Ch. 16- Waste

Can't be composted

- animal products and fats (ex. peanut butter) are not composted because they produce foul smells and attract rodents. - pet animal manure should not be composted because it could contain human parasites.

Three R's

1. Reduce: prevents waste in the first place (stop using so much); the best strategy 2. Reuse: the products we consume should be used again if they can 3. Recycle: raw materials are collected and used to make a new product

Incineration

A process for solid waste in which the matter is burned in order to reduce its volume and sometimes to produce energy.

Brownfields

A waste legislation stating that mild to moderately contaminated industrials or commercial sites require some environmental cleanup before they can be redeveloped (ex. factories, dry cleaners, gas stations, landfills, rail yards, act.)

Landfill location

Landfills should be located in areas rich in clay, away from bodies of water and aquifers, and away from a population center.

Integrated Waste management

a legislation that employs several waste reduction, management, and disposal strategies.

Sanitary landfill

a place for solid waste in which there is an engineered landfill designed to prevent contamination of the surrounding area; however, all sanitary landfills do leak to some degree. - cost taxpayers a tremendous amount of money, so the three Rs should be used whenever possible in order to save money :P

Open pit landfill

a place for solid waste in which waste is buried in a hole in the ground; results in much contamination of surrounding area.

Waste to energy plant

a type of incineration process in which waste is burned in order to produce energy PROS: -reduce volume of trash -produce energy CONS: -additional cost to tax payers -need a high volume of trash to burn which discourages the three Rs -ash produced is very toxic -produces some air pollution

Life Cycle Analysis (Cradle to Grave Analysis)

a type of legislation that analyzes a product over the course of its lifetime. Takes into account the procurement of raw materials, their manufacturer, use, and disposal.

Closed-loop recycling

a type of recycling in which the product is recycled back into the same product (ex. aluminum cans)

Open-loop recycling

a type of recycling in which the product is recycled into a different product (ex. plastic bottle into a fleece jacket)

Hazardous waste

a type of solid waste material that is harmful to humans or ecosystems (ex. heavy metals, cleaning appliances, batteries, oil, latex paints, WD-40, etc.)

Resource conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)

a type of waste legislation that prevents unsafe and illegal disposal of hazardous wastes on land; goal is also to reduce the amount of hazardous waste produced.

Comprehensive Environment Response, Compensation, and Liability ACT (CERCLA) (Superfund)

a type of waste legislation that provides a federal "Superfund" to clean up hazardous waste sites as well as accidental spills.

Waste

any non-useful product. -in the natural world the waste of one organism becomes the energy for another - humans are the only organisms that produce waste that others cannot always use

Planned obsolescence

designing a product so that it will need to be replaced within a certain time frame.

Nondurable goods

goods that are disposable (ex. foam cups, notebook papers, etc.)

Durable goods

goods that last for years (ex. refrigerators, dressers, couches, etc.)

Solid Waste

in the US, most solid waste is buried (50%), some is recycled (30%), and the remainder is incinerated for energy (20%).

Leachate

occurs at the sanitary landfill in which the water that leaches through the solid waste and picks up various chemicals is picked up by this and transferred to the leachate treatment facility.

Composting

organic material that has decomposed under controlled conditions into a nutrient rich soil conditioner. **The pile should have a carbon to nitrogent (C:N) of about 30:1 to support microbial activity. This can be accomplished by layering brown material (leaves, cut grass) with green material (kitchen scraps). A certain amount of watering and turning mat also be necessary to ensure aerobic as opposed to anaerobic decomposition.

Love Canal, NY

originally a hazardous waste landfill, but the government decided to get the landfill covered with dirt and use the land to build a school and housing development. Eventually cancer causing materials oozed and leaked into people's houses and caused many birth defects and cancers. Now, thanks to the Comprehensive Environment Response, Compensation, and Reform Act, it is currently entombed and the immediate are a ghost town.

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)

refuse collected by municipalities (communities) from households, businesses, hospitals, and other institutions. Landfill is filled by: Paper= 33% Food Scraps= 13% Yard trimmings= 13% Plastic= 12% - creates anaerobic conditions through decomposition of landfill, which creates methane and leads to major global warming - recycling is the best way to reduce landfills

Waste stream

the flow of solid wastes that is recycled, incinerated, or put into a landfill.

Electronic waste (E-waste)

waste that contains heavy metals such as Mercury, Lead, and Cadnium. This waste is most of the time not recycled and when it is shipped to 3rd world countries to be recycled; it is done in a very environmentally unfriendly and unhealthy way. EX.) computers, tv, cell phones, music players, etc.