1. Waste Management
APES
Unit X
Chapter 21

2. Two reasons for being concerned: 1) We will run out of resources-
As we rely on more disposable items generation of solid waste has become a problem for natural and human environments.
In nature there is no solid waste-waste from one organism become nutrients for another.
Two reasons for being concerned:
1) We will run out of resources-
2) We will be overcome with waste!
Only affluent societies can afford to throw
stuff away! (US=4.6% of population
produces 1/3 of solid waste)

3. I. Wasting Resources-Types of Waste
Solid Waste: any unwanted or discarded material we produce that is not a liquid or gas
Industrial Solid Waste: produced by mines, farms, industries that supply us w/goods and services
Municipal Solid Waste: garbage, trash produced from homes and workplaces. Paper, cardboard, food waste, cans, bottles, plastics, glass, e-waste
 Hazardous/Toxic Waste: chemically reactive, corrosive, flammable, poisonous. Includes hospital waste, household pesticides, dry-cell batteries, organic compounds, radioactive waste.
Solid Waste-EXAMPLES: sewage sludge, autos, bottles, cans, paper etc.
Hazardous Waste/Toxic Waste: threatens human health or environment because it is toxic, chemically active, corrosive or flammable EXAMPLES: car batteries (lead and acid) household pesticides, drugs, industrial sludge, incinerator ash
Municipal solid waste: gargage/trash. Produced directly by homes and workplaces EXAMPLES: paper, food, bottles, yard waste, furniture
Industrial Solid Waste: produced indireclty by mines, factories, refineries, food growers

5. 98.5% of all solid waste is industrial
mining-77%
agriculture-13%
industry-9.5%
Examples:
Manufacturing a computer requires 700 or more different materials obtained from mines, oil wells and chemical factories all over the world.
Every pound of electronics generates 8000 lbs waste.
US uses 24 million rolls of TP/day
Average American gets 660 pieces of junk mail / year
We consume about 2.5 million nonreturnable plastic every hour
There is No “Away”-Love Canal

7. Composition of MSW

8. E-Waste 2% of waste stream

9. We have two options to deal with solid waste:
Waste Management: attempt to control wastes in ways that reduce their environmental harm
Waste Reduction: Produce less waste and pollution and recycle or compost the waste we do produce.

10. II. Methods of Waste Disposal Burning Solid Waste-13% of U.S. Waste
Incinerate
Waste-to-energy incinerators: waste is burned, boil water to make steam for heating water or space or producing electricity.
NIMBY: Resistance to incinerators in many communities focused on potentially hazardous emissions, such as dioxins (polychlorinated dibenzodioxins) and furans (polychlorinated dibenzofurans), which can be produced by the incomplete combustion of compounds containing chlorine, such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

12. II. Methods of Waste Disposal
Burying Solid Waste 55% Of U.S. Waste
Open Dumps
Refuse piles in open dumps without being covered up or protected.
Have been located wherever land available without regard to safety, health, aesthetics. Waste piled as high as equipment allows.
Rare in developed countries but widely used in developing world.
Fresh Kills

13. II. Methods of Waste Disposal
Sanitary Landfills
Wastes are spread out in thin layers, compacted and covered daily with a fresh layer of clay or plastic foam which keeps material dry and reduces leachate
U.S. Federal Law requires landfills be located on geologically suitable sites way from lakes, rivers and floodplains.
The landfill bottom is covered with an impermeable liner made of clay, thick plastic and sand. It collects leachate, which is drawn off and sent to sewage treatment facility.
When full, it is covered with clay, sand, gravel and topsoil and often converted to useable municipal function.
Modern landfills use network of vents to collect methane and carbon dioxide (anaerobic decomposition) but many older and abandoned landfills do not and emit these gases and / or leak contaminated leachate into groundwater
55% of MSW is landfilled in US
Geologically suitable, clay, plastic, drain leachate, collect CH4
+ = no burn, low cost, reuse land
- = noise, traffic, ground water contamination
Integrated Waste management: Prevention vs. Waste Management
Most solid waste is a potential resource. Uses a variety of strategies:

16. Environmental Justice
Fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, sex, national origin or income with respect to the development of, implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations and policies
April 1998, the EPA "no group of people, including racial, ethnic, or socioeconomic groups, should bear a disproportionate share of the negative environmental consequences resulting from industrial, municipal, and commercial operations or the execution of federal, state, local and tribal programs and policies."
Resulted from Executive order by Clinton after a North Carolina landfill protest citing environmental racism.

17. III. Waste Management Solutions
Integrated Waste Management: source reduction, reuse, recycling, composting, incinerate, landfill.
Could eliminate 75-90% of solid waste

18. III. Waste Management Solutions
Four R’s
Refuse: escape from affluenza!
Reduce:
1) redesign manufacturing process and products to use less material and energy (Ex: aluminum can, dry cell batteries contain less mercury) and produce less waste.
2) develop products that are easy to repair, remanufacture, compost or recycle
3) shift to a service –based economy (Ex: instead of everyone having a large copier-sell photocopying service, lawn mowing)
4) eliminate or reduce unnecessary packaging
5) fee per bag waste collection systems
6) cradle-to-grave responsibility
7) Restructure urban transportation systems-rely on mass transit and bikes.

19. Re-Use/Re-Purpose: giving clothing to St
Re-Use/Re-Purpose: giving clothing to St. Vinnies, buying used car parts, re-fillable beverage bottles (bottle laws), cloth bags, metal coffee mug
The Economics of Plastic Bag Recycling
H:\APES 09-10\Unit X-Waste Management\World's Oceans Face Problem of Plastic Pollution Online NewsHour November 13, PBS.mht

20. III. Waste Management Solutions
Recycle: Reprocessing discarded solid material into new, useful products. Households and workplaces produce 5 major types of materials that can be recycled: paper, glass, aluminum, steel some plastics. life

21. Closed Loop Recycling
Open Loop Recycling

22. Pre-Consumer vs. Post-Consumer: pre is internal waste generated in the manufacturing process. Post is generated by consumer use of products.
MRF’s(mixed Single Stream) vs. Source Separation: Materials recovery Facility. Machines and workers separate the mixed waste to recover valuable materials for sale to manufacturers as raw materials. Remaining paper, plastic and other combustibles are recycled or burned to produce steam. Source separation: households and businesses separate trash into recycle categories such as glass, paper, metal and compost

23. Composting: decomposing bacteria recycle yard trimmings, food scraps and other biodegradable organic waste.
Many municipalities now have such recycling programs to eliminate yard waste from landfills
Compost can be used as fertilizer, topsoil, landfill cover, strip-mined areas
Package labels: similar to food labels; list recycled content and types and amounts of hazardous materials.

24. Case Study: Recycling Paper
55% of world’s industrial tree harvest is used to make paper.
Pulp and paper industry is 5th largest energy user and used more water to produce a metric ton of its product than any other industry.
Paper dominant material in MSW
Paper, especially newspaper and cardboard is easy to recycle.
Remove ink, glue and coating/reconvert to pulp, press to new paper
Recycled paper uses 64% less energy and produces 35% less waste and 74% less air pollution than virgin paper + no trees cut down!
US recycles 56% of paper but this is low compared to countries like Denmark (97%)
One problem with paper production is the chlorine and chlorine compounds used to bleach the pulp. The compounds are corrosive and harmful to workers and environment. Many mills in European Union have replaced Cl2 with H2O2 or O2

25. Case Study” Recycling Plastics
Only 4% of plastic by weight recycled.
Hard to isolate
Small amount recovered
Oil is cheap
Plastics are organic polymers (petrochemicals) made by chemically linking monomers produced from oil and NG
Plastic that is dumped into or ends up in ocean harmful because it disintegrates into small particles that look like food to prey. They fill their stomachs and cause starvation; end up in the seafood we eat.
Solution? Bioplastics made from biologically based chemicals. Soy, sugarcane, switch grass, chicken feathers.

26. IV. Hazardous Waste
Discarded solid or liquid material that is toxic, corrosive, or reactive enough to explode or release toxic fumes.
Organic: Pesticides, PCB’s, Dioxins, Solvents
Dioxins: Polychlorinated dibenzodioxins (PCDDs), or simply dioxins, are a group of polyhalogenated compounds.
Dioxins occur as by-products in the manufacture of organochlorides, in the incineration of chlorine-containing substances such as PVC (polyvinyl chloride), in the bleaching of paper.
Dioxins bioaccumulate because of lipophilic properties
Major Sources of Dioxins are: waste incineration,smelting, coal fired utilities, diesel trucks, land application of sewage sludge,bleaching fibers for paper or textiles. Humans are exposed through consumption of food-mostly meat, fish and dairy
Two classes:1) organic: solvents, pcb’s dioxins and 2) heavy metals-lead, mercury, arsenic
US makes most-developed countries as a whole = %. Most US is military-EPA can’t hold military and dept of defense accountable
Case Study: Hanaford Washington and Columbia River

27. IV. Hazardous Waste Toxic Heavy Metals
Lead, Mercury, Arsenic, Cadmium:
Lead: Chemical element that does not break down.
Neurotoxin: causes nervous system damage, Learning disabilities, birth defects
Present in leaded gasoline, from waste incineration, batteries, electronics, cosmetics, lead pipes and paint and glazes for ceramics
Ingestion of contaminated food/water

28. IV. Hazardous Waste Mercury
Released into environment by burning coal and incinerating wastes; from gold mining, batteries, fungicides.
Can be inhaled or converted into methylmercury where it is ingested when eating seafood; it bioaccumulates.
Causes nervous system damage, birth defects, Minamata disease, reproduction system damage
It is a global pollutant that travels around the world and condenses in cold climates-thus high levels in arctic.
Persistent chemical that can not be degraded.

29. IV. Hazardous Waste
Arsenic: Metalloid that causes enzyme inhibition-organ failure and cancer. It is found in drinking water at toxic levels cultural and aesthetic-arsenic Cadmium: Cadmium is used largely in batteries and pigments, for example in plastic products. Due to similarities with zinc, cadmium can replace zinc inmany binding proteins. Human exposures to environmental cadmium are primarily the result of the burning of fossil fuels and municipal wastes, however, there have been notable instances of toxicity as the result of long-term exposure to cadmium in contaminated food and water. Batteries: Coal Ash

30. V. Hazardous Waste Management
Integrated Management of Hazardous Waste: first strategy is waste reduction-look for substitutes for toxic or hazardous materials.
Auto industry, for example, accumulates scrap fabric from car seats. When the cloth is incinerated it releases hydrochloric acid, vinyl chloride, and other pollutants in the form of flue gases. To prevent this, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) resin is washed out of the scraps with solvent and is recovered for reuse.
Physical Methods: charcoal or resins to filter out solids, distill liquid mixtures or precipitate out harmful chemicals from solution. Encapsulate waste in glass, cement or ceramics and put in secure site.
Chemical Methods: chem. Reactions that convert hazardous substances to less harmful chemicals. Ex: nanomagnets: magnetic nanoparticles that are coated with compounds to remove pollutants from water.

31. V. Hazardous Waste Management
Biological Methods
Bioremediation: process of using living organisms (bacteria and enzymes) to remove toxic contaminants from soil or groundwater.
Microorganisms are added to the contaminated area in order to stimulate the growth of the appropriate microorganisms, which accelerates the biodegradation of the polluting toxin.
Has been successfully used to clean up pollutants including crude oil, gasoline, pesticides, sewage, and chlorinated solvents used in cleaning supplies.
Takes longer than chemical methods/costs less
Phytoremediation: Plants used as pollution sponges to clean up soil, water, radioactive substances

33. Inorganic metal contaminants
Radioactive contaminants
Organic contaminants
Inorganic metal contaminants
Poplar tree
Brake fern
Sunflower
Willow tree
Indian mustard
Landfill
Oil
spill
Polluted
groundwater in
Decontaminated
water out
Polluted
leachate
Soil
Soil
Groundwater
Groundwater
Rhizofiltration
Roots of plants such as sunflowers with dangling roots on ponds or in greenhouses can absorb pollutants such as radioactive strontium-90 and cesium-137 and various organic chemicals.
Phytostabilization Plants such as willow trees and poplars can absorb chemicals and keep them from reaching groundwater or nearby surface water.
Phytodegradation
Plants such as poplars can absorb toxic organic chemicals and break them down into less harmful compounds which they store or release slowly into the air.
Phytoextraction Roots of plants such as Indian mustard and brake ferns can absorb toxic metals such as lead, arsenic, and others and store them in their leaves. Plants can then be recycled or harvested and incinerated.
Figure Page 551

34. V. Hazardous Waste Management
Incineration: high tempts break down hazardous chemicals
Long-Term Storage:
Deep-well disposal: wastes are pumped through a pope into dry porous rock formations far beneath aquifers. In theory, wastes soak into rock.
Sulfur impoundments: ponds, pits, lagoons with liners. As water evaporates, waste becomes concentrated
Secure Landfill: drums and other containers are buried in carefully designed hazardous waste landfills. Least used method because of expense.

35. Hazardous Waste Legislation-RCRA
The EPA was given authority to regulate the management, disposal, and treatment of hazardous waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of (RCRA) and its 1984 Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments.
* ID hazardous wastes and life cycle-”cradle to grave”.
* Guidelines for those who manufacture, transport and dispose of hazardous waste.
In 1996, the EPA reported that 279 million tons of hazardous wastes were generated annually. Ninety-six percent of this was waste water by-products of industrial processes. 
Recycling hazardous wastes, however, is not widespread because of high costs.

36. Superfund-CERCLA
The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), or Superfund: passed by Congress in 1980 to address problem of cleaning up abandoned toxic waste dump sites.
Sought to define liability for individual toxic waste sites and then clean up those sites from a fund, the Superfund, built from taxes and fines assigned to the entities that polluted individual sites.
The legislation was passed in response to the 1978 Love Canal incident
The law has been controversial since the beginning, in large part because of its broad definition of liability

38. Brownfields
Brownfields: land previously used for industrial purposes or certain commercial uses. The land may be contaminated by low concentrations of hazardous waste or pollution, and has the potential to be reused once it is cleaned up. Land that is more severely contaminated and has high concentrations of hazardous waste or pollution, such as a Superfund site, does not fall under the brownfield classification.

39. Should We Dispose of Waste in the Ocean?
Oceans provide many ecosystem services, yet we have long used them as a dumping ground.
1972: Ocean Dumping Act-fulfilled our commitment to an international agreement. Bans dumping of radiological, chemical and biological warfare.1988 amendments include ban on sewage sludge, industrial and medical waste added a coastal waterway monitoring program.
Types of waste dumped include: dredge spoils, industrial waste (pesticides, paper mill waste, acids), sewage waste (sludge), construction/demolition waste, solid waste.
Ocean dumping contributes to ocean pollution. Biggest problems exist in coastal areas and threaten human health and shellfish.
Case Study: Microbeads
5 gyres
C:\Documents and Settings\dopp\My Documents\APES\Unit X-Waste Management\World's Oceans Face Problem of Plastic Pollution Online NewsHour November 13, PBS.mht