Chapter 24
Solid and Hazardous Waste
Overview of Chapter 24
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Solid Waste
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Waste Prevention
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Reducing the Amount of Waste
Reusing Products
Recycling Materials
Hazardous Waste
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Types of Solid Waste
Types of Hazardous Waste
Management of Hazardous Waste
Environmental Justice
Solid Waste
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US generates more solid waste per capita
than any other country
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2.1kg per person per day (that’s about 4.5
POUNDS!)
Types of Solid Waste
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Municipal solid waste
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Solid material discarded by homes, office buildings,
retail stores, schools, hospitals, prisons, etc
Relatively small portion of solid waste produced
Non-municipal solid waste
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Solid waste generated by industry, agriculture, and
mining
Composition of Municipal Solid Waste
Disposal of Solid Waste
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Three methods
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Sanitary Landfills
Incineration
Recycling
Sanitary
Landfill
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Compacting
and burying
waste under
a shallow
layer of soil
Most
common
method of
disposal
Sanitary Landfill
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Problems
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Methane gas production by microorganisms
Contamination of surface water & ground water by
leachate
Not a long-term remedy
Few new facilities being opened
Closing a full landfill is very expensive
Sanitary Landfill
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Special Problem of Plastic
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Much of plastic is from packaging
Chemically stable and do not readily break down and
decompose
Special Problem of
Tires
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Cannot be melted and
reused for tires
Made from materials
that cannot be recycled
Can be incinerated or
shredded
Incineration
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Volume of solid
waste reduced by
90%
Produces heat that
can make steam to
generate electricity
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Produce less carbon
emissions than fossil
fuel power plants
(right)
Incineration
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Types of Incinerators
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Mass burn (below)
Modular
Refuse-derived
Incinerator
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Problems Associated with Incineration
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Yields air pollution (mercury, arsenic, cadmium, other
heavy metals, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxides, etc.)
Produce large amounts of ash (still need a landfill)
Site selection often controversial
Composting
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Includes:
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Food scraps
Sewage sludge
Agricultural manure
Yard waste
Reduces yard waste in landfills
Can be sold or distributed to community
Waste Prevention
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Three Goals
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(1) Reduce the amount of waste
(2) Reuse products
(3) Recycle materials
Reducing Waste
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Purchase products with less packaging
Buy in bulk to cut down on packaging
Reducing Waste
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Source reduction
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Products are designed and manufactured in ways
that decrease the volume of solid waste in the waste
stream
Reducing Waste
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Pollution Prevention Act (1990) – first U.S. law
to focus on reduction of waste at the source
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Requires EPA to identify source reduction measures
Requires manufacturers to report their source
reduction and recycling activities to the EPA
Dematerialization
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Progressive decrease in the size and weight of a
product as a result of technological improvements
Reusing Products
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Refilling glass beverage bottles
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Japan recycles almost all bottles
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Heavier glass that costs more
Reused 20 times on avg. before being discarded
Many products (boxes, scrap paper, storage
containers) have other uses that can extend the
life of the materials they are made of! Be
creative.
Recycling Materials
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Recycling: In the NE
USA, most
communities
recycle:
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Glass bottles,
newspapers,
alum/steel cans,
plastic bottles,
cardboard, office
paper
Recycling
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Recycling Paper
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Every ton of recycled paper
saves:
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US recycles 50%
Many developed countries are
higher
17 trees
7000 gallons of water
4100 kwatt-hrs of energy
3 cubic yards of landfill space
Recycling Glass
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US recycles 25%
Costs less than new glass
Can be used to make glassphalt
(right)
Recycling
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Recycling Aluminum
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Making a new can from recycled one costs far less than
making a brand new one, and requires far less energy!
Recycling Aluminum
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In 2000, 55% of aluminum beverage cans were recycled!
Recycling Other Metals
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Recycling Metals other than Aluminum
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Lead, gold, iron, steel, silver and zinc
Metallic composition is often unknown and they
are often mixed together!
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Makes recycling difficult
Recycling
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Recycling Plastic
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Less than 20% is recycled
Less expensive to make
from raw materials
35% of plastic soda
bottles are recycled
annually (PET =
polyethylene terphthalate)
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Used to make carpeting,
clothing, felt, auto parts,
etc.
The Special Problem of Plastics…
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The amount of plastic in our solid waste stream is
growing faster than any other component!
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More than half of this plastic is from packaging!
The properties of each type of plastic (polystyrene,
polyethylene, polypropylene) are different based upon
their different chemical compositions
Most plastics are chemically stable and do not break
down in a landfill easily!
A few are photodegradable, and may start to break
down when exposed to sunlight; Very few are
biodegradable, and can be decomposed by
microorganisms
The Special Problem of Plastics…
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Plastic Bags! According to the WorldWatch
Institute, “Factories around the world churned
out a whopping 4-5 trillion of them in 2002”!
China has instituted a plastic bag ban since
2008!
So has San Francisco, CA and many other cities
in the U.S. are now following suit!
Recycling
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Recycling Tires
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Few products are made from old tires
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Playground equipment
Trashcans
Garden hose
Carpet
Roofing materials
36% of tires are currently recycled to make other
products
Integrated Waste Management
Integrated Waste Management
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Dealing with waste through a combination of
approaches, including the three R’s, with a focus
on source reduction!
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Much like integrated pest management, the goal is to
use a variety of strategies to minimize municipal
solid waste!
Hazardous Waste
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Any discarded chemical
(solid, liquid, or gas) that
threatens human health or
the environment
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Types of Hazardous Waste
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Reactive, corrosive, explosive
or toxic chemicals
Dioxins
PCBs
Radioactive waste
Love Canal
Legacy of Love Canal
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After it became apparent that residents
(especially children) in the neighborhood had a
high incidence of serious illnesses, it became
the first location ever declared a “national
emergency disaster area” due to hazardous
waste….700 families were evacuated!
Hooker Chemical Company disposed of 22,000
tons of chemical waste into the canal…which was
later “donated” by Hooker to the school board
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A school and houses were built on the site, which
began oozing haz. Waste several years later.
Over 300 chemicals were identified in Love Canal’s
hazardous waste!
Types of Hazardous Waste
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More than 700,000 chemicals are known to
exist!
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How many are hazardous is unknown because most
have never been tested for toxicity!
According to the EPA, only 7% of the 3000
chemicals used in large quantities (over 500
tons annually) have undergone comprehensive
studies for potential health impacts
Acids, dioxins, abandoned explosives, heavy
metals, PCB’s, pesticides, radioactive
substances, solvents, infectious waste, nerve
gas, etc (Just to name a few!)
Dioxins
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Dioxins are a group of about 75 similar
compounds formed as unwanted by-products
during the combustion of chlorine compounds.
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Sources include medical waste, municipal
incinerators, iron ore mills, coal combustion, paper
plants that use chlorine to bleach paper, etc.
Dioxins are typically emitted as smoke particles,
which then settle on plants, the soil, bodies of
water, and are then incorporated into the food
web.
Dioxins are known to cause cancer in several
kinds of lab animals!
PCB’s
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PCB’s = Poly-Chlorinated Biphenyls
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A group of 209 industrial chemicals composed of
carbon, hydrogen, and chlorine used as cooling fluids
in electrical transformers, vacuum pumps, and gastransmission turbines, fire retardants, adhesives,
lubricants, inks, etc.
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Manufactured between 1929 and 1979
Extremely toxic to humans
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Mass poisonings have occurred in Japan in 1968 (rice
bran oil contaminated with PCB’s), and Taiwan in
1979!
PCB’s are known endocrine disruptors which lead to
reproduction problems, mental impairment, etc.
Also a suspected carcinogen!
PCB’s
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PCB’s are chemically stable, meaning they DO
NOT break down easily and persist for
generations
PCB’s can biomagnify as they travel through the
food web, and they may bio-accumulate in fatty
tissues within organisms including humans!
Humans contact PCB’s mainly by eating food
contaminated with them…particularly fish that
lived in a contaminated area
Banned by the EPA in the 1970’s
PCB’s
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Prior to the EPA ban in the 1970’s, PCB’s were
dumped into fields, landfills, sewers, etc. so
they still remain a threat today!
Disposal of PCB’s: High-temperature
incineration is the best way to handle PCB
materials, but the cost is high and it is NOT
practical to remove PCB’s that have leached into
soil and water supplies
Certain bacteria can break down the PCB’s, but
they are a recent development and side-effects
not fully known yet.
Case-In-Point Hanford Nuclear Reservation
Hanford Nuclear Reservation…
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At this point, U.S. weapons facilities are no
longer producing nuclear weapons, but the
radioactive and toxic wastes from their
production still present a major environmental
problem
Hanford Nuclear Reservation is located in
Washington state, along the Columbia River, and
is the largest, most contaminated U.S. weapons
facility
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Hanford was the main production site for the
plutonium used in nuclear weapons.
Hanford Nuclear Reservation…
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Tons of highly radioactive solid and liquid
wastes were stored or dumped into trenches,
pits, tanks, ponds, etc. totaling about 1700
separate sites.
More than 100,000 spent fuel rods are stored in
2 concrete pools of water…and as they corrode,
they release radioactive uranium, plutonium,
cesium, etc into the water
Soil and water from these areas are
contaminated, and the Columbia river is in
danger!
Hanford Nuclear Reservation…
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Eventually, the spent nuclear fuel rods will be
placed at Yucca Mountain, but the facility isn’t
ready yet.
Columbia river also threatened by millions of
gallons of toxic waste and radioactive material
stored in 174 large underground tanks….material
boiled for years under the heat generated by
it’s own radioactive decay!
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Some tanks may be explosive!
Many are now leaking into the surrounding soil and
water!
Hanford Nuclear Reservation…
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Cleanup is obviously complicated…and dangerous!
Currently cleanup involves 7,000 workers and $1.7
BILLION PER YEAR!
Cleanup has also created legal battles over the
environmental and health effects of such a
process…many of the workers have developed serious
chronic illnesses because they come into close contact
with toxic materials (inhaling beryllium, for example)
Even after cleanup, Hanford will remain hazardous for
thousands of years…since we have no technology to
address widespread soil contamination!
All of this is costing us $$$$$
Management of Hazardous Waste
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Managing hazardous wastes can be done, but it
is very expensive…and not one country yet has
an effective hazardous waste management
program
Chemical accidents
• National Response Center notified
• Typically involves oil, gasoline or other
petroleum spill
Management of Hazardous Waste
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Current Management Policies: 2 Laws that
dictate how hazardous waste is handled:
1. Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
(1976, 1984) is known as RCRA
2. Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act (1980) is
known as CERCLA and commonly referred to
as the “SUPERFUND” LAW
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
(RCRA)
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Passed in 1976, amended in 1984; instructs the
EPA to identify which waste is hazardous and to
provide guidelines and standards to states for
hazardous waste management programs
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Also bans hazardous waste from land disposal unless
it is treated to reduce toxicity
Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation, and Liability
Act (CERCLA)…SUPERFUND LAW
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Program established in 1980 to clean up an
estimated 400,000 abandoned and illegal
hazardous waste sites around the U.S., many of
which have leaking chemical storage tanks, and
also include pesticide dumps, mining waste sites,
but does NOT even include military complexes
and nuclear weapons sites!
By 2007, 10,753 sites were actively on the
CERCLA Superfund list, while another 1,010 had
already been cleaned up and removed from the
list!
Management of
Hazardous Waste
Management of Hazardous Waste
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Toxic waste sites are ranked according to the
seriousness of the health threat…leading to
the:
Superfund National Priorities List
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2006: 1558 sites on the list
States with the greatest number of sites
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New Jersey (115)
California (93)
Pennsylvania (93)
New York (86)
Michigan (65)
NOTE: the AVERAGE cost of cleaning up a
single site is $20 MILLION!
Management of Hazardous Waste
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ISSUE: since the fed. Govt. cannot possibly pay
for all the cleanup, the SUPERFUND Law states
that the current landowner, prior owners, and
anyone who has dumped waste or has
transported waste to a particular site must
share in the cleanup costs!
RESULT: cleanup operations are mired in
litigation for years, while no actual cleanup goes
on…especially when companies are suing each
other for the responsibility to clean up the
sites!
Management of Hazardous Waste
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CERCLA Problems – due to litigation, cleanup
occurs at a very slow pace…many sites not even
being considered at this point
CERCLA Positives – companies are now more
aware of their toxic materials, and are disposing
of them correctly in a safer way!
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Some sites are now much safer!
Management of Hazardous Waste
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Biological Treatment of Hazardous Chemicals
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Bioremediation = the use of bacteria and other
microorganisms to break down hazardous waste into
relatively harmless components
Phytoremediation = the use of plants to absorb and
accumulate hazardous materials from the soil.
Management of Hazardous Waste
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Management the Waste we are Producing Now
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(1) source reduction
(2) conversion to less hazardous materials
(3) long-term storage
Management of Hazardous Waste
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Hazardous Waste Landfill
Environmental Justice
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Environmental Justice and Ethical Issues
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Right of every citizen, regardless of age, race,
gender, social class, to adequate protection from
environmental hazards
Fundamental human right
Grassroots campaign
Mandating environmental Justice- Federal Level
Environmental Justice
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International Waste Management
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Developed countries sometimes send their waste to
developing countries
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Less expensive than following laws within the country
Controversial aspect of waste management
Basel Convention (1989)
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Restricts international transport of hazardous waste