SCI Exam 5

Waste Management

- = the processes involved in dealing with the waste of humans and organisms, including minimization, handling, precessing, storage, recycling, transport, and final disposal - 3 main components of waste management: 1) Minimizing the amount of waste we generate 2) Recovering discarded materials and finding ways to recycle them 3) Disposing of waste safely and effectively

Businesses are adopting industrial ecology

- One example of industrial ecology is found in breweries that take waste from the beer-brewing process and use it to produce mushrooms, bread, pigs, etc.

Sanitary landfills are our main disposal method

- Sanitary landfills bury waste in the ground or pile it in large mounds engineered to prevent waste from contaminating the environment. - Municipal landfills must adhere to standards set by the EPA under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976. - Waste is partially decomposed by bacteria and compresses under its own weight to take up less space. - Soil is layered with the waste to speed decomposition and reduce odor and pests. - Liners and collection systems prevent liquid leachate from escaping into the nearby groundwater. - Landfills must be located away from wetlands, earthquake-prone faults, and at least 6 meters above the water table. - Closed landfills are converted into public parks or other uses, such as the Fresh Kills Park in New York City.

life-cycle analysis !!

- looks for ways to make any part of generating a process more efficient, including obtaining raw materials, manufacturing, its use, and disposal. - Waste products from one process are incorporated into other processes. - Environmentally harmful products are eliminated from industrial processes. !!! - Design changes are made to increase 1) durability, 2) recyclability, and 3) reusability !!!

Sources of e-waste

1) Home: - PC - TV - radio - cell phones - washing machines - microwave oven - CD player - Fan - Electric Iron 2) Hospitals - PC - Monitors - ECG device - Microscope - Incubator 3) Government - PC - CPU - Fax machine - Xerox machine - Scanner - Fan - Tube lights - AC 4) Private sectors (Restaurants, industries) - PC - Boilers - Mixer - Signal Generation - Incubator

Recycling 3 steps

1. collect and process used goods and materials. - Drop-off locations and curbside recycling are the most common strategies used by cities. 2. Materials recovery facilities (MRFs) are where workers and machines separate items by weight and size using automated processes including magnetic pulleys, optical sensors, water currents, and air classifiers. 3. When sorted, the materials can be used to manufacture new goods.

The waste stream

= flow of waste as it moves from its sources toward disposal destinations - Minimizing waste at its source is called SOURCE REDUCTION, and is the best way of dealing with the waste stream.

industrial ecology

Extraction Production Manufacture Use Disposal cycle it should be in

LECTURE 24

Industrial Waste

Municipal Solid Waste

Municipal solid waste is commonly referred to as "trash" or "garbage." This includes many different materials, from food scraps to paper, plastic, and glass. a) before recycling and composting - 27% Paper - 14.6% Food scraps - 13.5% Yard trimmings - 12.8% Plastics - 9.1% Metals - 9% Rubber, leather, and textiles - 6.2% Wood - 4.5% Glass - 3.3% Other b) After recycling and composting - 21.1% Foods scraps - 17.7% Plastics - 15.1% Paper - 11.6% Rubber, leather, and textiles - 9.1% Metal - 8.1% Yard trimmings - 8% Wood - 5% Glass - 4.4% Other

LECTURE 26

RECYCLING

LECTURE 27

SUSTAINABILITY

LECTURE 25

WASTE MANAGEMENT

Student-led campus sustainability efforts are growing and thriving Slide 5&6 details on it

Waste reduction Green buildings Water conservation Energy efficiency Renewable energy Food and dining Transportation Plants and landscaping Carbon-neutrality Fossil fuel divestment

An audit is a useful way to begin

- An audit provides information on the amount of various resources an institution is consuming. - One example of an auditing tool is the Kill-a-Watt meter, which measures the electrical current drawn by appliances and fixtures. - Data from other institutions can also help create recommendations to implement sustainable practices. - Studies have shown that half of collegiate greenhouse gas emissions come from communing in vehicles, suggesting that finding alternative transportation solutions should be a priority. 50.7% Commuting 32.4% Purchased electricity 10.3% Stationary combustion 6.6% Other

hazardous waste

- By EPA/ FDA definition, hazardous waste has at least one of the following characteristics: 1) Ignitable: Likely to catch fire. 2) Corrosive: Can corrode metals in storage tanks or equipment. 3) Reactive: Chemically unstable and readily able to react with other substances. 4) Toxic: Harmful to human health when inhaled, ingested, or touched.

Composting recovers organic waste

- Composting is the conversion of organic waste (food scraps, yard debris, etc.) into mulch or humus through natural decomposition. - This compost is used to enrich soil, mimicking natural cycles of matter and preventing waste from reaching a landfill or incinerator. - e.g. The city of Edmonton composts about half of its waste stream along with dried sewage sludge in a gigantic aeration building. - More than 80,000 tons of compost is generated annually.

Reuse to reduce waste

- Donate used items to charity - Reuse boxes, paper, plastic wrap, plastic containers, aluminum foil, bags, wrapping paper, fabric, packing material - rent, borrow, or lend items instead of buying them - bring reusable cloth bags for shopping - make double-sided photocopies - keep electronic documents rather than printing them out - bring own coffee cup to coffee shops - pay a bit extra for durable, long-lasting, reusable goods rather than disposable ones - buy rechargeable batteries - select goods with less packaging - compost kitchen and yard wastes - buy clothing and other items at resale stores and garage sales - use cloth napkins and rags, not paper napkins and towels

Recycling of E-Waste

- Electronic devices contain rare and valuable trace metals that can be extracted and sold. - A typical cell phone, for example, contains about a dollar's worth of precious metals. - As a demonstration of this, the 2010 Winter Olympics Games produced their medals partially from materials recycled from electronic waste. - Gold recovery from PC, Motherboards, phones, SIM cards, phone batteries - Silver recovery from X-Ray films, hospital fixer solutions, photo color bleach, wrist watch button cells

e-waste (electronic waste)

- Electronic waste (e-waste) includes obsolete computers, MP3 players, cell phones, and other electronic devices. - This source of waste has grown substantially due to the short lifespan of these products. - Most electronic items have ended up in landfills or incinerators - Due to the heavy metals and flame retardants in e-waste, the EPA and many states are beginning to treat it as hazardous waste. - A combination of devices becoming smaller and an increase in recycling rates has decreased the amount of e-waste ending up in the waste stream.

What happened to I-85

- High-density polyethylene (HDPE) or polyethylene high-density (PEHD) is a polyethylene thermoplastic made from petroleum. It is sometimes called "alkathene" or "polythene" when used for pipes. - caught on fire - piping, how store and where?

Financial incentives help address waste

- In "pay-as-you-throw" garbage collection programs, municipalities charge residents for home trash pickup according to the amount of trash they put out. - BOTTLE BILLS are laws that have consumers pay a 5 to 10 cent deposit on recyclable containers that is refunded when they are returned to the store. - States with bottle bills have recycling rates about 3.5 times higher than states without them.

Contaminated sites are being cleaned slowly

- In 1980 the U.S. Congress passed the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA). - This created a hazardous waste site cleanup program called the Superfund. - Later laws charged the EPA with cleaning up brownfields, lands that contain hazardous materials. - These laws were passed after toxic chemicals buried by a company in Love Canal, New York, rose to the surface, contaminating homes and an elementary school, and apparently leading to birth defects, miscarriages, and other health impacts. - When a Superfund site is identified, scientists prioritize the site on the National Priorities List based on how near the site is to homes, whether wastes are confined or likely to spread, and whether the pollution threatens drinking water supplies. - As of 2016, 1328 Superfund sites remained on the National Priorities List, and only 391 had been cleaned up or otherwise deleted from the list.

De Anza College Strives for a Sustainable Campus

- In 2005, De Anza College in Cupertino, California, opened the Kirsch Center for Environmental Studies. - This was the first community-college building to be certified LEED platinum. - A 36.5 kilowatt photovoltaic energy system is installed on the rooftop. - Conservation technologies incorporated into the building include: - Red and green lights that advise when windows should be opened and closed. - Natural lighting in labs, classrooms, and study areas. - Much of the building's interior is made with recycled materials. - The building is also landscaped with drought-tolerant native plants that require little watering. - An arboretum is adjacent to the building, which displays native plants and plant communities. - Today, a total of nine (9) LEED-certified buildings are present on the campus, the dining halls serve local and organic foods, and the college has divested its holdings in fossil fuels. - Certificate programs include wildlife tracking and research training.

Incinerating trash reduces pressure on landfills

- Incineration, or combustion, is a controlled process in which garbage is burned at very high temperatures. - Incineration reduces the weight of waste up to 85%, and its volume up to 95% - Emission from incinerators must be passed through scrubbers that spray liquid that neutralizes acidic gases and a system of filters called a baghouse that physically filter fly ash.

Industrial ecology seeks to make industry more sustainable

- Industrial ecology integrates principles from engineering, chemistry, ecology, and economics to maximize both physical and economic efficiency. - The goal is to function more like ecological systems, in which organisms use almost everything that is produced. - This involves making several changes to industrial processes.

industrial solid waste

- Industrial solid waste includes waste from factories, mining activities, agriculture, petroleum extraction, and more. - Methods and strategies of industrial waste disposal are similar to those for municipal waste disposal.

Hazardous wastes are diverse

- Industry produces the most hazardous waste, but there are many forms of household hazardous waste as well: Paints Batteries Oils Solvents Cleaning agents Lubricants Pesticides

KSU Sustainability

- KSU's Farm-to-Campus ProgramAcres of organic farmland - On-Campus Herb Garden - KSU's Farmers' Market on the Campus Green - "BOB" Shuttle Routes began in Spring, 2011 - routes to remote parking lots & campus buildings - routes connecting nearby apartments - KSU uses a "single source" (materials can be mixed) recycling system - KSU accepts paper, cardboard, aluminum cans, glass drink bottles, batteries, and plastics #s 1 - 7

Steps to reduce waste

- Make industrial practices more efficient - Minimize packaging of products - purchase "green" consumer products - reuse items - recycle items - compost materials at home - adopt municipal composting

Organizations assist campus efforts

- Many campus sustainability efforts are supported by outside organizations, such as the Campus Ecology program of the National Wildlife Federation. - This program has hundreds of case studies of sustainability initiatives on its website. - Conferences such as the Greening of the Campus at Ball State University provide students, faculty, and administration an opportunity to network and share ideas.

Events and competitions make campus efforts fun slide 24 (map of more e.g.s)

- Many campuses use festive events and competitions to encourage sustainability. 1) The University of Texas at Austin runs an annual "Trash to Treasure" program where items discarded by departing students are collected and resold at low prices to newly arriving students the next semester. 2) Hamilton College runs a similar program, which has reduced its landfill waste by about 28%. 3) Recyclemania provides a competition to challenge hundreds of colleges to improve their recycling rates. 4) Williams College in Massachusetts has an "Do It in the Dark" competition that has reduced energy use by 13%. 5) The U.S. Department of Energy organizes a Solar Decathlon that has students travel to the National Mall to build solar-powered homes they designed.

Organic compounds and heavy metals pose hazards

- Many synthetic organic compounds are toxic because they are readily absorbed through the skin and can act as mutagens, carcinogens, teratogens, and endocrine disruptors. - They are also persistent, meaning they do not break down easily. - Heavy metals like lead and mercury are fat soluble and break down slowly, making them prone to bioaccumulate and biomagnify.

We can gain energy from trash

- Most incinerators now are waste-to-energy (WTE) facilities, which use the heat produced by waste combustion to boil water, creating steam that drives electricity generation or that fuels heating systems. - Waste generates about 35% as much energy as burning coal. - Inside landfills, bacteria decompose waste and produce landfill gas, a mix of gases that is about 50% methane. - This can also be collected, processed, and used as a source of energy. - Because methane can be captured from landfills, it can be burned to produce electricity, heat buildings, or power garbage trucks.

Reducing waste is our best option

- Packaging is a major source of waste that can be easily reduced. - Consumers can buy unwrapped produce, or buy food in bulk - Manufacturers can switch to packaging that is recyclable, or reduce the size and weight of their containers. - Some governments are beginning to tax and restrict the use of plastic shopping bags, because the persist for so long and are often littered.

Steps preceding disposal of hazardous waste

- Prior to the Love Canal disaster in the 1970s, hazardous waste was discarded without special treatment. - Under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the EPA sets standards by which states manage hazardous waste. - Hazardous waste must be tracked "cradle to grave" and collected at special sites or facilities. - Facilities that generate, transport, or dispose of hazardous waste must report to the EPA the type and amount of material generated; its location, origin, and destination; and the way it is handled. - This creates high disposal COSTS, which results in some companies illegally dumping the waste or exporting it to developing countries.

Radioactive waste is especially hazardous

- Radioactive waste is dangerous to human health and is persistent in the environment. - The United States has no designated site for disposal if Yucca Mountain in Nevada is removed from consideration. - Waste is currently held in temporary storage in nuclear power plants across the country. - Military nuclear waste is stored in an underground salt formation in New Mexico that is believed to be geologically stable.

We can recycle materials from landfills

- Steel, aluminum, copper, and other metals are abundant enough in some landfills to make salvage operations profitable when market prices for the metals are high enough. - Organic waste from landfills could be mined and composted. - Older landfill waste could also be incinerated in WTE facilities to produce energy.

Sustainability on Campus Slide 4 (Graph % of schools undertaking efforts)

- Sustainability means living in a way that can be lived far into the future. - Many colleges and universities are making efforts to promote sustainable practices.

Strategies for Sustainability

- Sustainable development was defined by the United Nations as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." - This requires meeting the triple bottom line of environmental protection, economic well-being, and social justice.

Regulation and economics influence industrial waste generation

- The FEDERAL government regulates MUNICIPAL solid waste. - STATE and LOCAL governments regulate INDUSTRIAL solid waste, which generally has less strict regulations than those for municipal solid waste. - Industry bases most of its practices on economic efficiency instead of physical efficiency, where less waste is produced per product.

Cradle to grave

- The linear movement of products from their manufacture to their disposal is often described as "cradle-to-grave." - The new cradle-to-cradle approach requires that materials from products are recovered and reused to create new products. - Recycling and composting (converting organic waste to mulch or humus through natural decomposition) are important parts to this, and are similar to the natural cycling of matter in ecosystems. - These are each considered recovery, because they remove waste from the waste stream.

Recycling has grown rapidly Slide 3: graph (total amount recovered/ recovery rate)

- Various programs and efforts have increased recycling rates in the United States from 6.4% of the waste stream in 1960 to 25.5% in 2013. - One example is "trash audits" where trashcans are emptied and recyclable materials are removed.

Consumption leads to waste graph slide 15, 17 (Total waste generation, Per capita waste generation) (U.S. municipal solid waste)

- Waste generation has nearly tripled in the United States since 1960, reflective of the increase in excess packaging and nondurable goods. - In developing nations, waste production and consumption both tend to increase as individuals become more affluent. - Many poor people in these countries support themselves by scavenging and selling items from dumps. - Developed countries have improved their waste collection and disposal, and the proportion of waste going to landfills has declined. - This corresponds to an increase in recycling and composting.

waste picture waste water cleaned camera roll

- Waste refers to any unwanted material or substance that results from a human activity or process. - Waste is divided into several categories: 1) Municipal solid waste is non-liquid waste that comes from homes, institutions, and small businesses. 2) Industrial solid waste includes waste from production of consumer goods, mining, agriculture, and petroleum extraction and refining. 3) Hazardous waste refers to solid or liquid waste that is toxic, chemically reactive, flammable, or corrosive. (light bulbs, paint, batteries, ... ) 4) Wastewater is water we use that we drain or flush.

E-waste has grown

1) Cathode ray tubes (used in TVs, computer monitors, ATM, video cameras) - process used: breaking and removal of yoke, then dumping - potential environmental hazard: lead, barium and other heavy metals leaching into the ground water and release of toxic phosphor 2) Printed circuit board (image behind table - thin plate on which chips and other electronic chips components are placed) - de-soldering and removal of computer chips; oven burning and acid baths to remove final metals after caps are removed - air emissions as well as discharge into rivers of glass dust, tin, lead, brominates dioxin, beryllium, cadmium, and mercury 3) Chips and other gold plated components - chemical stripping using nitric and hydrochloric acid and burning of chips - Hydrocarbons, heavy metals, brominates-substances discharged directly into rivers acidifying fish and flora. Tin and lead contamination off surface and groundwater. Air emissions of brominates dioxins, heavy metals and hydrocarbons 4) Plastics from printers, keyboards, monitors, etc. - Shredding and low temp melting to be reused - Emissions of brominates dioxins, heavy metals and hydrocarbons 5) Computer wires - Open burning and stripping to remove copper - Hydrocarbon ashes released into air, water, and soil

Major sources and their agroecological consequences

1) Natural = natural rocks, volcanic eruption, wind blown dust particle, sea spry, aerosols 2) Agriculture = inorganic fertilizer, pesticide, sewage sludge and fly ash, waste water, fungicides 3) Industrial = industrial waste, thermal power, coal and crude ore mining industries, chemical industry, various refineries 4) Domestic = e-waste, used batteries, inorganic and organic waste, used filters, biomass burning 5) Miscellaneous = incineration, open dumps, traffic and other emission, landfills, medical waste ---> gas/ liquid/ solid discharge of heavy metals from sources ---> direct pollution - soil contamination & indirect pollution - water and air contamination ---> Agroecological Consequences: 1) Soil Health - reduced soil fertility - modified microbial population and processes - modified carbon mineralization - anomalous nitrogen transformation 2) Plant Performance - induced oxidative damage - anomalous genetic behavior - modification of signaling and biosynthetic pathways - abnormal reproductive response

synthetic organic compounds

1) Plastics e.g. Poly (ethene) Perspex = For packaging, plastic bags, as a substitute for glass 2) Medicines and Drugs e.g. Tranquilizer, Analgesic, Bactericide = To treat tropical diseases such as Trypanosomiasis or Sleeping Illness and Malaria 3) Pesticides e.g. Dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane (DDT) = To kill houseflies and other insects 4) Dyes e.g. Methylene blue = Give color to the material

3 disposal methods for hazardous waste

1) Surface impoundments are shallow depressions lined with plastic and an impervious material that are used to store liquid hazardous waste. - The water evaporates from the waste, leaving a solid residue that is removed and transported for permanent disposal. 2) Deep-well injections drill deep beneath the water table into porous rock, and wastes are injected into it. - Wells pose risks; they can corrode and can leak wastes into soil, contaminating aquifers, and deep-well injection may induce earthquakes.

How to remove heavy metals from your body

1) drink enough water 2) wat fermented foods (probiotic yogurt, kefir drinks, tempeh, pickled cucumbers) 3) increase intake of polyphenols (star anise, cloves, dark chocolate, green tea) 4) consume sulfur-rich foods (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, spinach, onion) 5) Consume milk thistle

A Mania for Recycling on Campus

= Recycle-mania is a competition that pits educational institutions against one another. 1) Loyola Marymount was Grand Champion in 2019, recycling 89 percent of its waste. 2) U of Tenn Chattanooga, had the least waste generated per capita, at 0.157 pounds per person. 3) Rutgers University in Los Angeles had the most recyclables per capita, 15.103 pounds per student. 4) Rutgers University had the highest weight of items recycled, 2,575,135.00 pounds. - Recycling reduces pollution from the mining of new resources and the manufacture of new goods. e.g. Recyclemania prevented the release of more than 99,000 tons of carbon dioxide. - Similar competitions, such as the Campus Conservation Nationals, has schools compete in other ways, such as savings in water use and energy use. - Programs like this have made recycling the most widespread activity among campus sustainability efforts. - colleges one of best at recycling. attack the youth. college off on own, teach them about recycling

Best and Worst States

BEST = San Francisco: - Has a strict recycling program including pay-as-you- throw on non-recyclable garbage. - 80% success rate. By far the number one city. - The greenest city in the US and has a goal of zero-waste by 2020. WORST = Oklahoma City: - Only 3% of its waste being recycled - Very expensive fees to have curbside pick up

LEED

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a rating system devised by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) to evaluate the environmental performance of a building and encourage market transformation towards sustainable design. - Building projects earn LEED certification and points for satisfying prerequisites within each of the LEED categories: - Sustainable Sites (SS), Water Efficiency (WE), Energy and Atmosphere (EA), Materials and Resources (MR) and Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) - The number of points the project earns determines the level of LEED Certification the project receives: 1) Certified: 40-49 points 2) Silver: 50-59 points 3) Gold: 60-79 points 4) Platinum: 80 points and above

How many Buildings at KSU are LEED certified?

Prillaman Hall Science Lab Addition Social Sciences The Commons Dining Hall --> 4- - The KSU Commons Dining Hall is a nationally acclaimed model of sustainability - It has energy and water-conserving features, all food wastes are composted, and oil waste is sold as a biodiesel source

Economics of recycling are complex Slide 4: map (recycling rates per state) best city San Francisco second worst Chicago

Recycling rates vary greatly from one material to another - Material & % recycled for composted - Lead-acid batteries & 99% - Steel cans & 71% - Newspapers & 67% - Paper and paperboard & 63% - Yard Trimmings & 60% - Aluminum cans & 55% - Tires & 41% - Glass containers & 34% - Total plastics & 9% - Low commodity prices can pose a challenge to recycling programs. - When world oil prices are low, buying new plastic may be cheaper than recycled plastic. - When market prices of metals are low, newly mined metals can be cheaper than recycled ones. - These market prices do not reflect external costs of not recycling, such as increased greenhouse gas emissions. Material & Weight recovered (tons) & = # of cars taken off road - Paper and paperboard & 43 & 31,000,000 - Metals & 7.9 & 4,500,000 - Textiles & 2.3 & 1,200,000 - Wood & 2.5 & 798,000 - Plastics & 3 & 760,000 - Food & 1.8 & 308,000 - Yard trimmings & 20.6 & 220,000 - Glass & 3.2 & 210,000 - Rubber and leather & 1.2 & 127,000