Chapter 19 Waste
19.1 solid Waste
19.2 Reducing Solid Waste
19.3 Hazardous Waste
p. 480-503
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Key Terms
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Solid waste
Biodegradable
Municipal solid waste
Landfill
Leachate
Source reduction
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Recycling
Compost
Hazardous waste
Deep- well injection
Surface impoundment
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19.1 Solid Waste Objectives
• Name one characteristic that makes a material
biodegradable
• Id 2 types of solid waste
• Describe how a modern landfill works
• Name 2 Environmental problems caused by
landfills
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The Generation of Waste
• The US generates more than 10 billion metric
tons of solid waste (any solid material that is
thrown away)
• More than doubled since the 1960’s
Space and waste• Most towns are running out of space
• 1987- barge with 3,200 tons of garbage left Islip
NY looking for a place to put waste
• Sailed Gulf of Mexico for 5months looking for
place, finally burned in NY and 430 tons of ask
sent back to be buried
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The Generation of Waste
Population and Waste
• As human pop and amount of waste grows
larger the amount of land available per person
becomes smaller
• Getting harder to dispose of the waste we
create
• Average person 4.4lbs per day
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Not All Waste Are Equal
Biodegradable
• Can be broken down by biological processes
• Plant and animal matter, newspaper, cotton,
leather
Non biodegradable- synthetic
• Chemicals to form compounds not naturally
created
• Polyester, nylon and plastic
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Plastic Problems
• Made from petroleum or natural gas (carbon
and hydrogen)- man made not naturally found
• May last for 100s of years
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Types of Solid Waste
1. Municipal Solid Waste• Most of what we toss out
• About 2% of total solid waste- more than 210
million metric tons each year
• Growing much faster than the amount of
mining or agricultural waste
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Types of Solid Waste
2. Solid Waste from Manufacturing, Mining and
Agriculture
• Manufacturing and mining waste make up 70%
• 56% of solid waste from manufacturing (scrap
metal, plastics, paper, sludge and ash)
• You purchase products that have been
manufactured
• 9% is Agricultural waste (crops and manure) if
contains fertilizers and pesticides difficult to
dispose of
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Solid Waste Management
• 1970 only recycled 6.6%, 2004 28%, 2011 35%
Landfills• Permanent waste-disposal facility where waste
are put into the ground and covered each day
with a layer of soil, plastic or both
• More than 50% of municipal and manufacturing
solid waste created in the us end up in landfills
• Contain the waste that is buried inside it
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http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/landfill.htm
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Where Waste in the US Goes
Waste-disposal method
Store in landfills
Recycled
Incinerated
Percentage of waste by weight
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Problems with Landfills
• Leachate- liquid that has passed thought compacted solid
waste in a landfill, contains dissolved chemicals from
decomposing garbage. (paints, pesticides, cleansers, cans,
batteries and appliances)
• Most landfills have monitoring wells and storage tanks to
measure and store leachate
• Can be treated as waste water
Problems:
• If not monitored- can seep into groundwater, making
nearby wells unsafe to drink
• Methane- highly flammable gas, if not pumped out or is not
monitored it can seep through the ground and into the
basement of homes up to 300m from a landfill, can cause
explosions.
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Safeguarding Landfills
Resource conservation and Recovery Act- passed 1976,
updated in 1984, states that new landfills be built with
safeguards to reduce pollution problems
• Must be lined with clay and plastic liner
• Must have system to collect and treating leachate
• Vent pipes carry methane out, collect or burn for
energy
New laws and regulations cause:
• Increases cost of building
• Finding places to build
• Close to city but far from residents
• Cost of transporting trash to sites
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Safeguarding Landfills
Building more Landfills• Running out of space
• Materials are not decomposing fast enough
• Active landfills in 1988- 8,000- by 1990 they
will filled
• EPA estimates in 20 state that would be filled
to capacity by 2014
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Safeguarding Landfills
Incinerators- reduce weight by 75%
• One option to reduce solid waste
• 1999- 102 operational incinerators that burned
up to 94,000 metric tons of municipal solid waste
per day
Problems:
• items are not separated before burning  air
pollution, toxic gasses
• Ash goes in landfill- can be more toxic
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb-RoAWv3ro
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19.2 Reducing Solid Waste
• Identify 3 ways you can produce less waste
• Describe how you can use our consumer
buying power to reduce solid waste
• List the steps that an item must go through to
be recycled
• List 2 benefits of composting
• Name one advantage and one disadvantage to
producing degradable plastics
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19.2 Reducing Solid WasteCommon Sense??
• Source Reduction- reduce solid waste before
it gets to the landfills or incinerators
• Buying less- buy products that have less
packaging
• Buy products that last longer
• Recyclable products
• Your buying habits influence the manufacture
 they will change their habits to fit yours
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Recycling
• Finding the best use of all the materials we throw away
• Saves energy , water and other resources
• 95% less energy is needed to produce aluminum from
recycled aluminum
Steps:
1. Collected and sorted
2. Cleaned and made ready to be used again
3. Used to manufacture new products
4. New products sold to consumer
5. Increase demand  increase supply
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Composting
• Yard waste makes up more than 1.5% of a
community’s solid waste
• Biodegradable
• Use bacteria to break down
• Compost- dark brown, crumbly material made
from decomposed plant and animal matter
that is spread on gardens/fields for nutrients
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Composting- benefits
• Keeps organic waste out of landfills
• Provides nutrients to the soil
• Increases beneficial soil organisms, worms and
centipedes
• Suppress some plant diseases
• Reduces the need for fertilizers and pesticides
• Protects soil from erosion
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Changing the Materials We Use
• Change material eliminate waste
• Drink boxes difficult to recycle
• Buy items that can be recycled or made from
recycled products
• Paper or Plastic please?
• Think before you just toss in the trash!
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Degradable Plastic- ??
• Most are not biodegradable
• Photodegradable plastic- left in the sun for
several weeks it becomes weak and brittle and
will break into pieces.
• Green plastic- made by blending sugars in plants
with a special chemical agent, made from living
things and are considered to be more eco friendly
• requires 20-50% less fossil fuels
• Degrade within 45dyas of being thrown away
(bacteria eats sugar)
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Degradable Plastic- ??
Problems:
• Plastic parts are only reduced to smaller
pieces- will never disappear completely
• Current issues- needs more research but can
be linked to some health issues (?)
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http://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/everyday-myths/do-we-need-biodegradable-plastics.htm
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19.3 Hazardous Waste
• Name 2 characteristics of hazardous waste
• Describe one law that governs hazardous
waste
• Describe 2 ways in which hazardous waste is
disposed.
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19.3 Types of Hazardous Waste
• Any waste that is a risk to health of humans or
other living things
• Can be solid, liquids or gases
• Toxic, corrosive, explosive materials
• Love Canal, Niagra Falls NY, homes built on
land that was used as a dump site for toxic
waste
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http://www.epa.gov/history/topics/lovecanal/01.html
http://www.wivb.com/dpp/news/niagara/children-raised-in-love-canal-speak-out
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Types of Hazardous Waste
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Dyes, cleansers and solvents
PCBs from old electrical equipment
Plastics, solvents, lubricants and sealants
Toxic heavy metals, lead, mercury, cadmium
and zinc
• Pesticides
• Radioactive waste
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Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act (RCRA)
• Passed in 1976 and amended in 1984
• Regulate solid and hazardous waste disposal
and protect humans and the environment
from waste contamination
• Must keep logs of how waste is disposed and
how much
• Special regulations and laws to facilities being
built
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Superfund Act
• Expensive to properly dispose of waste
• 1980- Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation and Liability Act
• Forces the owners to pay for cleanup
• Funds to clean up abandoned sites
• Love Canal- $275 million
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Hazardous Waste Management
• US produces 252 million metric tons of HW
and is growing each year (2004)
Prevention:
• Produce less of it
• Reuse it
• Convert into nonhazardous substances
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HW- management
Land
Disposal
• Most is disposed on land
Deep-well injection- wastes are pumped deep
into the ground were they are absorbed into
dry layer of rock below the level of ground
water, waste is covered with cement to
prevent contamination of ground water
Surface impoundment- pond with a sealed
bottom, solids collected and buried in landfills
* Must be monitored for safe over years (air, soil
and groundwater)
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HW- management
Biologically Treating
• Certain bacteria can be used to clean up area
that has been contaminated with hazardous
substances (crude oil, PCB, cyanide)
• Flowering plants and trees
• Other chemicals
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HW management
Incinerating HW
• Burning
• Many problems- most expensive, pollution
controls, ash must be buried
Exporting HW
• Used to send them to other states
• International trade agreements
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HW at Home
• Motor oil, paints, batteries, computers,
phones, pesticides, fertilizers, cleaners,
antifreeze
• Public collection dates
• Trained workers sort materials and recycle
items
• Oil- 185 gallons of used motor oil a year, this
does not include car oil changing places
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