Name______________________________________Date____________________Period________
Waste Management Webquest
Landfills
Go to the following website:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/landfill.htm
Answer the following questions as you read through the different parts of the webpage.
How Landfills Work
1. How much trash do Americans produce per day (per person)?
2. Where does the majority of your trash go?
How Much Trash is Generated?
3. How much trash was generated in the US in 2006?
4. What percentage of this trash was recycled?
How is Trash Disposed?
5. What percentage of trash is recycled or composted? Burned? And buried in landfills?
What is a landfill?
6. What is the difference between a dump and a landfill?
7. What is the difference between a sanitary landfill and a MSW landfill?
8. What is the purpose of a landfill?
Proposing the Landfill
9. What are five things the government will look at when conducting an environmental impact study?
10. What features of soil and bedrock are important when proposing a site for a landfill?
Parts of a Landfill
11. Draw a sketch of a landfill and label the components.
12. What is the function of the bottom liner system?
13. What are two ways to keep a landfill as dry as possible (see storm water drainage)?
14. What is the function of the leachate collection system?
15. What is leachate?
16. What happens to leachate after it goes to the collection pond?
17. Why does methane present a hazard in landfills?
18. How can methane be used as an energy source?
19. Why must the landfill be covered?
20. Why is it important to monitor the groundwater around a landfill?
What Happens to Trash in a Landfill?
21. Why doesn’t trash break down in a landfill?
22. How long must the land and water be monitored around a landfill after it is shut down?
How is a Landfill Operated?
23. What is a bioreactor?
Continue to the last page. Under the title “Lots More Information” find the subheading “Related How
StuffWorks Articles” and take the Landfill Quiz.
24. What was your Landfill Quiz score?
Incinerators
Go to the following website:
http://techalive.mtu.edu/meec/module15/WastetoEnergy.htm
Read the information and answer the following questions:
1. How does the US rank in the world for the percentage of trash incinerated for energy?
2. What are the 4 basic steps for how a waste-to-energy plant works?
3. Is waste incineration an efficient way to produce energy? Why or why not?
Click on the field trip link: Go on a field trip to an actual waste-to-energy plant! Choose Baltimore RESCO
Waste-to-Energy Plant.
4. Create a numbered list of steps describing the trash incineration process from start to finish.
5. How many homes can be provided with electricity from the energy being recaptured by the plant?
Critical Thinking
(20 points)
You are a registered voter living in the Town of Newington. The Town Council has decided that Newington needs
to construct a waste management facility within the town to manage the trash from its residents. There will be a
vote at the town hall as to whether a landfill or an incinerator should be constructed. Will you vote for a landfill
or an incinerator? Why? Provide support for your answer.