APES – Solid & Hazardous
Waste (Chapter 21)
March 17 & 18
AP QUESTION OF THE DAY
 Which of the below is NOT an aspect of the popular
phrase, “reduce, reuse, recycle”?
 A) Use email or text in place of conventional paper mail.
 B) Read newspapers or magazines online.
 C) Buy products in bulk form whenever possible.
 D) Utilize plastic in place of paper bags.
 E) Donate or sell used items.
ANSWER…
 D) Utilize plastic in place of paper bags.
Both paper and plastic bags are harmful to the
environment. Reusable cloth bags would be the best way
to adhere to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
Today’s Objectives
Learning Objectives
Expectation
Define what solid and
hazardous wastes are and
why they are a problem
Be able to define: solid
waste, industrial solid waste,
municipal solid waste, and
hazardous & toxic wastes
Learn about how we should
deal with solid waste
Compare and contrast the
priorities of integrated waste
management
Discuss why reusing and
recycling materials is so
important
Compare and contrast
primary recycling and
secondary recycling and
mixed vs. separated
recycling
Introduce the Solid Waste
Inventory Lab
Due next Monday (7th) or
Tuesday (4th)
Solid Waste
 Solid waste is any unwanted or discarded material that
is not a liquid or gas.
 The US has 4.6% of the world’s population. What
percentage of the world’s solid waste do you think we
produce?
 33% - we lead the world in amount of trash per person!
Types of Solid Waste
 Industrial Solid Waste – produced by mines, agriculture,
and industry
 Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) – produced by homes and
workplace
 E-waste – fastest growing solid waste problem in the US
and world. Each year, Americans discard 155M cell
phones, 48M personal computers, and many more TVs,
iPods, FAX machines, etc.
 What do you think we do with this waste?
E-Waste – a closer look
 What happens to our E-waste?
What can we do?
What can we do?
For extra-credit on the next reading quiz (Friday/Monday),
personalize one letter and bring back to class on
Wednesday with a stamped envelope.
I will put this link on our website.
Hazardous or Toxic Waste
 Waste that is poisonous, reactive, corrosive, or
flammable. This includes radioactive waste.
 Two largest classes of hazardous waste: Organic
Compounds (solvents, pesticides, PCBs, dioxins) and
Toxic Heavy Metals (lead, mercury, arsenic)
 The world’s more developed countries produce 80-90%
of the worlds hazardous waste. Guess who is the
biggest producer? Who is gaining on us?
Why Should We Reduce
Hazardous Waste?
 1) At least three-fourths of these materials represent an
unnecessary consumption of the earth’s resources and
therefore violates the chemical cycling sustainability
principle.
 2) The manufacturing of the products we use and often
discard creates huge amounts of air pollution, greenhouse
gases, land degradation, and water pollution.
 Studies show that we could reduce and recycle up to 90%
of the MSW we produce.
 Think-Pair-Share: Make a list of the hazardous chemicals
you can think of in your house. Share your list with a
partner.
Homework
 Complete the Ecological Footprint Analysis on page 584
of your text book. This will be due on Friday, March 21
or Monday, March 24
How Should We Deal with Solid
Waste?
 1) Implement waste management
 This high waste approach accepts waste production as a
result of economic growth
 It attempts to reduce environmental harm
 It transfers the waste from one part of the environment to
another
 2) Using waste REDUCTION
 This low-waste approach sees solid waste as a potential
resource which should be reused, recycled, or composted
 It discourages waste production in the first place
 It encourages waste reduction and prevention
Where do You Think the Trash
Goes?
 Where do you think your trash goes?
 How long do you think it takes to get to its final
destination?
 What if we could tag our trash?
 MIT did just that
Priorities for dealing with solid
waste…
 FIRST PRIORITY
 Change industrial processes to eliminate use of harmful
chemicals
 Use less of a harmful product
 Reduce packaging and materials in products
 Make products that last longer and are recyclable or
reusable
Priorities for dealing with solid
waste…
 SECOND PRIORITY
 Reuse
 Repair
 Recycle
 Compost
 Buy reusable and recyclable products
Priorities for dealing with solid
waste…
 LAST PRIORITY
 Treat waste to reduce toxicity
 Incinerate waste
 Bury waste in landfills
 Release waste into environment for dispersal or dilution
Think-Pair-Share. Which 3
tactics are most important?
Why? Which ones do you do?
 What can you do?
1) Follow the 3 R’s of resource use
2) Ask yourself whether you really need an item and refuse
packaging where possible
3) Rent, borrow, or barter goods and services when you can;
shop secondhand and donate or sell unused items
4) Buy things that are reusable, recyclable, or compostable
(then follow-through!)
5) Avoid disposables and do not use throwaway paper and
plastic items when reusable are available
6) Use email or text in place of paper
7) Read newspapers and magazines online
8) Buy products in bulk or concentrated form whenever
possible
Why Are the Reusing and
Recycling so Important?
A) Reusing products help reduce waste and pollution – it
also saves money.
B) Recycling collects waste materials and turns them into
useful products. Secondary recycling refers to
converting materials into different products.
C) Solid waste recycling can be done in a materialsrecovering facility (MRF). The wastes are recycled or
burned to produce energy; but such plants are
expensive.
D) Source separation recycling relies on households and
businesses to separate their trash. This produces LESS
air and water pollution, has lower start-up and operation
costs, it saves more energy and provides more jobs than
MRF
E) Composting biodegradable organic waste is a great way
to mimic nature.
Let’s Move
 Reuse is on the rise – In Denmark, Finland, and some
parts of Canada – all beverage containers that are not
reusable have been banned.
 Do you support banning all beverage containers that
cannot be reused as Denmark has done?
Windows – YES
Flag - NO
Let’s Move
 Should consumers have to pay for plastic or paper bags
at grocery and other stores?
Windows – YES
Flag - NO
Let’s Move
Should household and businesses be charged for the
amount of mixed waste they generate for pickup, but not
for the pickup of materials they separate for recycling?
Windows – YES
Flag – NO
Fort Worth instituted a program Pay-as-You-Throw (PAUT)
waste collection system. They charge households and
businesses for the amount of mixed waste picked up, but
do not charge for separated recycling. The portion of
households recycling went from 21% to 85%. The city
went from losing $600,000 a year in recylcling to making
$1M a year because of increased sales of recycled materials
to industry.
Recycling Advantages and
Disadvantages
Advantages:
1) Reduces energy and mineral use and air and water
pollution
2) Reduces greenhouse gas emissions
3) Reduces solid waste
4) Can save landfill space
Disadvantages:
1) Can cost more than burying in areas with ample landfill
space
2) Reduces profits for landfill and incinerator owners
3) Source separation inconvenient for some
Has This Got You Thinking of Your
Trash Production?
 Well, now you can answer any questions you might have!
You will be doing a Personal Waste Inventory Lab.
 Record all of the materials you use in a seven-day period.
This includes ALL solid waste, as well as any items that may
be recycled or reused in some way.
 You will keep a running log (see lab)
 You will calculate total weekly output and yearly output.
 You will do the Follow-Up-Questions
 Lab Grade will include
 1) Log
 2) Calculations
 3) Follow-up questions
 4) Extra credit: CARRY all of your waste for the week!
For Next Time…
 Read Chapter 21-1 through 21-3
 Extra credit – write to a Senator or Walmart (e-waste)
 Reading Quiz (gradecam) next class (21-1 through 21-3)
 Remember, Ecological Footprint Analysis will be due on
Friday (4th pd) or Monday (7th pd)