1. Sustainable Societies

2. Gathering Resource Information
The impact of human activity on ecosystems is one of the primary concerns of the future, particularly given the high resource use of modern societies.
However, in order to make decisions about the impact of human activity on an ecosystem and its resources, it is necessary to have accurate scientific information about the ecosystem.
It is the role of scientists to:
Gather baseline data on the ecosystem or its resources.
Monitor changes in the resource once it is in use.
Attempt to predict future changes in the ecosystem.
Assess risk and identify potential hazards.

3. Sustainable Societies
Sustainable societies use energy efficiently by reusing and recycling matter. The biggest impact on global sustainability would be reducing the human population size. In the late 60’s and early 70’s a realization began to take place as more people started to move to cities.
In 1969 the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) required all US agencies responsible for a major federal project that could significantly affect the quality of the environment to file an environmental impact statement.
In 1970, the first Earth Day took place.
In 1972 the United Nations held a Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, which provided the first forum for dialogue on environmental problems.
When was The Lorax written?
Earth Day started in 1970 and takes place on April 22nd

4. Las Vegas: 1973 (above) and 2006 (below)
Urbanization
Urbanization is the physical growth of urban areas as a result of global change. As agriculture and small-scale industry give way to modern industry, resources are drawn upon in an ever-widening area.
As urbanization increases and natural surfaces are covered or removed decreasing transpiration, increasing runoff and the groundwater supply is reduced due to loss of recharge area.
Large amounts of energy are used and waste is produced that need to be treated, both municipal and sewage.
Concentration of people can cause pollution and health problems.
Excessive noise pollution that can lead to hearing loss and excessive light pollution can cause plant and animal ecological disruption.
Las Vegas: 1973 (above) and 2006 (below)

5. Central Park, New York City, NY
Urbanization
Urban sprawl removes trees and vegetation which creates a heat-island effect which explains that urban areas trap more heat than rural areas because of the heat generated by cars, factories, furnaces, lights, air conditioners, heat-absorbing dark roofs, tall buildings and asphalt streets in cities.
Increased combustion from automobiles, airplanes and factories has made for higher particulates, NOx, SOx, lead, CO and smog. With less vegetation there is also less filtering.
Industrial processes release hydrocarbons & volatile fumes.
Most large cities have gone through city planning to develop mass transit systems and parks to help reduce some of the pollution problems.
Central Park, New York City, NY

6. Noise Pollution
Noise pollution is becoming a greater problem as people begin to move into formally unpopulated areas like cities.
Because people in urban areas experience high exposure to noise pollution, this type of pollution has become an occupational hazard.
Sudden and persistent noise may lead to permanent hearing loss in humans.
Like the pH scale, decibels are measured on the log scale. So 20 dB is 100 times more energy than 10 dB.
Also, ship engines and sonar fill the sea with noise that can travel hundreds of kilometers, affecting marine life.
Sonar and other man made noises interfere with the communications of whales, dolphins and other marine species.
Although they provide clean energy, many people are unhappy with the noise made by wind turbines.

7. Light from Earth’s major cities as seen from space.
Light Pollution
Light from Earth’s major cities as seen from space.
Light pollution have become a major problem in large cities.
The excess light affects the natural cycles of animals, including humans, and even interferes with astronomical studies.
Photo: NASA
Light pollution from some cities is so great, stars can not be seen at night as the sky is never fully dark
Image: NASA

8. Risk and Hazards
Risk is the measure of the likelihood that you will suffer some ill-effect from a hazard.
Types of hazards include:
Biological: bacteria and viruses that are pathogens can be considered hazards. These can be found in water, air or food sources.
Chemical: any harmful chemical that is found in the air, water, soil or food that comes in contact with humans. These can result in cancer, asthma or poisoning.
Physical: fire, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, UV exposure and hurricanes.
Cultural: smoking, diet, sex, drugs, working conditions, and poverty.
Asbestos fibers can result in lung cancer (mesotheliooma).
Smoke from combustion reduces air quality

9. Infections disease mortality in the US from 1900-1996
Biological Hazards
Biological hazards refer to substances that pose a threat to living organisms primarily humans.
Both influenza and HIV are common diseases. Influenza is a viral respiratory disease that has gained drug resistance. HIV is a viral disease that attacks the human immune system. Both of these diseases made a major contribution to the trend of increasing mortality rates that began in
Children are particularly susceptible to the effects of toxic substances and disease. Children breathe more air and eat more food per unit of body weight than adults. Children also have a less well-developed immune system and detoxification process than adults.
Disease spreads between countries and localized areas through air travel, immigration, and urbanization
Infections disease mortality in the US from

10. Disease and Transmission
Disease and transmission has advanced rapidly due to many factors. The advance became apparent in the 1980’s because of the spread of HIV and influenza. International travel and movement between countries has moved some diseases, like:
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) is a virus that is transmitted directly from animals to humans and has been a problem because of high population density.
West Nile Virus and Malaria are both transmitted by mosquitoes. The incidence of vector transmitted diseases has increased as the habitats for these vectors have increased.
Mosquitoes act as vectors to transmit West Nile and Malaria
As scientists discover the an emerging disease, such as SARS, they must take steps to determine the cause of the disease and the method of transmission by acquiring recent medical and travel histories of the diseased victims
SARS has been contained since 2003

11. Disease and Transmission
More diseases include:
Cholera causes diarrhea and vomiting is transmitted by food or water that is contaminated by fecal matter especially in places with a lack of sanitation.
Tuberculosis can cause coughing up blood and chest pain and is spread through respiratory contact like sneezing or coughing and has also increase because of high population density.
Schistosomiasis is a parasite that affects children who swim in infected water. The parasite relies on the snail for the completion of the life cycle and can cause abdominal pain, cough and diarrhea.
Snails are important to the life cycles of the parasitic schistosomiasis
Methods of control of the spread of disease.
Factors that contribute to the emergence and increased incidence of disease.
Tuberculosis skin test
Cholera bacteria

12. Preventable Deaths
Number of deaths per year in the world from various causes (bottom left). Parentheses show deaths in terms of the number of full loaded 400 passenger jets crashing every day of the year with no survivors. Malnourishment/poverty is the leading cause of death.
Preventable causes of death (bottom right) annually in the U.S. from tobacco use, obesity and other causes. Preventable deaths are different from accidental deaths like car accidents.

13. Comparisons of risks people face expressed in shorter life span.
Analysis of Risk
Sometimes misleading information, denial, and irrational fears can cloud judgment.
Most individuals evaluate of calculate the relative risk of a hazard based on:
Degree of control, fear of the unknown or the known, whether the risk is voluntary, whether the risk is catastrophic, the unfair distribution of the risk, & social / cultural background and beliefs.
Comparisons of risks people face expressed in shorter life span.

14. Most cost-effective effort
Economic Impacts
100%
75%
50%
25% 0%
% of pollution removed
Cost of achieving zero pollution is very expensive
As more pollutants are added the cost of removing them increases
Increasing cost of clean up
Cost per unit of pollution removed
Placing a monetary value on the cost of pollution is difficult but it can be divided into three areas:
direct costs (e.g. clean ups, restoration)
indirect costs (e.g. revenues loses, taxes)
repercussion or external costs (e.g. not reflected in the price of the products, public opinion).
All of these factors taken together is called Full-Cost Pricing
These have to be weighed up against the cost of not polluting at all, which may mean the failure of some industries.
Cost-benefit analysis is used to determine the short and long term costs of controlling pollution.
Cost to society
Minimal effort
Most cost-effective effort
No discharge
Cost of clean up
Better effort
100%
75%
50%
25% 0%
Pollution remaining
Low
Cost
High
Cost-benefit analysis of the risks associated with an environmental hazard involving human health and safety take into account lower worker productivity, initial capital investment, higher production costs form the installation of pollution-control devices and the costs from the need to remove pollutants form factory effluents.

15. Waste Types of waste include:
Consumption of natural resources by modern industrial economies remains very high, in the range of tons per capita annually.
Each person in an industrialized society consumes many tons of raw materials each year. These must be extracted, processed, and disposed of as waste.
Types of waste include:
Industrial solid waste is produced to supply municipalities with goods or services.
Municipal Solid waste is a produced material (not a liquid or a gas) that is unwanted or discarded.
Hazardous (toxic) waste threatens human health because of toxicity, corrosiveness or flammability.
Limestone quarry, Yorkshire Dales
Solid waste: any unwanted or discarded material we produce that is not a liquid or gas.
Municipal solid waste (MSW): produce directly from homes. (Mostly paper)
Industrial solid waste: produced indirectly by industries that supply people with goods and services.
Hazardous (toxic) waste: threatens human health or the environment because it is toxic, chemically active, corrosive or flammable.
Bulldozer working on landfill site, UK

16. Waste Production
The United States produces much of the world’s solid waste and buries more than half of that waste in landfills.
98.5% is industrial solid waste while the remaining 1.5% is MSW.
About 55% of U.S. MSW is dumped into landfills, 30% is recycled or composted, and 15% is burned in incinerators.
The United States produces about a third of the world’s solid waste and buries more than half of it in landfills.
About 98.5% is industrial solid waste.
The remaining 1.5% is MSW. About 55% of U.S. MSW is dumped into landfills, 30% is recycled or composted, and 15% is burned in incinerators.
The majority of municipal waste is paper.
Only 1.5% of waste is from homes.

17. Toxins in the Environment
Certain substances in the environment are harmful when absorbed in high concentrations. These substances include:
Pesticides, radioactive isotopes, heavy metals (cadmium, chromium, lead and mercury), & industrial chemicals such as PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls).
They can be taken up by organisms via food or water or simply absorbed from the surroundings.
Many of the toxins and chemical substances can easily leach into groundwater.
Chemicals and toxins can be released at safe levels but may react or combine with other chemicals, from synergism, to create dangerous mixtures.
Poisonous chemical store
Synergy - Two or more things functioning together to produce a result not independently obtainable
Spraying apples with insecticide, Japan

18. Biomagnification of DDT in an aquatic ecosystem
Bioaccumulation
Biomagnification of DDT in an aquatic ecosystem
Bioaccumulation (also called biological magnification) occurs when highly persistent pesticides, which cannot be metabolized or excreted, are stored and accumulate in the fatty tissues of the body.
There is a progressive concentration of the pesticides with increasing trophic level; higher order consumers are at greater risk because they eat a large number of lower order consumers.

19. Waste Disposal
A lot of household waste ends up in landfills where it is eventually buried. In poorer countries people make a living by collecting items from other people’s rubbish.
Household wastes for recycling, for example plastic and glass, may be collected from curbside bins or deposited at recycling centers for collection.
Recyclable plastic containers are sorted according to the type of material they are made from.
When household wastes are crushed into small particles and placed in landfills problems can arise as smaller particles have a larger surface area and can come in contact with water easily.
Living from waste, Philippines
Plastic bottles ready for recycling, Netherlands

20. Waste Disposal
Car scrap yards are a dumping ground for cars that are past their useful life. The metal components are recycled.
With the increasing use of electronic (E-waste) and electrical technology, disposing of unwanted items, such as cars, computers, and refrigerators, is becoming more difficult.
Education is paramount in understanding health and environmental concerns for the disposal of E-waste.
E-waste consists of hazardous waste such as lead, mercury, and cadmium found in rechargeable batteries.
Waste can be sorted / monitored or a substitute / alternative product can be used.
E-waste consists of toxic and hazardous waste such as PVC, lead, mercury, and cadmium
Car scrap yard, Netherlands
Discarded personal computers

21. Solid Waste Management
The disposal of solid and hazardous wastes is one of the most urgent problems of today’s industrialized societies.
Traditionally, solid waste has been disposed of in open dumps. More recently, disposal occurs in sanitary, scientifically designed sanitary landfills. Most municipal solid waste is disposed of in sanitary landfills.
New initiatives are increasingly being implemented by city councils and local authorities for the reduction, reuse, and recycling of solid waste, and the safe disposal of hazardous waste, including oil and industrial chemicals.
The safe disposal of radioactive wastes is a problem as these wastes must be isolated and are usually stored on-site.
Radioactive waste
Radioactive wastes must be stored in an isolated area where they can’t contaminate the environment.
It must have geological stability and little or no water flowing nearby. (Remember Yucca Mountain)
Open dumps are being preplaced by sanitary landfills for waste disposal

22. Open dump landfill in Poland
Landfills
Landfills are the sites for disposal of non-hazardous wastes. These sites are usually confined to a small area, compacted to reduce volume and covered daily with layers of soil.
A double-liner system must be present (plastic, clay, plastic, clay), and a system to collect leachate (liquid that seeps through the solid waste into the groundwater).
Landfills currently have a strict criteria:
Oil, car batteries, air conditioner coolants and antifreeze are not allowed and must be recycled at an automotive or environmental company.
Tires are allowed in landfills if they are shredded or quartered.
Open dump landfill in Poland
Reduces the number of rats associated with solid waste, lessens the danger of fire, and decreases the odor.
Landfills cannot pollute surface or groundwater.
Tires are a problem for most landfills and are being burned for space or sometimes energy.

23. Pipes collect explosive methane as used as fuel
When landfill is full,
layers of soil and clay
seal in trash
Topsoil
Electricity
generator
building
Sand
Clay
Methane storage
and compressor
building
Leachate
treatment system
Garbage
Probes to
detect
methane
leaks
Pipes collect explosive methane as used as fuel
to generate electricity
Methane gas
recovery well
Leachate
storage
tank
Compacted
solid waste
Garbage
Groundwater
monitoring
well
Leachate
pipes
Leachate pumped
up to storage tank
for safe disposal
Sand
Synthetic
liner
Leachate
monitoring
well
Sand
Clay and plastic lining
to prevent leaks; pipes
collect leachate from
bottom of landfill
Groundwater
Clay
Subsoil

24. Hazardous Wastes
Hazardous wastes are any discarded solid or liquid that is toxic, ignitable, corrosive, or reactive enough to explode or release toxic fumes.
The two largest classes of hazardous wastes are synthetic organic compounds (e.g. pesticides, PCBs, dioxins) and toxic heavy metals (e.g. lead, mercury, arsenic).
Hazardous waste is a major cause of groundwater contamination from landfills because those wastes are not disposed of properly. Proper disposal consists of:
Long term retrievable storage which uses metal drums to store in areas that can be inspected.
Secure landfills are where hazardous waste is disposed of in carefully designed and monitored sites.
Long-Term Retrievable Storage: Some highly toxic materials cannot be detoxified or destroyed. Metal drums are used to stored them in areas that can be inspected and retrieved.
Secure Landfills: Sometimes hazardous waste are put into drums and buried in carefully designed and monitored sites.
Secure landfills with a double leachate system and proper monitoring devices

25. Radioactive Waste
Radioactive materials have different levels waste and thus have levels of storage required for the different types of waste.
High-level radioactive waste has high levels of radioactivity and is produced by nuclear power plants, nuclear weapons industries, medicine and research. This waste has a long half-life and has been Congressionally proposed to be buried in Nevada at a location called Yucca Mountain. Currently high-level waste is stored on site in steel reinforced containers.
Low-level radioactive waste has a short half- life and is produced by medical and scientific research facilities. While most of this waste is disposed of in shallow land burial facilities.
Exposure to radiation can cause cancer/tumors by cell/tissue damage.
Yucca Mountain, NV
Exposure to radiation can be lethal. Sub lethal adverse effects: cancer, tumors, brain/eye/gastrointestinal/fetus/ovary/bone marrow/blood vessel damage.
The cause is cell/tissue damage or death and DNA/chromosomal change.
Most high level waste is stored on site
Steel / concrete storage containers

26. Yucca Mountain
Yucca Mountain in Nevada has been a proposed site for many years and has several characteristics that make it ideal for storage:
Large, deep, dry climate with a natural defense form attack (mountain).
Far from human settlements
Not near fault lines, volcanoes, or chemically reactive geological formations.
Other options for storage or disposal include:
Storage under Antarctica or Greenland
Rocket to space or Sun or storage on the Moon
Bury deep in the ocean or dump in subduction zones.
Ship to other countries
Tunnel into Yucca Mountain
Feasibility: Limited technology, limited cost, danger or leaks, limited willingness
TEACH Half-Life Math
Drawing of the underground storage site

27. Brownfields
Former sites that were contaminated with hazardous wastes and thus impede the development of the area are called brownfields. One method of reclamation of a brownfield is to remove the contaminated soil. Problems associated with this method are:
High cost of removing/cleaning/replacing large amounts of soil. Need for another location to dispose of the contaminated soil (problems with transportation). Ecological disturbance of the area
Another method is to use plants with some advantages and disadvantages being:
Low cost but process is slow and plants become hazardous themselves. Reduces erosion and less habitat disruption but may not remove all contaminants.
Reclaimed areas can create green spaces, reduce hazardous runoff and contamination. Cleaned areas improve property values by providing parks, housing, or business. They can also be used as a model.
Brownfield in Pennsylvania
Proposed site for social community

28. Love Canal
Between , Hooker Chemical sealed multiple chemical hazardous wastes into steel drums and dumped them into an old canal excavation called Love Canal:
1953, the canal was filled and sold to Niagara Falls school board for $1
1957, Hooker Chemical warned the school not to disturb the site because of the toxic waste
1959, an elementary school, playing fields and homes were built disrupting the clay cap covering the wastes
1976, residents complained of chemical smells and chemical burns from the site.
Love Canal became a brownfield area and sparked creation of Superfund, which forced polluters to pay for cleaning up abandoned toxic waste dumps.
Love Canal was abandoned in 1980.
Chemical photo of Love Canal area.

29. Hazardous Waste Legislation
The substantial or potential threat posed by hazardous wastes has called for regulatory legislation:
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) of 1976 stated that wastes must be tracked from the time of generation until the final disposition.
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of created a “Superfund” and provided clean-up and remediation of closed and abandoned waste sites. Before the act hazardous waste was being disposed of in regular landfills until the realization that unfavorable amounts of hazardous materials were seeping into groundwater and soil.
Describe and explain one environmental benefit and one societal benefit of brownfield reclamation.
Environmental: Creates green spaces—habitat for plants, insects, animals •Reduces hazardous runoff into streams, lakes, rivers •Reduces groundwater contamination •Reduces urban sprawl by reclaiming urban land
Societal: Cleaned up area improves property values •Can provide green space for parks, athletic fields, or aesthetic value •Can provide area for housing, businesses, or crops •Land made available for development can add to tax base and provide jobs •Decreases health risks related to living near a brownfield •Use as a positive model for successful reclamation which could increase environmental awareness/community service •Reduces urban sprawl (if not credited above)

30. Hazardous Waste Remediation
Hazardous waste can go through several different treatments in order to stabilize and dispose of each particular waste.
Physical methods of treatment can use charcoal and different resins to separate out harmful chemicals.
Chemical methods use chemical reactions to convert hazardous chemicals into less harmful chemicals, usually by incineration.
Biological methods:
Bioremediation uses bacteria or enzymes to help consume or destroy toxic and hazardous waste.
Phytoremediation involves using natural or genetically engineered plants to absorb, filter and remove contaminants from soil and water.
Bioremediation using bacteria
Describe on method used to reduce the production of hazardous waste: recycle/reuse, substitution of materials, govt regulation, or use alternate energy sources that do not produce hazardous waste.
Phytoremediation using plant roots

31. Radioactive contaminants Inorganic metal contaminants
Organic contaminants
Poplar tree
Brake fern
Sunflower
Willow tree
Indian mustard
Landfill
Polluted
groundwater in
Oil
spill
AD: Easy to establish, inexpensive, little air pollution and low energy use
DIS: Slow, only effective where plant roots can reach, and some plants can become toxic
Polluted
leachate
Decontaminated
water out
Soil
Soil
Groundwater
Groundwater
Rhizofiltration
Roots of plants such as
sunflowers with dangling
roots on ponds or in green-
houses can absorb pollutants
such as radioactive strontium -90 and cesium-137 and various organic chemicals.
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.
Phytostabilization
Plants such as willow trees and poplars can absorb chemicals and keep them from reaching groundwater or nearby surface water.

32. Steel bales being processed for recycling.
Reduction of Waste
Besides landfills there are many other options for the disposal and reduction of waste. Residential and institutional waste is usually the responsibility of local governments, while commercial and industrial waste is the responsibility of the generator.
Methods of disposal include landfills, plasma gasification or incineration and integrated waste management
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Steel bales being processed for recycling.
Compost heap

33. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
The waste hierarchy refers to reduce, reuse, recycle as the classification of waste management according to their desirability and energy use.
More options with the three R’s for disposal:
Refuse to buy items that are not really needed.
Reduce consumption by living simply and promoting the use of reusable containers like cloth grocery bags.
Reuse items that can be used over and over like microwavable plastic containers.
Repurpose items by using those items for another instead of throwing them away.
Recycle: paper, glass, aluminum, plastics and buy items made from recycled materials.
Rethink ways to educate, use new technology, or provide incentives of disincentives.
Reusable grocery bag
Candy wrapper purse
Methods can be put into practice with any number of items: cadmium, other metals, hazardous waste and recyclable materials.
Recycled plastic bench

34. Integrated Waste Management
A program of idealized integrated waste management combines features of traditional waste management with new techniques to reduce and incinerate wastes.
Such schemes will form the basis of effective waste management in the future.
Idealized management schemes for waste materials provide several tiers of processing. They provide a starting point for comparing how different waste products could be processed or disposed of.
Recycling
Reducing waste or avoid use
Separating green waste from other wastes
Collection
Limiting waste per household

35. Integrated Waste Management
Components of Integrated Waste Management
Processing and manufacturing
Product consumption
Products
Waste separated at source
Garden waste
Paper
Cans, jars, bottles
Mixed waste
Hazardous waste
Initial processing for recycling or reuse
Compost
Some techniques used in IWM are: using refillable soft-drink bottles, using cloth diapers, using reusable canvas bags, using tires for the construction of artificial reefs, and redesigning automobiles to replace steel parts with aluminum and plastic parts.
Cans
Plastics
Glass
Paper
Hazardous waste management
Virgin materials
Landfill
Incinerator

36. Biological Reprocessing
As the concern about landfill space increases, worldwide interest in recycling by means of composting is growing.
Compost is the organic materials from plants and animals that is converted into a useful stable product by aerobic decomposition. Compost generally:
Reduces the amount of organic material that is placed into landfills, including paper which constitutes the majority of MSW.
Aerates the soil, improves the soil’s ability to retain water and nutrients and helps prevent erosion.
Needs 6 to 12 inches of organic material, shade, water and aeration.
Home composting being turned
Compost piles can combust if not monitored

37. Energy Recovery
Waste-to-energy incinerators reduce the volume of waste by up to 90% because of the large organic component that can be used for burning. Incineration can also be used to eliminate hazardous waste products.
While waste-to-energy incinerators contribute to CO2 emissions and air pollution, they produce less than power plants that run on fossil fuels.
Plasma gasification uses an ionized or electrically charged gas to convert waste into a syngas which can be used in energy production.
Describe methods of legally disposing of hazardous waste: incineration, bioremediation, landfills, deep well injection, exportation, chemical methods (detoxification)
Organic material is burned to boil water producing steam which turns a turbine, generating electricity
Plasma arc converters can reach temperatures of 12,600 Fahrenheit changing molecular bonds

38. Recycling
Recycling involves conversion of materials into products of the same type (primary or closed loop) or conversion of materials into different products (secondary) collection.
Used tires can be converted into rubberized surfaces, plastics can be used for clothing or newspapers converted into insulation.
Recycling paper saves landfill space because 35% of MSW is paper. The majority of landfills in the US is paper products that can be recycled.
Recycling of glass and aluminum has increased in the US because of awareness and local government participation. Also, recycled aluminum can be used to produce aluminum products using less energy than producing new products from aluminum ore.
Other materials such as precious metals have been recycled for most of recorded history.
Separating colorless, amber, and green glass
FRQ 2000 #2: Describe the environmental benefits and costs of recycling newspaper and aluminum
Discuss two difficulties that the community might face in implementing a recycling program
Waste paper collected for recycling in Italy

39. Plastic Recycling
Recycling many plastics is chemically and economically difficult to recycle. Plastics are often recycled into other forms of plastic and those plastics are often not recyclable.
Many plastics are hard to isolate from other wastes.
Recovering individual plastic resins does not yield much material.
The cost of virgin plastic resins is lower than recycled resins due to low subsidized fossil fuel costs.
There are new technologies that are making plastics biodegradable
Plastics must be sorted according to their resin identification code which indicates the type of material they were made from.
Polyethylene terephalate, High density polyethlene, Polyvinyl chloride, Low density polyethylene, Polypropylene, Polystyrene, Other polycarbonates
Soft drink bottles
Shampoo and fast food service items
Yogurt containers, straws, and bottle caps
Other various plastics
Milk bottles and butter tubs
Grocery & bread bags
Styrofoam

40. Effects of Globalization
Globalization refers to the transforming of local or regional markets or societies to global ones.
The process involves the world wide spread of trade, migration, technology, and ideas.
Effects are varied but some advantages are:
greater access to new ways of thinking
access to global markets to sell/manufacture products
multiculturalism and access to new societies
Disadvantages include:
the loss of regional/cultural beliefs and ways of life
global financial disasters
exploitation of workers in developing countries

41. The World Bank
The World Bank was originally designed to help rebuild Europe’s economies after the second world war.
Its current goals include the financing of economic and infrastructure polices of developing countries. It has around 160 member countries.
The bank offers low interest loans to approved developing countries.
Although its goals include combating poverty, some critics claim it has had the opposite effect by financing policies that favor the interests of member countries rather than countries in need.