Solid and Hazardous Waste Quiz
What is bioremediation? Phytoremediation?
Biological method to detoxify hazardous waste. Uses organisms to breakdown hazardous waste. Phytoremediation uses plants to breakdown hazardous waste.
Understand how hazardous waste can be detoxified by: Chemical methods
By adding other chemicals that can react with the waste or chemicals that will bind with the harmful substances so they are easier to remove. Chemical reactions can also neutralize some of the toxins, making them less toxic for disposal. Nanomagnets are tiny magnets that can bind with organic pollutants like oil and then be removed by a magnet.
Understand how hazardous waste can be detoxified by: Physical methods
Filtration through charcoal or resins can remove some of the harmful solids in hazardous wastes, concentrating them for disposal. Distillation (separation by boiling point) can separate out harmful liquids from less harmful ones. These harmful liquids can then be disposed of more easily.
What makes recycling plastics difficult? (Three reasons)
First, many plastics are hard to isolate from other wastes because the many different resins used to make them are often difficult to identify, and some plastics are composites of different resins. For example, a plastic ketchup bottle might have as many as six different layers of plastics bonded together. Most plastics also contain stabilizers and other chemicals that must be removed before recycling. Second, recovering individual plastic resins does not yield much material because only small amounts of any given resin are used in each product. Third, the inflation-adjusted price of oil used to produce petrochemicals for making plastic resins is low enough to make the cost of virgin plastic resins much lower than that of recycled resins. An exception is PET (polyethylene terephthalate), used mostly in plastic drink bottles. However, PET collected for recycling must not have other plastics mixed with it; a single PVC (polyvinyl chloride) bottle in a truckload of PET can render it useless for recycling. Despite its economic value, only about 20% of the PET used in plastic containers in the United States is recycled. However, in 2007, Coca-Cola announced a goal of reusing or recycling 100% of the PET bottles it sells in the United States.
What is a fee-per-bag ("pay as you throw" system)? What are bottle bills? How do they encourage recycling?
To promote separation of wastes for recycling, more than 4,000 communities in the United States use a pay as-you-throw or fee-per-bag waste collection system. It charges households and businesses for the amount of mixed waste picked up, but does not charge for pickup of materials separated for recycling or reuse. Parts of Canada and 11 U.S. states have bottle laws that place a deposit fee on all beverage containers. Retailers must accept the used containers and pass them on for recycling or reuse. Large beverage industries have used their political and financial clout to keep most U.S. states from passing bottle laws, arguing that they lead to a loss of jobs and higher beverage costs for consumers. But experience in Canada and U.S. states with bottle bills shows that more jobs are gained than lost, costs to consumers have not risen, resources are saved, and roadside litter decreases. Some analysts call for a national bottle bill in the United States, while others would ban all beverage containers that cannot be reused, as Denmark, Finland, and Canada's Prince Edward Island have done. Ecuador levies a refundable beverage container deposit fee that amounts to 50% of the cost of the drink. In Finland, 95% of the soft drink, beer, wine, and spirits containers are refillable.
Know the following about incinerators: Advantages
-Ash collected from MSW being burned in the incinerator is collected and disposed of in the landfill, and takes up much less space than the original MSW -Burning trash can generate enough heat to boil water and turn a turbine -> this can generate electricity to run the plant or add to the grid -No methane or leachate produced
What is the difference between preconsumer and postconsumer wastes?
Scientists distinguish between two types of wastes that can be recycled: preconsumer or internal waste generated in a manufacturing process and postconsumer or external waste generated by consumer use of products. Preconsumer waste makes up more than three-fourths of the total.
Know the difference between recycling and reuse. What are the benefits of each? What materials can be recycled?
Reuse involves cleaning and using materials over and over and thus increasing the typical life span of a product. This form of waste reduction decreases the use of matter and energy resources, cuts pollution, creates local jobs, and saves money. Recycling involves reprocessing discarded solid materials into new, useful products. In addition to saving resources and reducing solid waste and pollution, recycling also reduces unsightly and environmentally harmful litter. Households and workplaces produce five major types of materials that can be recycled: paper products, glass, aluminum, steel, and some plastics.
How has the amount of trash generated in the US changed? How has the per capita waste generation changed?
Since 1990, the average annual production of MSW by weight per American has leveled off, mostly because of increased recycling and the use of lighter products. Historical analysis reveals some surprises about U.S. waste production.
Understand the advantages and disadvantages: Surface impoundment of hazardous waste
Surface impoundments are shallow depressions are lined with plastic and clay. Water containing waste is placed in the impoundment and is left to evaporate. As the water evaporates, the residue of solid hazardous waste is left behind and collected to be transported elsewhere. There are a number of drawbacks to this method. The underlying clay layer can crack and leak waste, and rainstorms cause overflow, contaminating nearby areas. The EPA did a study of these impoundments and found that 70% of surface impoundments were found to have no liners at all. They also estimated as a result of the study that all liners will probably leak eventually.
How much MSW does the US recycle? How much do experts think we should recycle?
The United States recycles about 25% of its MSW—up from 6.4% in 1960. This increase has gotten a boost by almost 9,000 curbside pickup recycling programs, which serve about half of the U.S. population. In 2007, the United States recycled about 60% of its steel, 56% of its aluminum cans, 56% of its paper and cardboard, 36% of its tires, 22% of its glass, and 5% of its plastics. Experts say that with education and proper incentives, the United States could recycle 60-70% of these and many other forms of solid waste, in keeping with one of the four scientific principles of sustainability.
Know the following about landfills: Disadvantages
-Open dumps attract birds and other pests because of the exposed trash -Leachate must be monitored during the operational period of the landfill and for some time after it is closed -Very little decomposition occurs *anaerobic -Some methane (flammable and potent greenhouse gas) is produced
Know the following about incinerators: Disadvantages
-Produce air pollution which could contain dioxins or other hazardous chemicals (particularly true if household hazardous waste is improperly included with the MSW) -Still needs to be disposed of in a landfill
Know the following about landfills: Advantages
-World's poorest people scavenger for items to salvage and sell -Some landfills capture produced methane and use it to generate energy (methane gas recovery well)
Know the disadvantages to making paper & some alternatives that would solve these problems
About 55% of the world's industrial tree harvest is used to make paper. The pulp and paper industry is the world's fifth largest energy user and uses more water to produce a metric ton of its product than any other industry. In both Canada and the United States, it is the third-largest industrial energy user and polluter, and paper is the dominant material in the MSW of both countries. Paper (especially newspaper and cardboard) is easy to recycle. Recycling newspaper involves removing its ink, glue, and coating and then reconverting it to pulp, which is pressed into new paper. Making recycled paper uses 64% less energy and produces 35% less water pollution and 74% less air pollution than does making paper from wood, and, of course, no trees are cut down. In 2007, the United States recycled about 56% of its wastepaper (up from 25% in 1989). At least 10 other countries recycle 50-97% of their wastepaper and paperboard, and the global recycling rate is 43%. Paper recycling leaders are Denmark (97%), South Korea (77%), and Germany (72%). Despite a 56% recycling rate, the amount of paper thrown away each year in the United States is more than all of the paper used in China. Also, about 95% of books and magazines produced in the United States are printed on virgin paper. In producing this textbook we strive to use paper with a high percentage of recycled fibers. However, recycled paper of the quality required is often hard to get and costs more than conventional paper, which adds to the price of this book. Being green often involves trade-offs. One problem associated with making paper is the chlorine (Cl2) and chlorine compounds (such as chlorine dioxide, ClO2), used to bleach about 40% of the world's pulp for making paper. These compounds are corrosive to processing equipment, hazardous for workers, hard to recover and reuse, and harmful when released into the environment. A growing number of paper mills (mostly in the European Union) are replacing chlorine-based bleaching chemicals with chemicals such as hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) or oxygen (O2).
What are some problems with the use of disposable/ one-time-use plastic bags?
According to Vincent Cobb, founder of reusablebags .com, an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are used and usually discarded each year throughout the world. Producing them requires large amounts of oil because most are made from ethylene, a petroleum byproduct. And each discarded bag can take from 400 to 1,000 years to break down. Less than 1% of the estimated 100 billion plastic bags used each year in the United States are recycled. In a number of African countries, the landscape is littered with plastic bags. In addition to being an eyesore and a waste of resources the bags block drains and sewage systems and can kill wildlife and livestock that eat them. They also kill plants and spread malaria by holding mini-pools of warm water where mosquitoes can breed.
Know some ways that we can reduce waste: At home
According to the integrated waste management approach, our efforts should be focused less on disposal and recovery of wastes and more on source reduction of these wastes. There are many ways that individuals can reduce municipal solid waste. Individuals can carry their own shopping bags and buy products in bulk. We can also reduce the use of paper napkins, plates, utensils and towels but using reusable alternatives such as cloth napkins & rags. You can reuse and repurpose items such as washing and reusing plastic or glass food containers. To reduce food waste, individuals can try to waste as little food as possible & compost what's left. You can also borrow items from the library or purchase music or movies digitally
Know some ways that we can reduce waste: In industry
Companies can redesign products to use a lower amount of materials than in the past. Costs less too. For example milk jugs contain less plastic than they did in the 1970's and disposable water bottles contain less plastic than they did a couple years ago. The weight of cars has been reduced 25% since the 1960s by using lighter materials. Companies can also redesign their manufacturing processes to produce less waste and to produce waste that is less toxic. For example we can replace toxic chemicals with non-toxic or less toxic chemicals such as in dry cleaning. Other companies are able to recycle and reuse parts. The Caterpillar truck company disassembles engines and fixes worn parts which are then as good as new. Consumers can also vote with their dollar for companies that use less packaging and companies that build products to last.
What is composting?
Composting is a form of recycling that mimics nature's recycling of nutrients—one of the four scientific principles of sustainability. It involves allowing decomposer bacteria to recycle yard trimmings, food scraps, and other biodegradable organic wastes. The resulting organic material can be added to soil to supply plant nutrients, slow soil erosion, retain water, and improve crop yields. Homeowners can compost such wastes in simple backyard containers, in composting piles that must be turned over occasionally, or in small composting drums that can be rotated to mix the wastes and to speed up the decomposition process. Over 6 million homes in North America compost their organic wastes and the number is increasing. For details on composting, see the website for this chapter. The United States has about 3,300 municipal composting programs that recycle about 37% of country's yard wastes. This is likely to rise as the number of states (now 20) that ban yard wastes from sanitary landfills increases. The resulting compost can be used as organic soil fertilizer, topsoil, or landfill cover. It can also be used to help restore eroded soil on hillsides and along highways, and on strip-mined land, overgrazed areas, and eroded cropland. To be successful, a large-scale composting program must be located carefully and odors must be controlled, because people do not want to live near a giant compost pile or plant. Some cities in Canada and many European Union countries compost more than 85% of their biodegradable wastes in centralized community facilities. Sometimes composting takes place in huge indoor buildings. In the Canadian city of Edmonton, Alberta, an indoor composting facility the size of eight football fields composts 50% of the city's organic solid waste. Composting programs must also exclude toxic materials that can contaminate the compost and make it unsafe for use as fertilizer.
Understand the advantages and disadvantages: Deep-well disposal
Deep- well injection is a long-term disposal method. A well is drilled below the groundwater and through an impermeable layer of rock. The well is lined with concrete and then hazardous waste is pumped down the well into the porous rock below. The well is intended to be isolated from groundwater and human contact because it is in a porous layer below an impermeable layer. Nevertheless, the well casings can become corroded or cracked and leak waste into soil and groundwater. Additionally, earthquakes can cause cracks and leaks. Only specific locations.
What is Fresh Kills? When did it close? What happens to trash from NYC now?
Despite its efforts to limit MSW, New York City was one of the first U.S. cities to run out of landfill space. Until 2001, most of the city's garbage was buried in its Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island, the world's largest public landfill. At its busiest in 2001, this landfill, a monument to a throwaway society, was deeper than the city's Statue of Liberty is tall. However, after filling up in 2001, it was closed. Now it is being transformed into recreational facilities, restored wetlands, and a large public parkland. Since 2001, the city has been hauling its massive amounts of garbage to landfill sites in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Each day, some 600 energy-inefficient and polluting tractor trailers, which if lined up would form a convoy nearly 14 kilometers (9 miles) long, haul trash out of New York City to landfills as far as 480 kilometers (300 miles) away. Similarly, in 2002, Canada's largest city Toronto closed its last landfill and, since then, has been shipping all of its garbage to Wayne County, Michigan (USA), for burial. As oil prices rise and concerns over CO2 emissions increase, it may become too expensive at some point for New York (and for other cities) to haul garbage long distances to burial sites. Then what?
Know what e-waste is, why it is harmful and what happens to most US e-waste (p560)
Hazardous waste includes e-waste or electronic waste (cell phones, TVs, computers). These are particularly of concern because they include heavy metals like lead, cadmium, mercury, arsenic, chromium, tin, and copper which can be harmful to human health. These materials are used widely in industry for wiring, electronics, metal plating, pigments, and dyes. They enter the environment when products containing them are disposed of improperly. One of the problems with e-waste is planned obsolescence: Manufacturers design products to become obsolete quickly so consumers will buy another one. Possible Solutions: Companies can build electronics with more modular design, so that parts can be added or replaced to add new features to a device. This can be expensive and difficult in many cases because we do not know what future innovations will occur. Many companies include prepaid recycling envelopes with new gadgets (Virgin Mobile allows customers to mail back any cell phone- not just virgin mobile phones- for proper disposal, Sprint also does this.). Currently only about 1% of phones are recycled in the US Europe has standardized connectors/accessories for cell phones so you do not need to buy a new one each time you buy a new phone. Another suggestion is for companies to give rebates for keeping old devices like phones after a certain amount of time. We can also encourage companies to use recyclable materials/ packaging. Apple is doing this- they have committed to reducing toxins and packaging for their products. Currently about 10-40% of e-waste is shipped to developing countries, such as China, India and poor African nations. Labor is cheap and workers will dismantle the products to remove valuable materials while exposing the air, water, and their bodies to contamination by toxins. The Basel Convention is an international treaty that bans developed countries from shipping hazardous waste to developing countries. It was ratified by over 150 countries, but not the US (although the US does have national laws against this practice). The treaty and laws can be evaded by labeling hazardous waste as "recyclable materials" which can legally be shipped overseas. Basel Action Network (BAN) is a US non-profit that focuses on ending this trade of hazardous materials between countries and enforcing the Basel Convention.
Understand the advantages and disadvantages: Hazardous waste landfills
Hazardous waste landfills have standards that are more strict than those of sanitary landfills. Waste is put into drums and buried in a lined landfill. The groundwater surrounding the landfill is continually monitored for leaks. This is good for waste that cannot be further detoxified or destroyed (like mercury). These drums can also be stored in secure buildings above ground where they can be monitored if the water table is very high and digging cannot occur. This method is the least-used disposal method because it is so expensive.
What is the difference between primary and secondary recycling?
In primary or closed-loop recycling, these materials are recycled into new products of the same type—turning used aluminum cans into new aluminum cans, for example. In secondary recycling, waste materials are converted into different products. For example, used tires can be shredded and turned into rubberized road surfacing, newspapers can be reprocessed into cellulose insulation, and plastics can be reprocessed into various items.
Know some ways that we can reduce waste: Through legislation
Local and state goverments can take a number of actions to encourage people to reduce waste. Bag bans are one of these measures. San Jose will be the largest city in the country to ban plastic bags on January 1st. In cities that have similar bans, customers have to bring their own bags and plastic bag pollution has decreased. Another option is a Pay‐as‐you‐throw or Fee‐per‐bag system. This system uses financial incentives to influence consumer behavior. Households only pay for the amount of trash they actually dispose of, but are not charged for extra recyclables. The less waste a house generates the less it is charged for trash collection A third method of encouraging waste reduction & recycling are Bottle bills. Under these laws consumers receive a refund for returning used bottles at designated locations. Many states pay 5 cents per bottle, but Michigan pays 10 cents. As a result, they have seen even better rates of recycling.
What are the two types of solid waste?
One type is industrial solid waste produced by mines, agriculture, and industries that supply people with goods and services. The other is municipal solid waste (MSW), often called garbage or trash, which consists of the combined solid waste produced by homes and workplaces.
How does RCRA regulate waste disposal? (we discussed 2 ways)
One way the the government encourages companies to use the methods we've just discussed is through the Resource Conservation & Recovery Act. RCRA sets standards for sanitary landfills but it also regulates some hazardous waste. It sets standards for managing some types of hazardous waste. It also allows the government to issue permits for companies that allow them to produce and dispose of certain amounts of waste in safe ways. Large generators of hazardous waste must be tracked "from cradle to grave." This means that companies are responsible for disposing of the hazardous waste they produce and then they need to submit proof to EPA that they have done so. The idea behind this is that the high costs of disposal will incentivize companies to invest in reducing their hazardous waste.
What are MRFs? What is source separation? Why do experts prefer it over MRFs?
One way to recycle is to send mixed urban wastes to centralized materials-recovery facilities (MRFs or "murfs"). There, machines or workers separate the mixed waste to recover valuable materials for sale to manufacturers as raw materials. The remaining paper, plastics, and other combustible wastes are recycled or burned to produce steam or electricity to run the recovery plant or to sell to nearby industries or homes. Such plants are expensive to build, operate, and maintain. If not operated properly, they can emit CO2 and toxic air pollutants, and they produce a toxic ash that must be disposed of safely, usually in landfills. Because MRFs require a steady diet of garbage to make them financially successful, their owners have a vested interest in increasing the throughput of matter and energy resources to produce more trash—the reverse of what prominent scientists believe we should be doing. To many experts, it makes more environmental and economic sense for households and businesses to separate their trash into recyclable categories such as glass, paper, metals, certain types of plastics, and compostable materials. This source separation approach produces much less air and water pollution and costs less to implement than MRFs cost. It also saves more energy, provides more jobs per unit of material, and yields cleaner and usually more valuable recyclables. In addition, sorting material educates people about the need for recycling.
What makes up the largest percentage of municipal solid waste?
Paper and cardboard (37%), yard waste (12%), food waste (11%), plastics (11%), and metals (8%).
Understand how hazardous waste can be detoxified by: Plasma arc torch
Plasma arc torch uses very high temperature plasma (created by passing an electric current through a gas) to break compounds into atoms and ions. Byproducts can be used to make fuel. This takes a lot of energy, but can be very effective. It is not a common method, but it is in use at a few locations worldwide.
Know the following about landfills: What features prevent leachate from leaking into the surrounding soil?
They are lined with clay (since it is nearly impermeable) and sometime a plastic liner. This prevents liquids from leaching out. The trash is compacted into cubes and put into the pit. Each layer of trash is covered with soil to prevent pests and rainwater from getting into the trash, then more trash is placed on top. Pipes run through the landfill to collect any leachate, or liquid that drains off the trash. These pipes empty into a storage area outside the landfill. Leachate must be monitored during the operational period of the landfill and for some time after it is closed.
What factors hinder recycling? How can governments encourage recycling?
Three factors hinder reuse and recycling. First, we have a faulty and misleading accounting system in which the market price of a product does not include the harmful environmental and health costs associated with the product during its life cycle. Second, there is an uneven economic playing field, because in most countries, resource-extracting industries receive more government tax breaks and subsidies than recycling and reuse industries get. Third, the demand and thus the price paid for recycled materials fluctuates, mostly because buying goods made with recycled materials is not a priority for most governments, businesses, and individuals. How can we encourage reuse and recycling? Proponents say that leveling the economic playing field is the best way to start. Governments can increase subsidies and tax breaks for reusing and recycling materials (the carrot) and decrease subsidies and tax breaks for making items from virgin resources (the stick). Other strategies are to greatly increase use of the fee-per-bag waste collection system and to encourage or require government purchases of recycled products to help increase demand and lower prices. Governments can also pass laws requiring companies to take back and recycle or reuse packaging and electronic waste discarded by consumers, as is done in Japan and some European Union countries. Citizens can pressure governments to require labels on all products listing recycled content and the types and amounts of any hazardous materials they contain. This would help consumers to be better informed about the environmental consequences of buying certain products. One reason for the popularity of recycling is that it helps to soothe people's consciences in a throwaway society. Many people think that recycling their newspapers and aluminum cans is all they need do to meet their environmental responsibilities. Recycling is important, but reducing resource consumption and reusing resources are more effective ways to reduce the flow and waste of resources.
