Waste Disposal
Mobro 4000
On March 22, 1987, an unassuming
barge called the Mobro 4000 began
a 6,000 mile voyage, looking for a
port that would take its cargo--nearly
3,200 tons of trash. With its escort,
the tugboat Break of Day, the Mobro
would sail along the coast of the
Eastern and Southern United States,
down into the Gulf of Mexico and
through the Bahamas, before finally
returning to New York, still bearing its
load of garbage.
Taken from “News of the Odd”
http://www.newsoftheodd.com/index.html
Love Canal
1927
New Bedford
Excavation of PCB contaminated
sediment
Woburn – WR Grace
Types of Waste
• Domestic/Municipal Solid
Waste
• Non-municipal Solid Waste
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Mining
Agriculture
Forestry
Industry
• Hazardous Waste
– Toxic organics
• PCB’s; Dioxin
– Toxic Inorganics
– Reactive/Flammable
• Radioactive Waste
– High level
– Low level
Municipal Solid Waste
Special Concern
• Tires
• Plastics
• Computers
• Residual toxins
Methods of Disposal
• Landfill
– Sanitary
– Secure
• Incineration
– Mass Burn, Modular, Refusederived
– Hazardous
• Deep Well Injection
• Recycling
• Composting
• Source Reduction
– Reuse
– Packaging
– Alternatives
• Detoxification
– Remediation
Waste Reduction
• Reduction of waste associated with manufacturing and
packaging
• Reuse
• Recycling
– Systems based on sorting
– Single stream systems
• Integrated Waste Management
Why Promote Composting, Recycling and
Integrated Waste Management?
• Lack of sites for sanitary landfills
• Reduced contamination of the waste stream
• Reduction in the environmental impacts associated with mining and
mineral extraction
• Reduction in environmental impacts associated with incineration
• Energy Conservation (4x more energy required to produce an
aluminum can from virgin materials
Hazardous Wastes
Secure Landfill
Incineration
Cost Benefit
Analysis
• Determination of
potential
environmental and
human health
effects for each
alternative
• Political reality
(NIMBY; willingness
to comply)
• Economic analysis
(marginal cost
diagram, again)
• Internalization of
External Costs
Legislative Approaches
• Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (1976/1986)
• Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation
and Liability Act (Superfund, 1980)
– National Priorities List
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Support of Brownfields Development
Ocean Dumping Ban (1988)
Permitting of Municipal Disposal Sites
Mandated Recycling
Increased Disposal Fees
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
CERCLA 1980