Solid Waste

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Chapter 23

• Solid Waste

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Waste

• US generates more solid waste per capita than any
  other country
• 2 kg solid waste/day/person

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Municipal Solid Waste

• Solid materials discarded by homes, offices,
  retail stores, restaurants, schools, prisons,
  hospitals etc.

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Non-municipal Solid Waste

• Mining wastes (75) agriculture (13) and
  industry (9 ½)

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4 Ways to get rid of Solid Waste

• 1) Dump it
• Open dumps
• Unsanitary, smelly, vermin, fire hazard.
• 2) Bury it
• Sanitary landfills
• Get 57 of waste today
• Place waste in a lined hole cover it each day
  with thin layer of soil
• Landfills lined with leachate
• Charges tipping fees to accept wastes

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4 Ways to get rid of Solid Waste (cont.)

• 2) Bury it-Landfills (continued)
• Land fill citing needs to consider areas
  climate, likelihood of flooding geology/soil
  properties/topography
• Problems
• methane gas generation (including explosivity)
• Leachate leaks
• Landfills monitored for 30 yrs. after closure

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4 Ways to get rid of Solid Waste (cont.)

• 3) Burn it-Incineration
• 2 positive aspects- volume of solids reduced by
  50 and produces heat that can be captured for
  energy
• Waste to energy incinerators produce
  substantially less carbon dioxide emissions than
  equivalent power plants.
• Best materials for incineration paper, plastics,
  and rubber (glass does not burn, food has high
  moisture content.)

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4 Ways to get rid of Solid Waste (cont.)

• 3) Burn it-Incineration (continued)
• Types of Incinerators-
• Mass burn incinerators- burn all wastes
• Modular incinerators- smaller, burn all wastes
• Refuse- derived fuel incinerators- burn only
  combustible waste
• Problems w/ Incinerators-
• Some waste produces toxic chemicals such as
  paperdioxins or plastics polyvinyl chloride

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4 Ways to get rid of Solid Waste (cont.)

• 3) Burn it-Incineration (continued)
• Pollution control devices
• Lime scrubbers-neutralize acid gas
• Electrostatic Ppt-pullout particular negitive
  charged material
• Bottom ash or slag-residual ash left at the
  bottom of the incinerator
• Fly ash-ash from the flue (chimney) that is
  trapped by air pollution control devices

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4 Ways to get rid of Solid Waste (cont.)

• 4) Compost it-compost organic wastes use it for
  compost (mixed in soil) or mulch (put on top of
  the soil)
• Product Stewardship-manufacturers assume
  responsibility for their products from cradle to
  grave

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4 Ways to get rid of Solid Waste

• Polymers-plastics composed of repeating carbon
  compounds
• Photodegradable-break down in sunlight
• Biodegradable-break down by microorganisms
• Problem w/ tire made of vulcanized rubber which
  cannot be melted or reused
• Fire hazard
• Collect water gt breeding spot

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Waste Prevention

• 1) Reduce amount of waste
• Design/manufacture products in such a way to
  decrease volume of solid hazardous waste
  gtsource reduction
• Dematerialization-progressive decrease in the
  size weight of the product as result of
  technological improvements.
• Only results in source reduction if new product
  is as durable as the one it replaces.
• Pollution Prevention Act-law focuses on reduced
  generation of pollutants at their point of origin

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Waste Prevention

• 2) Reuse
• Can reuse bottles, clothes, etc.
• Bottle reuse has dropped because thicker ones
  cost more to transport centralization of
  bottling facilities make it economically
  difficult to reuse
• 3) Recycling
• 1 ton recycled paper saves 17 trees, 7,000 gal
  water, 4,100 Kw/hr energy, 3 yol3 landfill
  space

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Waste Prevention

• 3) Recycling (continued)
• Also generates jobs revenue (pos.)
• Uses energy creates pollution (neg.)
• Problems w/ composite materials waste separation
• Average family of 4 recycles gt454 kg (1,000 lb)
  of aluminum, cans, bottles, containers,
  newspapers, cardboard.

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Waste Prevention

• 3) Recycling (continued)
• US recycles 27 of municipal solid waste
• Paper 40
• Glass 36
• Aluminum
• Metal
• Plastic lt 20
• Tires 10.2
• 5.5 into tire products
• 4.7 into rubberized asphalt

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Waste Prevention

• 3) Recycling (continued)
• Cullet- crushed glass used/recycled into new
  glass products
• Aluminum recycling uses a fraction of the energy
  to make new can
• More recycling when economy is strong
• Plastic not recycled much as its less costly to
  make it from raw material
• PET is recycled more than any other
  plastic/polystyrene (Styrofoam) not really
  recycles

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Means of Controlling Solid Waste

• Fee-per-bag approach
• Source reduction
• Hazardous Waste
• Hazardous or toxic waste- any discarded chemical
  that threatened human health or the environment
• 1 of solid waste stream
• Materials that are reactive, corrosive, explosive
  or toxic

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Means of Controlling Solid Waste

• Examples of hazardous waste
• Dioxins
• By product of chlorine combustion
• Hospitalslargest polluters of dioxin others are
  hospitals, paper/pulp, coal
• Delays fetal development, cognitive damage,
  decrease sperm production

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Means of Controlling Solid Waste

• PCBs (Polychlorinated biphenyls)
• Group of 209 industrial chemicals composed of
  carbon, hydrogen chlorine
• Used for cooling fluids, hydraulics fluids, fire
  retardants, adhesives, lubricants, inks, etc.
• Harm skin, eyes, reproductive capacity
  gastrointestinal system, endocrine disrupters
• High temp incineration-effective way to destroy
  PCBs

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Means of Controlling Solid Waste

• ERNS- Emergency Response Notification System
• Principle of inherent safety- industrial process
  are redesigned to involve less toxic materials so
  that accidents are prevented.

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Means of Controlling Solid Waste

• 2 Federal laws dictating hazardous waste
  management
• 1) Resource Conservation Recovery Act-
• Identify which waste is hazardous and to provide
  guide lines standards in states for hazardous
  waste management programs (e.g. disposal)
• 2)Comprehensive Environmental Response
  Compensation Liability Act (CERCLA)-
• Superfund Act- formed to tackle cleaning up
  hazardous waste sites
• Created National Priorities List (NPL) which
  lists the baddest of the bad
• 1/5th of NPL sites are open dumps or sanitary
  landfills

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Means of Controlling Solid Waste

• Primary Responsible Parties-
• Current land owner
• Prior owners
• Anyone who dumped waste on the land
• Anyone who transported waste to a particular site
• Treatment Options
• Excavate landfill
• Bioremediation
• Phytoremediation
• fixation
• Soil gas/vapor extraction
• Incineration
• Recycling
• Soil washing

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Means of Controlling Solid Waste

• 3 ways to deal w/ toxic waste
• Source reduction
• Conversion to less hazardous material/waste
• Long-term storage
• Environmental Justice
• Every citizen, regardless of age, race, gender,
  social class or other factor is entitled to
  adequate protection from environmental hazards

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Means of Controlling Solid Waste

• Basel Convention- restricts the international
  transport of hazardous waste
• Allows countries to export hazardous waste only
  w/ prior consent of importing countries plus any
  countries through which waste is transported
• Integrated Waste Management- using combined
  techniques of 3Rs to create an over all waste
  management plan
• Voluntary simplicity- recognizing that individual
  happiness quality of life are not tied to the
  accumulation of material goods