23
Solid and Hazardous Waste
Solid Waste

US generates more solid waste per capita than any
other country
 1.98kg
(4.34lb) per person per day
 243 million tons in 2009 (down from 2007)

3 largest waste generators in the US
 agriculture,

industry & mining.
Waste generation is highest in developed countries
 Instead
of repairing items, they are replaced
Types of Solid Waste

Municipal solid waste
 Solid
material discarded by homes, office buildings,
retail stores, schools, etc.
 Relatively small portion of solid waste produced

Non-municipal solid waste
 Solid
waste generated by industry, agriculture, and
mining
Composition of Municipal Solid Waste
Largest single
component of
waste in the
USA
Municipal solid waste,
commonly known as
trash or garbage, refuse
or rubbish is a waste type
consisting of everyday
items that are discarded
by the public.
Ex: Offices, restaurants,
schools, retail stores,
your homes……
Disposal of Solid Waste

Three methods
 Sanitary
Landfills
 Incineration
 Recycling
Sanitary Landfill
Compacting & burying waste under a shallow layer of soil

Most common method of disposal
 Over

half of the waste in the US is disposed of this way
Problems
 Methane
gas production by microorganisms
 Contamination of surface
water & ground water by
leachate
 Not a long-term remedy
 Few new facilities being
opened
 Closing a full landfill is
very expensive
Why Sanitary Landfills are Better
than Open Dumps



Open dumps do not have clay liners to help prevent
leaching into ground water
Not covered by soil = More offensive odors
They do not have systems to catch leachate
 See
next page for more info on Leachate

Sanitary landfills have fewer rodents

One issue with sanitary landfills
 Sanitary
landfills do have the potential for methane gas
explosions
Leachate


When water percolates through the waste, it promotes
and assists the process of decomposition by bacteria
and fungi.
when it emerges from a typical landfill site is a strongly
odoured black, yellow or orange coloured cloudy liquid.
The smell is acidic and offensive
© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Special Problems

Plastic
 Much
of plastic is from packaging
 Chemically stable and do not readily break down and
decompose

Tires
 Made
from materials that cannot be recycled
 Can be shredded / incinerated
 Tire Derived Products
roof
shingles, running tracks, flooring, playground equipment,
trash cans
 Collect
rain water and become a breading ground fro
mosquitos
TDP
Incineration

Produced heat can make steam
 Steam
to generate electricity
 Produces less carbon emissions than fossil fuel plants
 Good for paper, plastics and rubber

Problems with incineration
 Production
of hazardous air pollutants
 Carbon
monoxide, particulates, heavy metals
 Reduced by (Lime Scrubbers & Electrostatic Precipitators)
 Byproduct
 Must
- Bottom ash and Fly ash
be disposed of in hazardous waste landfills
Types of Incinerators

Mass burn (below), Modular, Refuse-derived
Composting

Municipal Solid Waste Composting
 Food
scraps, Sewage sludge, Agricultural manure,
Yard waste

Reduces yard (organic) waste in landfills

Can be sold or distributed to community
 Landscapers,
green houses, golf courses, farmers
 Or on a small scale – used in your own garden
Waste Prevention

Three Goals
 Reduce
the amount of waste
 Purchase
 Reuse
 Don’t

products with less packaging
products
just throw it away
If your not going to use it may be someone else will??
 Recycle
 Most
materials
cities and comunities have recycling and you can get
cash money for it. (you pay CRV go get your money back)
 California Redemption Value
Reducing Waste

Source reduction
 Products
designed and manufactured to decrease the
volume of solid waste
 Reuse and recycle wastes at the plant where they are
generated

Pollution Prevention Act (1990)


reduce the amount of pollution at the point of origin
Dematerialization
 Progressive
decrease in the size and weight of a
product as a result of technological improvements
Reusing Products

Refilling glass beverage bottles used to be
standard
 Heavier
glass required in reusable glass bottles- costs
more to make and transport
 Cheaper to use lightweight, non-reusable glass

Japan recycles almost all bottles
 Reused

20 times
11 US States have deposits on cans and bottles to
promote reuse
Recycling Materials

Every ton of recycled paper saves:
 17
trees
 7000 gallons of water
 4100 kwatt-hrs of energy
 3 cubic yards of landfill space

Recycle
 Glass
bottles, newspapers, steel cans, plastic bottles,
cardboard, office paper
 Food waste is not recyclable!!!
 Non-proteins
are compostable
Recycling


US recycles 38% of
Municipal Solid Waste
Recycling Paper
 US
recycles 62.1%
 This has increased due to
consumer demand for
recycled paper products

Recycling Glass
 US
recycles 25%
 Costs producers less than
new glass (right)
Recycling

Recycling Aluminum
 Making
new can from recycled one costs far less than
making a brand new one (economic incentive)
 51% of aluminum was recycled in 2009

Recycling Metals other than Aluminum
 Lead,
gold, iron, steel, silver and zinc
 Metallic composition is often unknown
 Makes
recycling difficult
Recycling

Recycling Plastic
 14%
of all plastic is recycled
(2009)
 Less
expensive to make from
raw materials
 28%
of PET in water and soda
bottles is recycled
 Most plastic containers are
made of many types of plastic
that must be separated to be
recycled
Integrated Waste Management
© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Hazardous Waste

Any discarded chemical that
threatens human health or
the environment
 Reactive,
corrosive, explosive
or toxic chemicals
 1% of waste stream in US
Love Canal Toxic Waste Site
© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Hazardous Waste
© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Hazardous Waste

Dioxin
 Formed
as byproduct of combustion of chlorine
compounds
 Bioaccumulate and biomagnify through foodweb
 Cause cancer, effect reproductive, immune and
nervous system in animal testing (human results are
conflicting)

PCBs
 Used
as cooling fluid, fire retardant, lubricator
 Disposed
of in open dumps, sewers and fields in 1970s issue in groundwater today
 Endocrine
disrupter
Management of Hazardous Waste

Chemical accidents
 National
Response Center notified
 Typically involves oil, gasoline or other petroleum spill

Current Management Policies
 Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act (1976, 1984)
 Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act (1980)
 Commonly
known as Superfund
Superfund Program

Cleaning up existing hazardous waste:
 400,000
waste sites
 Leaking chemical storage tanks and drums (below
 Pesticides
dumps
 Piles of mining wastes

National Priorities List - 2011: 1,290 sites on the list
States with the greatest number of sites
New Jersey (112)
Pennsylvania (95)
California (94)
New York (87)
Michigan (67)
Management of Hazardous Waste

Biological Treatment of Hazardous Chemicals
 Bioremediation
- use of plants, bacteria and other
microorganisms to break down hazardous waste into
relatively harmless products
 1000
species of bacteria and fungi
 Time consuming
 Inexpensive
 Phytoremediation-
use of plants to absorb and
accumulate hazardous materials in the soil
 Ex:
Indian mustard removes heavy metals
Examples of Phytoremediation
© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Hazardous Waste Landfill
© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Reduce, reuse & recycle