APES Ch 24 Study Guide: Solid and Hazardous Waste
Vocabulary
e-waste- electronic devices that have entered the waste stream
Municipal solid waste- solid waste from homes, offices, retail stores, schools, libraries, hospitals and
other businesses and institutions
Nonmunicipal solid waste- solid waste from industry, agriculture and mining
Leachate- liquid that seeps through solid waste
NIMBY- not in my backyard….the attitude that makes it difficult to place “undesirable” facilities
including landfills
Biodegradable- materials that can be broken down by bacteria and fungi
Photodegradable- material that is broken down by sunlight
Bottom ash (slag)- ash left at the bottom of the incinerator after material is burned
Fly ash- ash that is found in the chimney (flue)
Source reduction- designing and manufacturing products in ways that reduce the volume of solid
waste and amount of hazardous waste
Integrated waste management- implementing waste management plans that use the best
combination of waste management options
Bioremediation- use of bacteria and other microorganisms to break down hazardous waste into less
hazardous substances
Phytoremediation- use of plants to absorb and accumulate hazardous contaminants in the ground
Green chemistry- a discipline whose purpose is to develop chemicals and chemical processes with
lower environmental impacts
1.
List four toxins found in computers and other electronic waste.
Lead, cadmium, mercury, chromium
2.
How much solid waste does the average American dispose of each day?
2.1 kg (4.6 pounds)
How does his compare with other countries?
More than any other country, per capita
3.
Describe what problems result form open dumps.
Odors, rats, flies, spread of disease,
methane gas, air pollution from fires, leachate contaminating soil and water
4.
Explain how sanitary landfills are different from open dumps.
Solid waste is place in a hole, compacted and covered daily with thin layer of soil to reduce
odors and vermin and reduce the risk of fires. Newer landfills have a double-liner of plastic,
clay, plastic and clay to lesson the threat to groundwater. The newest collect leachate and
gases.
5.
What factors should be considered when selecting the location of a landfill?
Geology, soil drainage properties, proximity of nearby wetlands and bodies of water
6.
List at least three problems associated with landfills.
Groundwater contamination, production of methane, as landfills fill up it is increasingly
difficult to find sites for new landfills, groundwater in vicinity of landfills must be monitored
for 30 years, gas explosions and water pollution continue to be a risk for yrs
7.
Why are landfills not an indefinite solution for solid waste disposal?
Limited space in landfill, NIMBY makes it hard to open new landfills
8.
Describe three special problems created by the disposal of tires.
Because they are large and light they tend to move up through landfill toward the surface.
Tires are a fire hazard as tire fires are very hard to extinguish. Old tires are breeding
grounds for mosquitoes. Tires take up lots of space.
9.
Describe two benefits of incinerating solid waste.
Reduce volume; produce electricity (and generate less carbon dioxide than fossil fuel power
plants)
10.
Describe two problems with incinerating solid waste.
Not all waste can burn (glass, metals). Waste with a high moisture content like food does not
burn well and reduces the efficiency of incineration. Some waste contains mercury and other
hazardous heavy metals (fluourescent light bulbs, batteries, thermostats..), incineration of
plastics produces dioxins and other hazardous chemicals (some papers also produce dioxin
when incinerated)
11.
List items that are better choices for incineration.
Paper, tires (heat content of tires equals coal but often are burned with less pollution with
proper air pollution control technology)
12.
List items that are poor choices for incineration and explain why.
Plastic… often release dioxin and other hazardous chemicals when burned, products
containing heavy metals (fluorescent light bulbs, batteries, thermostats…)
Food (high moisture content reduces efficiency)
13.
List five pollutants that may be produced by waste incinerators.
Dioxin, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, particulates, mercury and other heavy metals
14.
Describe two types of pollution control technology that may be used at waste incinerators.
Lime scrubbers (towers that spray a mixture of lime and water to neutralize acidic gases)
Electrostatic precipitators (give ash a pos. charge so it adheres to a neg. charged plate)
15.
How is the bottom ash and fly ash disposed of?
Disposed of in specially licensed hazardous waste landfills
16.
What kind of waste can be composted? Organic waste such as food scraps, grass clippings,
branches, leaves….
What are the benefits of composting? Turns a waste product into a valuable commoditycompost or much which can be used to enrich soil and slow water loss
17.
How does the Pollution Prevention Act address the issue of solid waste?
Focuses on reducing the generation of pollution…..requires the EPA to develop source reduction
models and requires manufacturing facilities to report to the EPA annually on their recycling and
source reduction activities
18.
Under what conditions does dematerialization help to reduce the solid waste problem?
Only if the new lighter, smaller product does not have to be replaced more often (it must be
durable)
19.
What change in the bottling industry made it less practical to reuse glass bottles?
Reduction in the number of bottlers. The centralization of the bottling industry means bottles
must be transported great distances to be reused increasing transportation costs and energy used
20.
How is recycling different from reuse? Recycling is making a new, different product out of
waste. Recycling a ton of paper saves 17 trees, 7000 gallons of water, 4100 kWh of energy and three
cubic yards of landfill space. Reuse is reusing a product for the same use such as washing and
refilling a bottle or passing on clothing to someone else who can use it, or using cloth bags at the
grocery store over and over.
What obstacles discourage more recycling in the US? Need a market for recycled goods
(need to close the loop), recycled products must be preferred by consumers over products made from
virgin materials. Wide fluctuations in prices paid for recycled materials.
21.
What materials are most commonly recycled in the US? Why are the recycling rates high for
these materials?
Aluminum (uses a fraction of the energy to make a can from recycled Al vs. raw ore) and steel
(recycling mills located near many cities)
22.
Why is plastic challenging to recycle?
There are many types of plastic and many products contain several types of plastic; it is
currently less expensive to make from petroleum and natural gas than old plastic
23.
What are the three R’s of waste prevention? Which has the greatest environmental benefit?
Reduce, reuse, recycle
Reduce consumption has the greatest benefits
24.
Briefly describe the Love Canal disaster. Hooker Chemical Co disposed of tons of toxic waste
in the 3000 ft long canal near Niagara Falls, NY between 1942 and 1953. The canal contained over
300 different chemicals.
When the site was filled, the canal was covered over with soil and the site was donated to the local
board of education. A school and houses were built on the site. Lois Gibbs, a local housewife,
noticed a high rate of cancers, miscarriages and birth defects and fought for the govt to take action.
In 1978 it was declared a national emergency disaster area and 700 families were evacuated. Love
Canal led to the passage of the federal Superfund Law (Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation and Liability Act….CERCLA)
25.
What are dioxins? A class of chemicals produced as unwanted by-products during the
combustion of materials containing chlorine compounds
Why are dioxins classified as hazardous? Bioaccumualate in fatty tissue and undergo
biomagnification; some are known carcinogens, others are linked to birth defects and heart disease
List four sources of dioxins. Emissions from pulp and paper plants including waste water
from these plants containing chlorine; incineration of plastics in municipal and medical waste
incinerators; copper smelters, cement kilns; metal recyclers; coal burning
26.
What are PCBs? Polychlorinated biphenyls…a group of over 200 chemicals composed of
C, H and Cl.
Why are PCBs classified as hazardous? Chemically stable and resist chemical and biological
degradation. Accumulate in fatty tissue and undergo biomagnification. Cause liver and kidney
damage, harm skin, eyes, and reproductive organs. Endocrine disrupters that interfere with thyroid
hormones. Linked to learning disabilities and may be carcinogenic.
List four sources of PCBs. Cooling fluids in transformers, electrical capacitors, vacuum
pumps, gas-transmission turbines. Also in hydraulic fluids, fire retardants, adhesives, pesticide
additives, inks...
What has been done in the US to protect the environment and humans from PCBs?
Used in the US between 1929 and 1979. Banned by the EPA in the 1970s.
27.
What kind of waste is stored at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington state? What
special clean up challenges does it pose?
-Radioactive waste from nuclear warhead manufacturing
-Extent of the radioactive pollution and the kinds of chemical mixtures are not well-known
complicating clean up. Some of the tanks contain explosive mixtures due to chemical reactions
producing hydrogen gases and other explosive chemicals. Even after cleanup the site will remain
hazardous for hundreds of thousands of years in part due to widespread soil contamination. Clean
up workers may be at higher risk of health problems due to exposure to beryllium and other toxins.
28.
Explain how the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) helps prevent pollution
from hazardous waste.
Instructed the EPA to identify which waste materials are hazardous and to provide states with
guidelines for hazardous waste management. Bans hazardous waste form municipal landfills
unless it meets EPA standards.
29.
What is the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act
(CERCLA) commonly called? Superfund Act
30.
Describe the success of CERCLA in cleaning up Superfund sites.
a little over 1000 of 10,753 sites were included in the CERCLA inventory in 2007. One in 3
Americans lives within 3 miles of a Superfund site. While the cleanup process has been slow,
CERCLA is a deterrent to further pollution as it makes companies that produce hazardous waste
liable for the cleanup costs
31.
What are the primary advantages of bioremediation?
Often slow but much less expensive than traditional means of treating soil contaminated with
hazardous waste
32.
What are the primary advantages of phytoremediation? Low cost
What are the major limitations of phytoremediation? Plant roots limit depth of treatment;
insects feeding on plants used for phytoremediation may spread toxins through the food chain; plants
remove toxins from the soil but do not always render it harmless….depending on the toxin, the plants
containing the toxins may be landfilled as hazardous waste
33.
What type of hazardous waste may be de-toxified by high-temperature incineration? Organic
compounds such as PCBs, pesticides and organic solvents
What is one disadvantage of this method of treatment? The incineration ash is hazardous
34.
What is the purpose of the 1989 Basel Convention?
Restricts the international transport of hazardous waste and allows countries to export hazardous
waste only with the prior informed concent of the importing country as well as any countries it may
pass through in transit
35.
Explain how the issue of hazardous waste and environmental justice are linked.
Poor communities are more likely to host hazardous waste facilities and much hazardous
waste is processed by poor people in developing countries with few if any safeguards to protect their
health or the environment