Solid and Hazardous Waste

1
Chapter 13

• Solid and Hazardous Waste

2
Chapter Overview Questions

• What is solid waste and how much do we produce?
• How can we produce less solid waste?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of
  reusing recycled materials?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of
  burning or burying solid waste?
• What is hazardous waste and how can we deal with
  it?

3
Chapter Overview Questions (contd)

• What can we do to reduce exposure to lead and
  mercury?
• How can we make the transition to a more
  sustainable low-waste society?

4
Updates Online

• The latest references for topics covered in this
  section can be found at the book companion
  website. Log in to the books e-resources page at
  www.thomsonedu.com to access InfoTrac articles.
• InfoTrac Computer waste can be a toxic mess. St.
  Louis Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, MO), June 8,
  2006.
• InfoTrac The Greening of America. Newsweek
  International, August 14, 2006.
• InfoTrac Unwanted electronics. Tam Harbert.
  Electronic Business, April 2006 v32 i4 pS-6(5).
• Department of Health and Human Services ToxFaqs
• Electronics Recycling
• Science Daily Ashes To Ashes, Dust To Dust
  Litter Made To Degrade

5
Video The Throw-Away Society

• This video clip is available in CNN Today Videos
  for Environmental Science, 2004, Volume VII.
  Instructors, contact your local sales
  representative to order this volume, while
  supplies last.

6
Core Case Study Love Canal There Is No Away

• Between 1842-1953, Hooker Chemical sealed
  multiple chemical wastes into steel drums and
  dumped them into an old canal excavation (Love
  Canal).
• In 1953, the canal was filled and sold to Niagara
  Falls school board for 1.
• The company inserted a disclaimer denying
  liability for the wastes.

7
Core Case Study Love Canal There Is No Away

• In 1957, Hooker Chemical warned the school not to
  disturb the site because of the toxic waste.
• In 1959 an elementary school, playing fields and
  homes were built disrupting the clay cap covering
  the wastes.
• In 1976, residents complained of chemical smells
  and chemical burns from the site.

8
Core Case Study Love Canal There Is No Away

• President Jimmy Carter declared Love Canal a
  federal disaster area.
• The area was abandoned in 1980 (left).

9
Core Case Study Love Canal There Is No Away

• It still is a controversy as to how much the
  chemicals at Love Canal injured or caused disease
  to the residents.
• Love Canal sparked creation of the Superfund law,
  which forced polluters to pay for cleaning up
  abandoned toxic waste dumps.

10
WASTING RESOURCES

• Solid waste any unwanted or discarded material
  we produce that is not a liquid or gas.
• Municipal solid waste (MSW) produce directly
  from homes.
• Industrial solid waste produced indirectly by
  industries that supply people with goods and
  services.
• Hazardous (toxic) waste threatens human health
  or the environment because it is toxic,
  chemically active, corrosive or flammable.

11
WASTING RESOURCES

• Solid wastes polluting a river in Jakarta,
  Indonesia. The man in the boat is looking for
  items to salvage or sell.

12
WASTING RESOURCES

• The United States produces about a third of the
  worlds solid waste and buries more than half of
  it in landfills.
• About 98.5 is industrial solid waste.
• The remaining 1.5 is MSW.
• About 55 of U.S. MSW is dumped into landfills,
  30 is recycled or composted, and 15 is burned
  in incinerators.

13
(No Transcript)
14
Electronic Waste A Growing Problem

• E-waste consists of toxic and hazardous waste
  such as PVC, lead, mercury, and cadmium.
• The U.S. produces almost half of the world's
  e-waste but only recycles about 10 of it.

15
INTEGRATED WASTE MANAGEMENT

• We can manage the solid wastes we produce and
  reduce or prevent their production.

16

Second Priority
Last Priority
First Priority
Primary Pollution and Waste Prevention
Waste Management
Secondary Pollution and Waste Prevention
Treat waste to reduce toxicity
Change industrial process to eliminate
use of harmful chemicals
Reuse products
Repair products
Incinerate waste
Bury waste in landfills
Recycle
Purchase different products
Compost
Release waste into environment for
dispersal or dilution
Buy reusable recyclable products
Use less of a harmful product
Reduce packaging and materials in products
Make products that last longer and are
recyclable, reusable, or easy to repair
17
Solutions Reducing Solid Waste

• Refuse to buy items that we really dont need.
• Reduce consume less and live a simpler and less
  stressful life by practicing simplicity.
• Reuse rely more on items that can be used over
  and over.
• Repurpose use something for another purpose
  instead of throwing it away.
• Recycle paper, glass, cans, plasticsand buy
  items made from recycled materials.

18

What Can You Do?
Solid Waste

• Follow the five Rs of resource use Refuse,
  Reduce,
• Reuse, Repurpose, and Recycle.

Ask yourself whether you really need a
particular item.
Rent, borrow, or barter goods and services when
you can.
Buy things that are reusable, recyclable, or
compostable, and be sure to reuse, recycle, and
compost them.
Do not use throwaway paper and plastic plates,
cups and eating utensils, and other disposable
items when reusable or refillable versions are
available.
Refill and reuse a bottled water container with
tap water.
Use e-mail in place of conventional paper mail.
Read newspapers and magazines online.
Buy products in concentrated form whenever
possible.
19
REUSE

• Reusing products is an important way to reduce
  resource use, waste, and pollution in developed
  countries.
• Reusing can be hazardous in developing countries
  for poor who scavenge in open dumps.
• They can be exposed to toxins or infectious
  diseases.

20
How People Reuse Materials

• Children looking for materials to sell in an open
  dump near Manila in the Philippines.

21
Case Study Using Refillable Containers

• Refilling and reusing containers uses fewer
  resources and less energy, produces less waste,
  saves money, and creates jobs.
• In Denmark and Canadas Price Edwards Island
  there is a ban on all beverage containers that
  cannot be reused.
• In Finland 95 of soft drink and alcoholic
  beverages are refillable (Germany 75).

22
REUSE

• Reducing resource waste energy consumption for
  different types of 350-ml (12-oz) beverage
  containers.

23

Aluminum can, used once
Steel can, used once
Recycled steel can
Glass drink bottle, used once
Recycled aluminum can
Recycled glass drink bottle
Refillable drink bottle, used 10 times
Energy (thousands of kilocalories)
24
How Would You Vote?

• To conduct an instant in-class survey using a
  classroom response system, access JoinIn Clicker
  Content from the PowerLecture main menu for
  Living in the Environment.
• Do you support banning all beverage containers
  that cannot be reused as Denmark has done?
• a. No. Reused containers may be unsanitary.
• b. Yes. A ban will save energy, money, and
  resources and result in a cleaner environment.

25
Solutions Other Ways to Reuse Things

• We can use reusable shopping bags, food
  containers, and shipping pallets, and borrow
  tools from tool libraries.
• Many countries in Europe and Asia charge shoppers
  for plastic bags.

26
How Would You Vote?

• To conduct an instant in-class survey using a
  classroom response system, access JoinIn Clicker
  Content from the PowerLecture main menu for
  Living in the Environment.
• Should consumers have to pay for plastic or paper
  bags at grocery and other stores?
• a. No. Instead, give discounts to people who
  bring their own bags.
• b. Yes. Making consumers buy their bags will
  reduce waste.

27

What Can You Do?
Reuse
Buy beverages in refillable glass containers
instead of cans or throwaway bottles.
Use reusable plastic or metal lunchboxes.
Carry sandwiches and store food in the
refrigerator in reusable containers instead of
wrapping them in aluminum foil or plastic wrap
Use rechargeable batteries and recycle them
when their useful life is over.
Carry groceries and other items in a reusable
basket, a canvas or string bag, or a small cart.
Use reusable sponges and washable cloth
napkins, dishtowels, and handkerchiefs
instead of throwaway paper ones.
Buy used furniture, computers, cars, and other
items.
Give or sell items you no longer use to others.
28
RECYCLING

• Primary (closed loop) recycling materials are
  turned into new products of the same type.
• Secondary recycling materials are converted into
  different products.
• Used tires shredded and converted into rubberized
  road surface.
• Newspapers transformed into cellulose insulation.

29
RECYCLING

• There is a disagreement over whether to mix urban
  wastes and send them to centralized resource
  recovery plants or to sort recyclables for
  collection and sale to manufacturers as raw
  materials.
• To promote separation of wastes, 4,000
  communities in the U.S. have implemented
  pay-as-you-throw or fee-per-bag waste collection
  systems.

30
How Would You Vote?

• To conduct an instant in-class survey using a
  classroom response system, access JoinIn Clicker
  Content from the PowerLecture main menu for
  Living in the Environment.
• Should households and businesses be charged for
  the amount of mixed waste picked up but not
  charged for pickup of materials separated for
  recycling?
• a. No. It would encourage illegal dumping and
  burning of wastes.
• b. Yes. Consumer source separation saves money
  and makes consumers more conscientious.

31
RECYCLING

• Composting biodegradable organic waste mimics
  nature by recycling plant nutrients to the soil.
• Recycling paper has a number of environmental
  (reduction in pollution and deforestation, less
  energy expenditure) and economic benefits and is
  easy to do.

32
RECYCLING

• Recycling many plastics is chemically and
  economically difficult.
• Many plastics are hard to isolate from other
  wastes.
• Recovering individual plastic resins does not
  yield much material.
• The cost of virgin plastic resins in low than
  recycled resins due to low fossil fuel costs.
• There are new technologies that are making
  plastics biodegradable.

33
How Would You Vote?

• To conduct an instant in-class survey using a
  classroom response system, access JoinIn Clicker
  Content from the PowerLecture main menu for
  Living in the Environment.
• Should we place much greater emphasis on
  recycling with the goal of recycling at least 60
  of the municipal solid waste that we produce?
• a. No. Recycling programs should be market driven
  rather than setting unrealistically high goals
  that will either fail or require support from
  already overtaxed citizens.
• b. Yes. High recycling rates will reduce
  pollution and save energy.

34
RECYCLING

• Reuse and recycling are hindered by prices of
  goods that do not reflect their harmful
  environmental impacts, too few government
  subsidies and tax breaks, and price fluctuations.

35
How Would You Vote?

• To conduct an instant in-class survey using a
  classroom response system, access JoinIn Clicker
  Content from the PowerLecture main menu for
  Living in the Environment.
• Should governments pass laws requiring
  manufacturers to take back and reuse or recycle
  all packaging waste, appliances, electronic
  equipment, and motor vehicles at the end of their
  useful lives?
• a. No. These regulations would increase prices
  for consumers.
• b. Yes. The regulations would promote the
  manufacturing of more environmentally friendly
  products and further protect the environment.

36

Trade-Offs
Recycling
Disadvantages
Advantages
Reduces air and water pollution
Does not save landfill space in areas with ample
land
Saves energy
Reduces mineral demand
May lose money for items such as glass and most
plastic
Reduces greenhouse gas emissions
Reduces solid waste production and disposal
Reduces profits from landfills and incinerators
Helps protect biodiversity
Can save money for items such as paper, metals,
and some plastics
Source separation is inconvenient for some people
Important part of economy
37
BURNING AND BURYING SOLID WASTE

• Globally, MSW is burned in over 1,000 large
  waste-to-energy incinerators, which boil water to
  make steam for heating water, or space, or for
  production of electricity.
• Japan and a few European countries incinerate
  most of their MSW.

38
Burning Solid Waste

• Waste-to-energy incinerator with pollution
  controls that burns mixed solid waste.

39

Electricity
Smokestack
Turbine
Steam
Crane
Generator
Wet scrubber
Furnace
Boiler
Electrostatic precipitator
Waste pit
Water added
Bottom ash
Dirty water
Conveyor
Fly ash
Conventional landfill
Waste treatment
Hazardous waste landfill
40

Trade-Offs
Incineration
Advantages
Disadvantages
Expensive to build
Reduces trash volume
Costs more than short-distance hauling to
landfills
Less need for landfills
Difficult to site because of citizen opposition
Low water pollution
Concentrates hazardous substances into ash for
burial or use as landfill cover
Some air pollution
Older or poorly managed facilities can release
large amounts of air pollution
Output approach that encourages waste production
Sale of energy reduces cost
Modern controls reduce air pollution
Can compete with recycling for burnable materials
such as newspaper
Some facilities recover and sell metals
41
How Would You Vote?

• To conduct an instant in-class survey using a
  classroom response system, access JoinIn Clicker
  Content from the PowerLecture main menu for
  Living in the Environment.
• Do the advantages of incinerating solid waste
  outweigh the disadvantages?
• a. Yes. Incineration is a sanitary and effective
  method for eliminating infectious and organic
  wastes.
• b. No. Incineration can generate toxic air
  pollution and ashes.

42
Burying Solid Waste

• Most of the worlds MSW is buried in landfills
  that eventually are expected to leak toxic
  liquids into the soil and underlying aquifers.
• Open dumps are fields or holes in the ground
  where garbage is deposited and sometimes covered
  with soil. Mostly used in developing countries.
• Sanitary landfills solid wastes are spread out
  in thin layers, compacted and covered daily with
  a fresh layer of clay or plastic foam.

43

When landfill is full, layers of soil and
clay seal in trash
Topsoil
Electricity generator building
Sand
Clay
Methane storage and compressor building
Leachate treatment system
Garbage
Probes to detect methane leaks
Pipes collect explosive methane as used as fuel
to generate electricity
Methane gas recovery well
Leachate storage tank
Compacted solid waste
Groundwater monitoring well
Garbage
Leachate pipes
Leachate pumped up to storage tank for safe
disposal
Sand
Synthetic liner
Leachate monitoring well
Sand
Groundwater
Clay and plastic lining to prevent leaks
pipes collect leachate from bottom of landfill
Clay
Subsoil
44

Trade-Offs
Sanitary Landfills
Advantages
Disadvantages
Noise and traffic
No open burning
Dust
Little odor
Air pollution from toxic gases and volatile
organic compounds
Low groundwater pollution if sited properly
Releases greenhouse gases (methane and
CO2) unless they are collected
Can be built quickly
Low operating costs
Groundwater contamination
Can handle large amounts of waste
Slow decomposition of wastes
Filled land can be used for other purposes
Discourages recycling, reuse, and waste reduction
Eventually leaks and can contaminate groundwater
No shortage of landfill space in many areas
45
How Would You Vote?

• To conduct an instant in-class survey using a
  classroom response system, access JoinIn Clicker
  Content from the PowerLecture main menu for
  Living in the Environment.
• Do the advantages of burying solid waste in
  sanitary landfills outweigh the disadvantages?
• a. No. Ultimately, landfills leak and pollute the
  environment.
• b. Yes. They have relatively low operating costs,
  can store large amounts of waste, and are
  designed to prevent pollution.

46
Case Study What Should We Do with Used Tires?

• We face a dilemma in deciding what to so with
  hundreds of millions of discarded tires.

47
HAZARDOUS WASTE

• Hazardous waste is any discarded solid or liquid
  material that is toxic, ignitable, corrosive, or
  reactive enough to explode or release toxic
  fumes.
• The two largest classes of hazardous wastes are
  organic compounds (e.g. pesticides, PCBs,
  dioxins) and toxic heavy metals (e.g. lead,
  mercury, arsenic).

48

What Harmful Chemicals Are in Your Home?
Cleaning
Gardening
Disinfectants
Pesticides
Drain, toilet, and window cleaners
Weed killers
Ant and rodent killers
Spot removers
Septic tank cleaners
Flea powders
Paint
Latex and oil-based paints
Paint thinners, solvents, and strippers
Automotive
Stains, varnishes, and lacquers
Gasoline
Used motor oil
Wood preservatives
Antifreeze
Artist paints and inks
Battery acid
General
Solvents
Dry-cell batteries (mercury and cadmium)
Brake and transmission fluid
Rust inhibitor and rust remover
Glues and cements
49
Hazardous Waste Regulations in the United States

• Two major federal laws regulate the management
  and disposal of hazardous waste in the U.S.
• Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
• Cradle-to-the-grave system to keep track waste.
• Comprehensive Environmental Response,
  Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)
• Commonly known as Superfund program.

50
Hazardous Waste Regulations in the United States

• The Superfund law was designed to have polluters
  pay for cleaning up abandoned hazardous waste
  sites.
• Only 70 of the cleanup costs have come from the
  polluters, the rest comes from a trust fund
  financed until 1995 by taxes on chemical raw
  materials and oil.

51
How Would You Vote?

• To conduct an instant in-class survey using a
  classroom response system, access JoinIn Clicker
  Content from the PowerLecture main menu for
  Living in the Environment.
• Should the U.S. Congress reinstate the
  polluter-pays principle by using taxes from
  chemical, oil, mining, and smelting companies to
  reestablish a fund for cleaning up existing and
  new Superfund sites?
• a. No. All taxpayers, not certain industries,
  should pay for cleaning up sites polluted in the
  past.
• b. Yes. Funding for Superfund is needed and
  waste-generating industries rather than ordinary
  citizens should fund it.

52
DEALING WITH HAZARDOUS WASTE

• We can produce less hazardous waste and recycle,
  reuse, detoxify, burn, and bury what we continue
  to produce.

53

Produce Less Waste
Manipulate processes to eliminate or
reduce production
Recycle and reuse
Convert to Less Hazardous or Nonhazardous
Substances
Chemical, physical, and biological treatment
Ocean and atmospheric assimilation
Land treatment
Thermal treatment
Incineration
Put in Perpetual Storage
Arid region unsaturated zone
Waste piles
Salt formations
Surface impoundments
Underground injection
Landfill
54
Conversion to Less Hazardous Substances

• Physical Methods using charcoal or resins to
  separate out harmful chemicals.
• Chemical Methods using chemical reactions that
  can convert hazardous chemicals to less harmful
  or harmless chemicals.

55
Conversion to Less Hazardous Substances

• Biological Methods
• Bioremediation bacteria or enzymes help destroy
  toxic and hazardous waste or convert them to more
  benign substances.
• Phytoremediation involves using natural or
  genetically engineered plants to absorb, filter
  and remove contaminants from polluted soil and
  water.

56

Inorganic metal contaminants
Organic contaminants
Radioactive contaminants
Poplar tree
Brake fern
Willow tree
Sunflower
Indian mustard
Landfill
Oil spill
Polluted groundwater in
Polluted leachate
Decontaminated water out
Soil
Soil
Groundwater
Groundwater
Phytostabilization Plants such as willow trees
and poplars can absorb chemicals and keep them
from reaching groundwater or nearby surface water.
Rhizofiltration Roots of plants such as
sunflowers with dangling roots on ponds or in
green- houses can absorb pollutants such as
radioactive strontium-90 and cesium-137 and
various organic chemicals.
Phytoextraction Roots of plants such as Indian
mustard and brake ferns can absorb toxic metals
such as lead, arsenic, and others and store
them in their leaves. Plants can then be
recycled or harvested and incinerated.
Phytodegradation Plants such as poplars can
absorb toxic organic chemicals and break them
down into less harmful compounds which they
store or release slowly into the air.
57

Trade-Offs
Phytoremediation
Advantages
Disadvantages
Easy to establish
Slow (can take several growing seasons)
Inexpensive
Effective only at depth plant roots can reach
Can reduce material dumped into landfills
Some toxic organic chemicals may evaporate from
plant leaves
Produces little air pollution compared to
incineration
Some plants can become toxic to animals
Low energy use
58
How Would You Vote?

• To conduct an instant in-class survey using a
  classroom response system, access JoinIn Clicker
  Content from the PowerLecture main menu for
  Living in the Environment.
• Do the advantages of using phytoremediation to
  detoxify hazardous waste outweigh the
  disadvantages?
• a. No. The process is often too slow and cannot
  remove contaminants below the root zones of the
  remediating plants.
• b. Yes. Plants can be effective in removing
  organics, radionuclides, and inorganic
  contaminants from soil and water.

59
Conversion to Less Hazardous Substances

• Incineration heating many types of hazardous
  waste to high temperatures up to 2000 C in
  an incinerator can break them down and convert
  them to less harmful or harmless chemicals.

60
Conversion to Less Hazardous Substances

• Plasma Torch passing electrical current through
  gas to generate an electric arc and very high
  temperatures can create plasma.
• The plasma process can be carried out in a torch
  which can decompose liquid or solid hazardous
  organic material.

61

Trade-Offs
Plasma Arc
Advantages
Disadvantages
Small
High cost
Produces CO2 and CO
Mobile. Easy to move to different sites
Can release particulates and chlorine gas
Can vaporize and release toxic metals and
radioactive elements
Produces no toxic ash
62
How Would You Vote?

• To conduct an instant in-class survey using a
  classroom response system, access JoinIn Clicker
  Content from the PowerLecture main menu for
  Living in the Environment.
• Do the advantages of using a plasma torch to
  detoxify hazardous waste outweigh the
  disadvantages?
• a. No. Plasma torches are expensive and the
  combustion byproducts may be harmful to the
  environment and humans.
• b. Yes. Plasma torches are convenient for
  disposing of hazardous wastes.

63
Long-Term Storage of Hazardous Waste

• Hazardous waste can be disposed of on or
  underneath the earths surface, but without
  proper design and care this can pollute the air
  and water.
• Deep-well disposal liquid hazardous wastes are
  pumped under pressure into dry porous rock far
  beneath aquifers.
• Surface impoundments excavated depressions such
  as ponds, pits, or lagoons into which liners are
  placed and liquid hazardous wastes are stored.

64

Trade-Offs
Deep Underground Wells
Advantages
Disadvantages
Leaks or spills at surface
Safe method if sites are chosen carefully
Leaks from corrosion of well casing
Wastes can be retrieved if problems develop
Existing fractures or earthquakes can allow
wastes to escape into groundwater
Easy to do
Encourages waste production
Low cost
65
How Would You Vote?

• To conduct an instant in-class survey using a
  classroom response system, access JoinIn Clicker
  Content from the PowerLecture main menu for
  Living in the Environment.
• Do the advantages of deep-well disposal of
  hazardous waste outweigh the disadvantages?
• a. No. The systems may leak and contaminate
  valuable soils, sediments, and groundwaters.
• b. Yes. Deep injection wells can be designed to
  permanently remove hazardous wastes from surface
  and near-surface environments.

66

Trade-Offs
Surface Impoundments
Advantages
Disadvantages
Groundwater contamination from leaking liners (or
no lining)
Low construction costs
Low operating costs
Air pollution from volatile organic compounds
Can be built quickly
Overflow from flooding
Wastes can be retrieved if necessary
Disruption and leakage from earthquakes
Can store wastes indefinitely with secure double
liners
Promotes waste production
67
How Would You Vote?

• To conduct an instant in-class survey using a
  classroom response system, access JoinIn Clicker
  Content from the PowerLecture main menu for
  Living in the Environment.
• Do the advantages of storing hazardous wastes in
  surface impoundments outweigh the disadvantages?
• a. No. The environment should not be openly
  exposed to liquid hazardous wastes.
• b. Yes. Surface impoundments are inexpensive
  solutions for at least the temporary storage of
  liquid wastes.

68
Long-Term Storage of Hazardous Waste

• Long-Term Retrievable Storage Some highly toxic
  materials cannot be detoxified or destroyed.
  Metal drums are used to stored them in areas that
  can be inspected and retrieved.
• Secure Landfills Sometimes hazardous waste are
  put into drums and buried in carefully designed
  and monitored sites.

69
Secure Hazardous Waste Landfill

• In the U.S. there are only 23 commercial
  hazardous waste landfills.

70

Topsoil
Bulk waste
Gas vent
Plastic cover
Earth
Impervious clay cap
Clay cap
Sand
Impervious clay
Water table
Earth
Leak detection system
Groundwater
Plastic double liner
Double leachate collection system
Reactive wastes in drums
Groundwater monitoring well
71

What Can You Do?
Hazardous Waste
Use pesticides in the smallest amount possible.
Use less harmful substances instead of
commercial chemicals for most household
cleaners. For example use liquid ammonia to clean
appliances and windows vinegar to polish metals,
clean surfaces, and remove stains and mildew
baking soda to clean household utensils,
deodorize, and remove stains borax to
remove stains and mildew.
Do not dispose of pesticides, paints,
solvents, oil, antifreeze, or other products
containing hazardous chemicals by flushing them
down the toilet, pouring them down the drain,
burying them, throwing them into the garbage, or
dumping them down storm drains.
72
Case Study Lead

• Lead is especially harmful to children and is
  still used in leaded gasoline and household
  paints in about 100 countries.

73

Solutions
Lead Poisoning
Prevention
Control
Phase out leaded gasoline worldwide
Sharply reduce lead emissions from old and new
incinerators
Replace lead pipes and plumbing fixtures
containing lead solder
Phase out waste incineration
Test blood for lead by age 1
Remove leaded paint and lead dust from older
houses and apartments
Ban use of lead solder
Remove lead from TV sets and computer monitors
before incineration or land disposal
Ban use of lead in computer and TV monitors
Test for lead in existing ceramicware used to
serve food
Ban lead glazing for ceramicware used to serve
food
Test existing candles for lead
Wash fresh fruits and vegetables
Ban candles with lead cores
74
Case Study Mercury

• Mercury is released into the environment mostly
  by burning coal and incinerating wastes and can
  build to high levels in some types of fish.

75

Solutions
Mercury Pollution
Prevention
Control
Sharply reduce mercury emissions from
coal-burning plants and incinerators
Phase out waste incineration
Remove mercury from coal before it is burned
Tax each unit of mercury emitted by coal-burning
plants and incinerators
Convert coal to liquid or gaseous fuel
Switch from coal to natural gas and renewable
energy resources such as wind, solar cells, and
hydrogen
Collect and recycle mercury-containing electric
switches, relays, and dry-cell batteries
Phase out use of mercury in all products unless
they are recycled
Require labels on all products containing mercury
76

AIR
PRECIPITATION
PRECIPITATION
WINDS
WINDS
Hg2 and acids
Hg2 and acids
Hg and SO2
Photo- chemical
Elemental mercury vapor (Hg)
Inorganic mercury and acids (Hg2)
Human sources
Inorganic mercury and acids (Hg2)
Coal- burning plant
Incinerator
Deposition
Runoff of Hg2 and acids
Deposition
WATER
Large fish
Vaporization
BIOMAGNIFICATION IN FOOD CHAIN
Deposition
Small fish
Deposition
Zooplankton
Phytoplankton
Bacteria and acids
Oxidation
Organic mercury (CH3Hg)
Inorganic mercury (Hg2)
Elemental mercury liquid (Hg)
Bacteria
Settles out
Settles out
Settles out
SEDIMENT
77
ACHIEVING A LOW-WASTE SOCIETY

• In the U.S., citizens have kept large numbers of
  incinerators, landfills, and hazardous waste
  treatment plants from being built in their local
  areas.
• Environmental justice means that everyone is
  entitled to protection from environmental hazards
  without discrimination.

78
Global Outlook International Action to Reduce
Hazardous Waste

• An international treaty calls for phasing out the
  use of harmful persistent organic pollutants
  (POPs).
• POPs are insoluble in water and soluble in fat.
• Nearly every person on earth has detectable
  levels of POPs in their blood.
• The U.S has not ratified this treaty.

79
Making the Transition to a Low-Waste Society A
New Vision

• Everything is connected.
• There is no away for the wastes we produce.
• Dilution is not always the solution to pollution.
• The best and cheapest way to deal with wastes are
  reduction and pollution prevention.