1. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
CHAPTER 16: Solid and Hazardous Waste

2. Core Case Study: Electronic Waste (1)
What is electronic waste or e-waste?
Televisions, computers
Cell phones, iPods
Fastest growing category of waste
80% recyclable
Contains toxic materials

3. Core Case Study: Electronic Waste (2)
Disposal methods
Cradle-to-grave approach
E-recycling industry
Company-sponsored recycling programs
Prevention is best long-term solution

4. 16-1 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.

5. Wasting Resources (1) Solid Waste Industrial solid waste
Mining
Agriculture
Industry
Municipal solid waste
Homes
Businesses

6. Wasting Resources (2) Hazardous or toxic waste
Threatens human health or the environment
Poisonous
Reactive
Corrosive
Flammable
Developed countries produce 80-90%

7. Wasting Resources (3) Solid waste and hazardous waste
About 3/4 unnecessary resource waste
Create air and water pollution, land degradation

8. Case Study: Solid Waste in the United States
Produces 1/3 of world’s solid waste
Mining, agricultural, industrial – 98.5%
Municipal solid waste – 1.5%
High-waste economy
Examples

9. 16-2 How Should We Deal with Solid Waste?
Concept A sustainable approach to solid waste is first to reduce it, then to reuse or recycle it, and finally to safely dispose of what is left.

10. Dealing with Solid Waste
Waste management
Waste reduction
Integrated waste management

11. Producing Less Waste
Refuse
Reduce
Reuse
Recycle

12. Reducing Resource Use, Waste, and Pollution (1)
Redesign processes and products to use less material
Redesign processes and products to generate less waste
Make products easy to repair, reuse, remanufacture, compost, or recycle

13. Reducing Resource Use, Waste, and Pollution (2)
Eliminate or reduce unnecessary packaging
Use fee-per-bag waste collection systems
Establish cradle-to-grave laws

14. Science Focus: Garbology
Garbologists
Like archaeologists
Trash persists for decades

15. 16-3 Why Is Reusing and Recycling Materials So Important?
Concept Reusing items decreases the use of matter and energy resources and reduces pollution and natural capital degradation; recycling does so to a lesser degree.

16. Reuse Reuse as a form of waste reduction Salvaging
Yard sales, flea markets, secondhand stores, auctions, newspaper ads, Craigslist, ebay
Technology: rechargeable batteries
Refillable containers and cloth bags

17. Recycling (1) Five major types of materials can be recycled
Paper products
Glass
Aluminum
Steel
Plastics (some)

18. Recycling (2) Primary (closed-loop) recycling Secondary recycling
Preconsumer (internal) waste
Postconsumer (external) waste
Feasibility and marketing

19. Mixed Versus Separate Household Recycling
Material recovery facilities (MRF)
Can be expensive
Source separation
By households and businesses
Glass, paper, metals, plastics, compostable

20. Composting Decomposing bacteria Household composting
Organic waste collection facilities
Successful large-scale composting
Odor control
Exclude toxic materials

21. Individuals Matter: Recycling Plastics
5% plastics recycled
MBA Polymers, Inc – commercial recycling process
Mike Biddle and Trip Allen, co-founders
Pellets cheaper than virgin plastics
More environmentally friendly

22. Science Focus: Bioplastics
Most plastics are organic polymers produced from petrochemicals
Bioplastics are made from plant materials
Biodegradable
Composting

23. Encouraging Reuse and Recycling
Market prices must reflect true costs
Even economic playing field: taxes/subsidies
Stabilize prices for recycled materials
Fee-per-bag waste collection
Better-informed public

24. 16-4 Advantages and Disadvantages of Burning or Burying Solid Waste?
Concept Technologies for burning and burying solid wastes are well developed, but burning contributes to pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, and buried wastes can eventually contribute to air and water pollution and land degradation.

25. Burying Solid Wastes
Open dumps
Sanitary landfills
Leachates

26. 16-5 How Should We Deal with Hazardous Waste?
Concept A more sustainable approach to hazardous waste is first to produce less of it, then to reuse or recycle it, then to convert it to less hazardous materials, and finally to safely store what is left.

27. Detoxifying Hazardous Waste
Bioremediation
Phytoremediation
Incineration
Plasma arc torch

28. Storing Hazardous Waste
Deep-well disposal
Below aquifers in dry, porous rock
Surface impoundments
70% in U.S. have no liners
90% may threaten groundwater
Secure landfills

29. Case Study: Hazardous Waste Regulation in the United States (1)
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
EPA administers
Cradle to grave
Laws regulate only 5% of hazardous wastes

30. Case Study: Hazardous Waste Regulation in the United States (2)
Superfund
created
Cleans hazardous waste sites
Nov. 2008: 1,255 sites on list; 322 sites cleaned
Now broke
Taxpayers pay for cleanup, not polluters
Brownfields
Turning toxic areas into parks and nature reserves

31. Dealing with Lead Poisoning
Neurotoxin
Especially harmful to children
: number of children with unsafe blood lead levels dropped from 85% to 1.4%
Government banned leaded gasoline (1976) and lead-based paint (1970)
100 countries still use leaded gasoline

32. 16-6 How Can We Make the Transition to a More Sustainable Low-Waste Society?
Concept Shifting to a low-waste society requires individuals and organizations to reduce resource use and to reuse and recycle wastes at local, national, and global levels.

33. Achieving a Low-Waste Society
Grassroots action
Environmental justice
International treaties
Basel Convention
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs)
Dirty dozen

34. Five Principles for Achieving a Low-Waste Society
Everything is connected
There is no “away” for wastes
Polluters and producers must pay for wastes
Different categories of hazardous waste and recyclable waste should not be mixed
Reuse, recycle, and compost solid wastes

35. Three Big Ideas from This Chapter - #1
The order of priorities for dealing with solid waste should be to reduce, reuse, recycle as much of it as possible and to safely dispose of what is left.

36. Three Big Ideas from This Chapter - #2
The order of priorities for dealing with hazardous waste should be to produce less of it, reuse or recycle it, convert it to less hazardous material, and safely store what is left.

37. Three Big Ideas from This Chapter - #3
We need to view solid wastes as wasted resources and hazardous wastes as materials that we should not be producing in the first place.