superfund
Money generated by taxing chemical & hazardous materials
Tax expired in 1995 and has not been reauthorized
Currently funds come from taxpayers
Companies required to file annual Toxic Release Inventory

45. Contaminated sites are being slowly cleaned up
Globally, thousands of former military and industrial sites are contaminated with hazardous waste
For most nations, dealing with these messes is too difficult, time consuming and expensive

46. The Superfund process
Once a Superfund site is identified, EPA scientists evaluate:
How close the site is to human habitation
Whether wastes are currently confined or likely to spread
Whether the site threatens drinking water supplies

47. Upper Ringwood Superfund Site

48. The Superfund Act

49. Superfund
Later laws charged the EPA with cleaning up brownfields = lands whose reuse or development are complicated by the presence of hazardous materials
Two events spurred creation of Superfund legislation
In Love Canal, Niagara Falls, New York, families were evacuated after buried toxic chemicals rose to the surface, contaminating homes and an elementary school
In Times Beach, Missouri, the entire town was evacuated after being contaminated with dioxin from waste oil sprayed on roads

50. Brownfields Site contaminated with toxic or hazardous materials
Abandoned properties with not enough contamination to be on National Priorities List
Many industrial areas in urban areas
Subject to remediation so they may be reclaimed and used by humans

51. Illegal dumping of hazardous waste
Since hazardous waste disposal is costly, it results in illegal and anonymous dumping by companies,
Creating health risks
Industrial nations illegally dump in developing nations
Basel Convention, an international treaty, should prevent dumping but it still happens
High costs of disposal encourages companies to invest in reducing their hazardous waste

52. Three disposal methods for hazardous waste
These methods do nothing to lessen the hazards of the substances
But they help keep the substance isolated from people, wildlife, and ecosystems
Landfills = must have several impervious liners and leachate removal systems
Design and construction standards are stricter than for ordinary sanitary landfills
Must be located far from aquifers

53. Surface impoundments
Surface impoundments = store liquid hazardous waste
Shallow depressions are lined with plastic and clay
Water containing waste evaporates, the residue of solid hazardous waste is then transported elsewhere
The underlying clay layer can crack and leak waste, and rainstorms cause overflow, contaminating nearby areas

54. Deep-well injection
Deep-well injection = a well is drilled deep beneath the water table and waste is injected into it
A long-term disposal method
The well is intended to be isolated from groundwater and human contact
However, the wells become corroded and leak waste into soil

55. Radioactive waste is especially hazardous
Radioactive waste is particularly dangerous and persistent
Yucca Mountain in Nevada is now designated as the single-site repository for all U.S. nuclear waste
The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) is the world’s first underground repository for transuranic waste from nuclear weapons development
Caverns holding the waste are 655 m (2,150 ft) below ground in a huge salt formation thought to be geologically stable
WIPP became operational in 1999 and is receiving thousands of shipments of waste

56. Yucca Mountain, Nevada