Where is Away, Solid Waste Notes
Solid Waste- not liquid or gas. MSW (municipal solid waste) solid waste from the home or office.
Industrial solid waste- solid waste produced from mines, agri, or industry
Hazardous Waste- waste that can be dangerous or harmful to the human health or environment.
Ignitability- can cause fires. Corrosively- capable of corroding metals. Reactivity- can cause explosions,
toxic fumes, gases, or vapors when mixed with water. Toxicity- items that can be harmful or fatal when
ingested or absorbed
Methods of waste- onsite (at home), open dump, sanitary landfill, incineration, ocean dumping
Open Dump- unsanitary, draws pests and vermin, harmful runoff, toxic gases.. Still accounts about half
of solid waste. Several thousand open dumps in the US
Sanitary Landfill- layers of compacted trash covered with a layer of earth once a day and thicker then
full. Required impermeable barriers to stop escape of leachates (problem with overflow). Gases
produces be decomposition garbage need venting. 1 acre/10,000 people. Methane production.
Avoid: swampy area, flood plains, and coasts. Fractures or porous rocks. High water table.
Prefer: clay layers, heads of gullies.
Monitor: gases, heavy metals, soluble substance, surface runoff, vegetation, plant residue
Incineration- toxic gases, heat
Ocean Dumping- “out of sight, out of mind”. Ocean pollution, wash on beaches and harm beach animals
Ocean Dumping Ban Act, 1988: bans dumping of sewage sludge and industrial waste.
Reducing Waste: incinerate, compact. Hog feed, requires heat treatment. Composting, requires
separation of organics from glasses and plastics. Recycle and reuse.
Recycling- USA recycled about 83 million tons of MWS. Annual benefit of 182 million tons of carbon
dioxide, comparison of removing emissions from 33 million passenger cars, best benefit= cleaner air,
water and overall health