Chapter 16

Solid Waste Generation and Disposal

• Raw materials and energy are used to create products

• Products are used and reused• Waste: anything that is

produced but is not useful or is not consumed and therefore discarded when not needed.

• In the natural world, detritivores and decomposers recycle wastes from other organisms

• Only humans generate wastes that cannot be used by other organisms

Refuse collected from households, small businesses, and institutions such as schools, prisons, municipal buildings, and hospitals.

Municipal Solid Waste

People from the depression, have learned to never throw out anything

My grandma used to reuse her calendars every 8 years.

Three Things affect amount of waste an American Produces.1.How much money do you make? More money = more waste (usually, buy new rather than fix old.2.Geographic Location (Think about purchasing before ebay and Amazon.com3.Time of year. How much trash do you have after Christmas?

Waste StreamHow long does it take

before it is in a landfill?Which does not

belong?

Composition by weight before recycling in 2008

Sources by weight 1/3 is from packaging our items.

MSWHousehold v Industry

60% Residential 40% Commercial

• 31% - paper• 33% - organic materials

(yard waste, food scraps, wood)

• 12% - plastic • 18% - durable goods

(appliances, tires)

Composition of Municipal Solid Waste

Planned obsolescenceLabor saving devices, newer technology

Used and then thrown away.

Electronic waste (E-waste): For example, TVs, computers, and cell phones that contain toxic metals

E-Waste

• Little E-waste is recycled (<20% of discarded computers and TVs in USA in 2007).

• E-waste that is recycled is often exported to other countries.

• Workers in those countries are exposed to serious health hazards.

E-Waste

Developing countries are producing more waste because they still have growing populations and some of the mass produced goods created in developed countries is accessible.

The three R’s and composting divert materials from the

waste stream.

Reduce

Reuse

Recycle

Reduce through:• Waste minimization (buy in

bulk) • Waste prevention• Source reduction (e.g., print

on both sides of a page)

Reduce, Reuse, RecycleLunchables produces a lot of waste.

Reuse:• Reusing something more

than once• Examples include reusing

a disposable cup and refillable beverage bottles

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Homemade lunchable

Recycle:• Materials are collected and

converted into raw materials used to produce new objects.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

The best way to reduce the waste stream (going into landfills) is to reduce input by waste prevention.

Can you use it over again? Can you use something you already have? Do you really have to throw it out or can you save it just in case?

Don’t become a hoarder though. Problem with Recycling: Sometimes there is not a market for the recycled products, such as glass.

Polar Fleece Jacket!

Compost: organic material that has decomposed under controlled conditions

Composting

Currently, most solid waste is

buried in landfills or incinerated.

• Landfills have replaced open dumps in the developed world.

• Open dumps are still common in less-developed nations.

Landfills

Open Landfills can:Attract pests and diseasesBe harmful to children working in landfillsPollute water and chemical hazards

• Sanitary landfills: engineered ground facilities that hold MSW with minimal contamination of the environment

• Leachate: water that becomes contaminated by traveling through solid waste and picking up various chemical compounds

Landfills

Leachate:

Many landfills are located near poor neighborhoods with little political power.

A landfill receives 75 cm of rain each year. 50% of the rain soaks into the landfill. The landfill has a surface area of 10,000 m2. what volume infiltrates landfill annually?

A landfill receives 75 cm of rain each year. 50% of the rain soaks into the landfill. The landfill has a surface area of 10,000 m2. the leachate collection is 80% effective at collecting cadmium and other toxins. What volume of leachate that is treated annually?

A landfill receives 75 cm of rain each year. 50% of the rain soaks into the landfill. The landfill has a surface area of 10,000 m2. what volume infiltrates landfill annually?

A landfill receives 75 cm of rain each year. 50% of the rain soaks into the landfill. The landfill has a surface area of 10,000 m2. the leachate collection is 80% effective at collecting cadmium and other toxins. What volume of leachate that is treated annually?

.75m rain/year, .37m soaks in.

.37m X 10,000m 2 = 3,750 m3

.75m rain/year, .37m soaks in.

.37m X 10,000m 2 = 3,750 m33,750 m3x .80 = 3000m3 treated leachate.

Incineration: process of burning waste materials to reduce volume and mass, sometimes also generating electricity and heat

Incineration

• Requires higher tipping fees than landfills

• Raises NIMBY issues, making siting difficult (not in my back yard).

• May release air pollutants• Create concentrated ash that is toxic

and must be landfilled. Safe ash can be made into roads, toxic must be treated before going to landfill.

Incineration

Hazardous waste requires special

means of disposal.

Hazardous waste: liquid, solid, gaseous, or sludge waste harmful to humans or ecosystemsThe United States:•has >20,000 hazardous waste generators•annually produces 40 million U.S. tons of hazardous waste

Hazardous Waste

• More expensive to handle than MSW

• Collection sites for hazardous waste must be staffed with specially trained personnel

• Often materials of unknown composition must be processed

Hazardous Waste

• Hazardous waste must be treated before disposal.

• By EPA definition, treatment means making the waste less environmentally harmful.

• No good solution to the hazardous waste problem exists except to create less of it in the first place.

Hazardous Waste

• Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA): enacted to reduce or eliminate hazardous waste

• Provides “cradle-to-grave” tracking

• RCRA ensures proper disposal of hazardous waste

• Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA): also know as “Superfund”

• Taxes chemical and petroleum industries

• Tax revenue used to clean up abandoned and non-operating hazardous waste sites where a responsible party cannot be found

Laws

Red currentYellow proposedGreen cleaned up

1200 Superfund SitesIdaho has 7 sites an 3 proposed3 cleaned up

Coeur d'Alene River basin contains millions of tons of mine tailings, waste rock and ore concentrates. Soil, sediments, groundwater and surface water are contaminated with heavy metals including cadmium,lead and zinc from former mining and smelting operations.[12][13]

Eastern Michaud Flats ContaminationGroundwater and surface water contamination by arsenIc and phosphorus from phosphorus ore processing plants. Off-site soil contamination from airborne release offluoride, radium-226 and cadmium; on-site soil contamination bycadmium,chromium, copper,lead, nickel, silver,vanadium, zinc, radium-226 and fluoride.[14][15]

Blackbird Mine Groundwater, surface water, soil and sediment contamination bycopper, cobalt andarsenic. Acid rock drainage from mine tunnels and waste has decreased water quality in local creeks, affectingchinook salmon and other threatened and endangered species.[10][11]

IDAHO NATIONAL LABORATORY Groundwater contamination byhexavalent chromium, iodine-129, strontium-90,technetium-99,tritium, carbon tetrachloride andTCE; soil contamination byheavy metalsincluding lead andmercury, by VOCs, and byradionuclides, including cesium-137, strontium-90, andplutonium.[16][1

• CERCLA (Superfund) requires a direct federal government response to the release of any substances that may pose a threat to human health or the environment.

Laws

• Contaminated industrial or commercial sites that may require cleanup before they can be redeveloped or expanded

• Old factories, industrial areas and waterfronts, dry cleaners, gas stations, landfills, and rail yards are some examples.

There are newer ways of thinking

about solid waste.

• IWM seeks to develop as many options as possible to reduce environmental harm and cost

• IWM is an analysis and planning process that starts with source reduction and ends with waste reduction

IIntegrated Waste

Management (IWM)

• Waste reduction, recycling, composting, landfills, and incineration are some tools used in IWM.

• Life-cycle analysis is also useful as a cradle-to-grave analysis to determine how wastes can be eliminated or reduced.

IIntegrated Waste

Management (IWM)

Undoubtedly, holistic approaches to resource and waste management will be used more extensively in the future as it becomes more and more expensive to deal with wastes.

IIntegrated Waste

Management (IWM)

1. Define waste.2. How are wastes usually

handled in natural systems?3. What is unique about the

wastes human generate?4. What is MSW?5. Describe E-waste.

Review Questions

1. What are some sources of waste?

2. What are the three Rs? Give an example of each one.

3. Differentiate between open- and closed-loop recycling.

4. What is compost, and why is composting a uniquely valuable recycling method?

Review Questions

1. What happens currently to most solid waste?

2. What is a landfill? How does a landfill differ from an open dump?

3. Describe the design of a sanitary landfill.

4. Where does leachate originate, and why is it an environmental concern?

Review Questions

1. Is incineration a good method for getting rid of solid waste? Why or why not?

2. What is hazardous waste?3. What is the Superfund?4. What is life-cycle analysis, and how

can it help solve the waste crisis?5. What is Integrated Waste

Management?

Review Questions