Happy Friday!
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Please turn in your
Cradle to Cradle
assignment AND the
reading to Lab table
#1.
Power up! We’ve
got things to do
today!
Full cost pricing:
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Full cost pricing = internal costs + external
costs
Internal costs – direct cost paid by
consumer
 External costs – harmful social or
environmental effect of production not
included in market price of good
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Encouraging full cost pricing
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Economic incentives
 Subsidies for sustainable options (veg, not
grain)
 Removing market barriers
(Mining Law of 1872 -
$5/acre)
 Ecolabeling programs
(informed customer choice)
Encouraging full cost pricing

Economic disincentives
 Green taxes/effluent fees
 User fees for public resources
 Pollution prevention or assurance bond
This weekend’s homework is on the HUB
Find the hazardous
waste notes on
westsidewolves.org
A little Love Story
Love Canal
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Abandoned
hydroelectric canal sold
to Hooker Chemical
Co.
22,000 tons
200+ chemicals
including dioxins
Wastes covered, site
sold to Niagara Falls
school board 1955
Love Canal
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Birth defects
Dark liquids seeped into
basements through walls
Noxious chemical smells
Trees and shrubs died
Mid-1970’s heavy rains caused
groundwater levels to rise
Resident Louis Gibbs begins
campaign to get authorities
interested
1978 – EPA begins testing
1990 – massive cleanup began
A recently discovered hazmat site: The San
Jacinto Waste pits
Paper mill wastes
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Paper mill wastes containing
dioxins dumped in 1960’s and 70’s
Land subsided, pits disappeared
Crabs, fish have been showing high
levels of dioxins and PCB’s for
decades
Dioxins biomagnify ; measured here
at 70,000 parts per trillion; 95% of
fish and crab dangerously
contaminated
“Dioxins can alter the
fundamental growth and
development of cells. In humans,
adverse effects include
suppression of the immune
system, a variety of reproductive
effects from reduced fertility to
birth defects, chloracne, and
cancer.”
Dioxin limit in seafood: .47 pptrillion
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Catfish – 8pptrillion
Blue crab – 6 pptrillion!
So how did we let this
happen?
RCRA - Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act of 1976
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Required all landfills
to be designed to
“sanitary” standards
Defined hazardous
waste: (toxic,
flammable, reactive,
corrosive)
Required cradle to
grave management of
hazmat
95% of materials are
still “linguistically
detoxified”
Household hazardous wastes are not regulated
So what do I do with batteries
and CFLs?
Houston South Hazardous Waste facility
 ESC South
11500 South Post Oak
ZIP Code 77035
 Harris county facility 6900 N
Gessner/290
 CFLs contain a small amount of Hg
 LEDs do not contain hazmat

Compare Hazmat landfill to MSW landfill:
Similarities? Differences?
OK, but what about the wastes dumped before RCRA or
illegally?
CERCLA: Comprehensive
Environmental Response,
Compensation and Liability Act (Better
known as Superfund)
 Identifies and prioritizes hazmat sites
 Seeks responsible parties for payment
 Remediates sites
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Superfund sites in Harris County
EPA manages Superfund
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National Priorities list
How can these sites be cleaned
up?
 Mechanical
remediation
 Phytoremediation
 Bioremediation
Abandoned industrial or
commercial sites.
New owners must often clean
up wastes before new
development can begin
Mechanical remediation
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Material incinerated
and interred in haz
waste landfill
Can get down to
deepest
contamination
Exposed soil (and
contamination) may
erode
Phytoremediation
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Sunflowers –
Lead
Mulberry bush
– industrial
sludge
Canola plants –
selenium
The trade offs of
phytoremediation
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Less disturbance of
area reduces risk of
spreading
contaminant
Inexpensive
Reduces material sent
to landfill
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Can be slow acting
Can only effect soil
levels which roots can
reach
Must match plant to
pollutant
Animals could feed on
plants – heavy metals
could bioaccumulate
Bioremediation
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Yeast, fungi, bacteria
Digest organic
compounds into CO2 and
H2O
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Sites that are unable to
be cleaned with microbes
include those with high
metal concentrations (i.e.
mercury), highly
chlorinated organics
(compounds with many
chlorine elements
attached), and inorganic
salts. These types of
compounds are toxic to
the microbes.
Bioremediation ex situ
What are the tradeoffs?

Mechanical
remediation
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Phytoremediation
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Bioremediation
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San Jacinto Waste
pits - what are our
options?
Can you hear me now?
toxic components in a pc
 Secret life of a cell phone

National Geographic - High Tech Trash
January 2008
Pairs 
Apply the concept of product of service
to the e-waste dilemma
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What would manufacturers have to do to
make this Product of Service idea a
reality?
Think it’s a pipe dream?

Xerox –
 Solid ink – ships in block, no packaging,
melts in copier
 Copiers designed to be disassembled when
outdated. Components are refurbished and
included in newer models where possible.
 Toner cartridges – returned to be refilled, not
thrown out.
Xerox
“Before is was categorized as green, we
thought of it as just being efficient.” –Ursula
Burns, Xerox President
 “I’m in a funny business – I’m looking for
ways that companies can print less.
Printing is not going to go away, but we
think you have to print more efficiently . .
.We know that if we do that we can
continue to grow.” – John Kelly, president
of global services at Xerox

Modular phones
Note Check!
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How is bioremediation different from phytoremediation?
How are bioremediation and phytoremediation similar?
What is an advantage of mechanical remediation that
might explain why it is the most common method used?
List three toxic materials commonly found in ewaste.
List two precious materials commonly found in ewaste.
What objectives will be covered on the quiz tomorrow?
When is the test on STUFF?
When is the “complete the loop” extra credit due?
When is the recycling picture assignment due?