APES Solid Waste Test

Composting is a process that produces

A nutrient-rich soil conditioner

The piece of legislation passed to deal with abandoned or Superfund hazardous waste sites is:

CERCLA

Which of the following is the most likely route for mercury to enter the food web?

Coal-burning emission—deposition—ocean—plankton/fishes

Which of the following would encourage the practice of recycling?

Decreasing taxes on recycled material

Critics of incineration of MSW suggest that it may NOT be the best solution for the future, for which of the following reasons?

Incineration contributes to air pollution

United States methane emissions from landfills decreased by about 15% between 1990 and 2008. What is the most likely reason for this decrease?

Increased capture and reuse of the methane produced in landfills

The majority of solid waste generated in the United States is in what form?

Industrial solid waste

In the United States most MSW is disposed of by

Landfilling

Which of the following laws requires companies to submit an environmental impact statement that outlines the environmental effects of their proposed project?

NEPA

One obstacle in building new landfills is:

NIMBY

What is the largest source of MSW in the U.S.?

Paper

Which of the following laws controls what is put into a landfill?

RCRA

Which of the following methods would be the MOST energy efficient way to reduce the volume of trash in a landfill?

Reduce the amount of plastic, metal and paper used in packaging food.

Modern incinerators:

Reduce the volume of solid waste through burning to a smaller amount of fly ash. Create methane which is used for Waste to Energy. Use scrubbers and electrostatic precipitaters to decrease the amount of air pollution. Release toxic PCBs through incomplete burning of plastics.

Which of the following is most likely to increase both the nutrient levels and the bacterial content of lake water?

Runoff form a cattle farms

Which of the activities below is a form of integrated waste reduction?

Sending solid waste to an incineration plant to generate electricity

Which country produces the most waste?

The U.S.

Pollution is considered an external cost when

The cost to the environment is not reflected in the price of the products that produce the pollution

POP's or persistent organic pollutants are environmentally detrimental because they:

accumulate in animal tissues and biomagnify

According to integrated waste management practices the lowest priority of waste disposal would be:

burying it in a landfill

Which of the following is allowed in a sanitary landfill?

food scraps

Which of the following would NOT be part of modern sanitary landfill?

landfill gas created by anaerobic bacteria is burned off by torch-like flares to prevent spontaneous combustion and greenhouse effect

According to integrated waste management practices, the first priority in disposing waste is:

produce less waste