AP Enviro --- Chapter 22

waste stream

there are several ways to reduce the amount of waste that entered the waste stream, the flow of waste as it moves from its sources toward disposal destinations

We have several aims in managing waste

- Waste can degrade water quality, and air quality, thereby degrading human health and environment - waste is a measure of inefficiency, so reducing waste can potentially save money and resources - waste is unpleasant aesthetically - reusing goods you already own, purchasing used items, and donating your used items for others help reduce the amount go material entering the waste stream - consumers can buy fewer goods, buy goods w/ less packaging, and use those goods longer

Businesses are adopting industrial ecology

- attentive businesses are taking advantage of the insights of the industrial ecology to save money while reducing waste - few businesses have taken industrial ecology to heart as much as the carpet tile company Interface - for businesses, governments, and individuals alike, there are plenty of ways to reduce waste and mitigate the impacts of our waste generation — brings economic benefits

Landfills can produce gas for energy

- Deep inside landfills, bacteria decompose waste in an oxygen-deficient environment — produces landfill gas, a mix of gases consisting of roughly half methane — can be collected, processed, and used in the same way as natural gas - today hundreds of landfills in the U.S. and other nations are collecting landfill gas and selling it for energy - some governments have recently taken aim at a major source of waste and litter — plastic grocery bags — can persist for centuries in the environment, choking and entailing wildlife and littering the landscape — a number of major cities have now enacted bans and limits their use — financial incentives are also effective - increasing the longevity of goods helps reduce waste — consumers generally choose goods that last longer, all else being equal - to maximize sales, companies often produce short-lived goods that need to be replaced frequently — thus, increasing the longevity of goods is largely up to the consumer

One Canadian city showcases reduction and recycling

- Edmonton, Alberta has created one of the world's most advanced waste management programs - just 40% of the city's water stream goes to its sanitary landfill, whereas 15% is recycled and 45% is composted - when edmonton's residents put out their trash, city trucks take it to their new co-composting plant — the waste is dumped on the floor of the facility, and large items are removed and landfilled - the bulk of the waste is mixed w/ dried sewage sludge for 1-2 days in five large rotating drums - the resulting mix travels on a conveyor to a screen that removes non-biodegradable items - it is aerated for several weeks in the largest stainless steel building in North America - the mix is then passed through a finer screen and finally is left outside for 4-6 months - the resulting composted is made available to area farmers and residents - the facility even filters the air it emits w/ a layer of compost, bark, and wood chips to eliminate odors - edmonton's program includes a state-of-the-art MRF that handles tons of waste annually, a leachate treatment plant, a research center, public education programs, and a wetland and landfill revegetation program - in addition, 100 pipes collect enough landfill gas to power homes, bringing thousands of dollars to the city and helping power the new waste management center - edmonton has built a new integrated processing and transfer facilities to handle both compostable and recyclable waste from homes and businesses, and the city will soon complete a biofuels facility to create ethanol from waste that cannot be recycled or composted

Radioactive waste is especially hazardous

- radioactive waste is dangerous to human health and is persistent in the environment - the dilemma of disposal has dogged the nuclear energy industry and the U.S. military for decades - waste will continue to accumulate at the many nuclear power plants spread through the nation

by EPA definition, hazardous waste is waste that is one of the following:

- Ignitable: Substances that easily catch fire (gas or alcohol) - Corrosive: Substances that corrode metals in storage tanks or equipment - Reactive: Substances that are chemically unstable and readily react w/ other compounds, often explosively or by producing noxious fumes - Toxic: Substances that harm human health when they are inhaled, are ingested, or contact human skin

More consumption creates more waste

- In the U.S. since 1960, waste generation has increased by 2.8 times, and per capita waste generation has risen by 67% - the intensive consumption that has long characterized the U.S. and other wealthy nations is now spreading radially in developing nations as they become more affluent, and these actions are now creating increasing amounts of waste - the increase in waste reflects rising material standards of living — also results from an increase in packaging, manufacturing of nondurable goods, and production of inexpensive, poor-quality goods that wheat out quickly — in result, trash is piling up and littering the landscapes of countries - In many industrialized nations, per capita generation tastes have leveled off or decline in recent years — this leveling off is due to source reduction and reuse especially by businesses — moreover, increased recycling and composting has reduced the amount of waste we need to dispose of

Hazardous wastes are diverse

- Industry, mining, households, small businesses, agriculture, utilities, and building demolition all create hazardous waste - Industry produces the largest amounts of hazardous waste, but in most developed nations industrial waste generation and disposal is highly regulated — has reduced the amount of hazardous waste entering the environment from industrial activities - household hazardous waste includes a wide range of items, such as paints, batteries, oils, solvents, cleaning agents, lubricants, and pesticides - although many hazardous substances become less hazardous over time as they degrade chemically, two classes of chemicals are particularly hazardous b/c their toxicity persists over time: organic compounds and heavy metals

surface impoundments

- Liquid hazardous waste, or waste in dissolved form, may be stored in ponds (surface impoundments) - shawls depression lined w/ plastic and an impervious material, such as clay - water containing dilute hazardous waste is placed in the pond and allowed to evaporate, leaving a residue of solid hazardous waste on the bottom - this process is repeated until the dry material is removed and transported elsewhere for permanent disposal - impoundments are not ideal!!! - the underlying layer can crack and leak waste - some material may evaporate or blow into surrounding areas - rainstorms may cause waste to overflow and contaminate nearby areas - surface impoundments are use only for temporary storage

Reducing waste is a better option

- Reducing the amy of material entering the waste stream avoids costs of disposal and recycling, helps conserve resources, minimizes pollution, and can often save consumers and businesses money - much of our waste stream consists of materials used to package goods - packaging serves worthwhile purposes — reversing freshness, preventing breakage, protecting against tampering, and providing information — but much packaging is extraneous - consumers can give manufacturers incentive to reduce packaging by choosing minimally packaged goods, buying unwrapped fruit and vegetables, and buying food in bulk - they can also reduce the size or weight of goods and materials, as they already have w/ many items - some governments have recently taken aim at a major source of waste and litter — plastic grocery bags — these lightweight bad can persists for centuries in the environment, choking and entangling wildlife and littering the landscape; a number of major cities and over 20 nations have now enacted bans or limits on their use - financial incentives are also effective — increasing numbers of stores now give discounts if you bring your own usable bags - increasing the longevity of goods also helps reduce waste; consumers generally choose goods that last longer, all else being equal — to maximize sales companies often produce short-lived goods that need to be replaced frequently — increasing the longevity of goods is largely up the consumer

We can recycle materials from landfills

- W/ improved technology for sorting rubbish and recyclables, many businesses and entrepreneurs are weighing the economic benefits and costs of rummaging through landfills and salvaging materials of value that can be recycled - steel, aluminum, copper, and other metals are abundant enough in some landfills to make such salvage operations profitable when market prices for the metals are high enough - besides metals, landfills offer organic waste that can be mined and sold as premium compost - Old landfill waste can be incinerated in newer, cleaner-burning WTE facilities to produce energy - some companies are looking into gaining carbon credits by harvesting methane lacking form huge open dumps in developing nations in Asia and Africa - such approaches have been tried in places and they can be profitable when market prices are high enough — however, the costs of mining landfills and meeting regulatory requirements while commodity prices change unpredictably have meant that investing in landfill mining has been risky so far — could change if prices rise and technologies improve

Composting recovers organic waste

- composting is the conversion of organic waste into mulch or humus through natural decomposition - the compost can then be used to enrich soil - people can place waste in compost piles, underground pits, or specially constructed containers - as wastes are added, heat form microbial action builds in the interior, and decomposition proceeds - home composting is a prime example of how we can live more sustainable by mimicking natural cycles and incorporating them into our daily lives - municipal divert food and yard waste from the waste stream to central composting facilities, where they decomposes into mulch that community resident can use for gardens and landscaping - composting reduced landfill waste, enriches soil and enhances soil biodiversity, helps soil resist erosion, makes for healthier plants and more pleasing gardens, and reduces the need for chemical fertilizers

"E-Waste" is growing

- computers, printers, cell phones, handheld devices, TVs, DVD players, fax machines, MP3 players, and other electronic technology has created a substantial new source of waste - these products have short lifetimes before people judge them obsolete and most are discarded after only a few years — the amount o this electronic waste — E-Waste is growing rapidly - Of these, half have been disposed of, about 40% are still begin used, and 10% are in storage - of the electronic items we discard, roughly four of five go to landfills and incinerators, where they have traditionally been treated as conventional solid waste — but, most electronic products contain heavy metals and toxic flame retardants, and recent research suggest that e-waste should instead be treated as hazardous waste - the EPA and a number of states are now taking steps to keep e-waste out of conventional sanitary landfills and incinerators and instead treat it as hazardous waste - more and more e-waste today is being recycled — the devices are taken apart, and parts and materials are refurbished and reused in new products — but, so many more items have been manufactured each year that the amount of e-waste we sent to landfills and incinerators in that time period increased by a greater amount - besides keeping toxic substances out of our environment, e-waste recycling is beneficial b/c a number of trace metals used in electronics are globally rare, so they can be lucrative to recover - every bit of metal we can recycle from a manufactured item is bit of metal we don't need to mien form the ground, so "mining" e-waste for precious metals helps reduce the environmental impacts that mining exerts - there are serious concerns about the health risks that recycling may pose to workers doing the disassembly — wealthy nations ship much of their e-waste to developing countries, where low-income workers disassemble the devices and handle toxic materials w/ minimal safety regulations — these environmental justice concerns need to be resolved, but if electronic recycling can be done responsibly, it seems likely to be the way of the future - in many north american cities, used electronic tare collected by businesses, nonprofit organizations, or municipals services, and are processed for reuse or recycling

landfills

- design and construction standards for landfills that receive hazardous waste are stricter than those for ordinary sanitary landfills - hazardous waste landfills must have several impervious liners and leachate removal systems and must be located far from quivers - dumping hazardous waste in ordinary landfills has long been a problem

Several steps precede the disposal of hazardous waste

- for many years we discarded hazardous waste w/o special treatment - in many cases, people did not know that certain substances were harmful to human health - in other case, the danger posed by these substances was known or suspected, but it was assumed that the substances would disappear or be sufficiently diluted in the environment - many communities have designated sites or special collection days to gather household hazardous waste, or have designated facilities for the exchange and reuse of substances — once consolidated in such sites, the waste is transported for treatment and ultimate disposal - Under RCRA, the EPA sets standards by which states are to manage hazard waste — also requires large generators of hazardous waste to obtain permits and mandates that hazard materials be tracked "from cradle to grave". - As hazardous waste is generated, transported, and deposed of, the producer, carrier, and disposal facility must each report to the EPA the type and amount of material generated; its location, origin, and destination; and the way it is being handled — intended to prevent illegal dumping and to encourage the use of reputable waste carrier and disposal facilities - b/c current U.S. law makes disposing of hazardous waste quite costly, irresponsible companies sometimes illegally dup waste, creating health risks for residents and financial headaches for local governments forced to deal w/ the mess - hazardous waste from industrialized nations is sometimes dumped illegally in developing nations — a major environmental justice issue — occurs despite the Basel Convention, an international treaty to prevent this practice - high costs of disposal have also encouraged conscientious businesses to invest in reducing their hazardous waste - many biologically hazardous materials can be broken down by incineration at high temperatures in cement kilns - some hazardous materials can be treated by exposure to bacteria that break down harmful components and synthesize them into new components - various plants have been bred or engineered to take up specific contaminants from soil and then break down organic contaminants into safer compounds or concentrate heavy metals in their tissues

Open during of the past has given way to improve disposal methods

- historically, people dumped their garbage wherever it suited them - as population densities increased, municipalities took on the task of consolidating trash into open dumps at specified locations to keep other areas clean - to decrease the volume trash, these dumps would e burned from time to time - open during and burning still occur throughout much of the world - as population and consumption rose in developed nations, waste increased, and dumps grew larger - at the same time, expanding cities and suburbs forced more people into the vicinity of dumps and exposed them to the noxious smoke of dump burning - many nations improved their methods of waste disposal — most industrialized nations now bury waste in lined and covered landfills and burn waste in incineration facilities

We can gain energy from incineration

- incineration was initially practiced simply to reduce the volume of waste, but today it often serves to generate electricity as well - most North Americans incinerators now are waste-to-energy (WTE) facilities that use the heat produced by waste combustion to boil water, creating steam the drives electricity generation or that fuels heating systems - revenues from power generation are usually not enough to offset the considerable financial cost of building and running incinerators — b/c it can take many years for a WTE facility to become profitable, many companies that build and operate these facilities require communities contracting w/ them to guarantee the facility a minimum amount of garbage

Deep-well injection

- intended for long-term disposal - a well is drilled deep beneath the water table into porous rock, and wastes are injected into it - the waste is meant to remain deep underground, isolated from groundwater and human contact - but, wells can corrode and can leak wastes into soil, contaminating aquifers

Incineration

- is a controlled process in which mixed garbage is burned at very high temperatures - at incineration facilities, waste is generally sorted and metals removed - metal-free waste is chopped into small pieces to aid combustion and then is burned in a furnace - incinerating waste reduces its weight by up to 75% and its volume by up to 90% - the ash remaining after trash is incinerated contains toxic components and therefore must be disposed of in hazardous waste landfills - when trash is burned, hazardous chemicals can be created and released into the atmosphere — caused a backlash against incineration from citizens concerned about health hazards - most developed nations now regulate incinerator emissions, and some have banned incineration outright - engineers have developed technologies to mitigate emissions - scrubbers chemically treat the gases produced in combustion to remove hazardous components and neutralize acidic gases turning them into water and salt — generally do this either by spraying liquids formulated to neutralize the gases or by passing the gases through dry line - particulate matter is physically removed from incinerator emission in a system of huge filters known as a bag-house - these tiny particles often contain some of the worst dioxin and heavy metal pollutants - burning garbage at especially high temperatures can destroy certain pollutants

We have three disposal methods for hazardous waste

- landfills - surface impoundments - deep-well injection

Landfills have drawbacks

- liners can be punctured, and leachate collection systems eventually crease to be maintained - landfills are kept dry to reduce leachate, but the bacteria that break down material thrive in wet conditions - dryness slows waste decomposition - hard finding suitable areas to locate landfills — b/c most communities dow not want them — landfills are rarely sited in neighborhoods that re home to wealthy and educated people w/ the political clout to keep them out — instead, they are disproportionately sited in poor and minority communities - the unwillingness of most communities to accept waste became apparent w/ the framed case of the "garbage barge"

Landfills can be transformed after closure

- many landfills lie abandoned — b/c waste managers have closed many smaller landfills and consolidated the trash stream into fewer, much larger, landfills - growing numbers of cities have converted closed landfills into public parks

Contaminated sites are being cleaned up, slowly

- many thousands of former military and industrial sites remain contaminated w/ hazardous waste in the U.S. and virtually every other nations on earth - for most nations, dealing w/ these messes is simply too difficult, time-consuming and expensive - in 1980, the U.S. Congress passed Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) — established a federal program to clean up U.S. sites polluted w/ hazardous waste from past activities - the EPA administers this clean up program, called the Superfund - under EPA auspices, experts identify sites polled w/ hazardous chemicals, take action to protect groundwater near these sites and clean up the pollution — later laws also charge the EPA w/ cleaning up brownfield, lands whose reuse or development are complicated by the presence of hazardous materials - once a Superfund site is identified, EPA scientists evaluate how close the site is to human habitation, whiter wastes are currently confined or likely to spread, and whether the site threatens drinking water supplies - sites that appear harmful are placed on the EPA's National Priority List, ranked according to the level of risk to human health that they pose - Cleanup proceeds on a site-by-site basis as funds are available - throughout the process, the EPA is required to hold public hearing to inform area residents of its findings and to receive feedback - The objective of CERCLA was to charge the polluting parties for cleanup of their sites, according to the polluter-pays principle — for many sites, the responsible parties cannot be found or held liable, and in such cases, roughly one of four so far — superfund activities have been covered by taxpayers' funds and form a trust fund established by a federal tax on industries producing petroleum and chemical raw materials — but congress let the tax expire, the trust fund went bankrupt in 2004, and neither the president nor Congress has moved to restore it — so taxpayers are now shouldering the entire burden of the program — as funding dwindles and the remaining cleanup jobs become more expensive, fewer cleanups are being completed - As of mid-2010, 1,277 Superfund sites remained on the National Priorities List, and only 343 have been cleaned up or otherwise deleted from the list - the average cleanup has cost over $25 million and has taken nearly 15 years - many sites are contaminated w/ hazardous chemicals we have no effective way to deal w/ - in such cases, cleanups simply involve trying to isolate waste from human contact, either by building trenches and clay or concrete barrier around a site or by excavating contaminated material, placing it in industrial strength containers, and shipping it to a hazardous waste disposal facility

There are three main components of waste management

- minimizing the amount of waste we generate - recovering waste materials and finding ways to recycle them - disposing of waste safely and effectively - AKA Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!!!!

Regulation and economics each influence industrial waste generation

- most methods and strategies of waste disposal, reduction, and recycling by industry are similar to those for municipal solid waste - businesses that manage their own waste on site generally dispose of it in landfills, and companies must design and manage their landfills in ways that meet state, local, or tribal guidelines - other businesses pay to have their waste disposed of at municipal disposal sites - regulation varies greatly from state to state and area to area, but in most cases, state and local regulation of industrial solid waste is less strict than federal regulation of municipal solid waste - in many areas, industries are not required to have permits, install liners or leachate collection systems, or monitor groundwater for contamination - the amount of waste generated by a manufacturing process is good measure of its efficiency - the less waste produced, the more efficient that process is, from a physical standpoint - but, physical efficiency is not always reflected in economic efficiency — it is cheaper for industry to manufacture its products or perform its services quickly but messily - that is, it can be cheaper to generate waste than to avoid generating waste - economic efficiency is maximized, but physical efficiency is not - b/c our market system award only economic efficiency, all to often industry has not financial incentive to achieve physical efficiency - the frequent mismatch b/w these two types of efficiency is major reason why the output of industrial waste is so great - rising costs of waste disposal enhance the financial incentive to decrease waste and increase physical efficiency - one wither government or the market makes the physically efficient use of raw materials economically efficient, businesses have financial incentives to reduce their own waste

Recycling and Composting

- not concepts that people invented - there will likely always be some waste left to dispose of - disposal methods include burying waste in landfills and burning waste in incinerators - waste managers attempt to find disposal methods that minimize impact to human health and environmental quality

Municipal solid wate

- produced by consumers, public facilities, and small businesses - most municipal solid waste comes from packaging and nondurable goods

Recycling consists of three steps

- recycling involves collection used material and breaking them down so that they can be reprocess to manufacture new items - first: collecting and processing used goods and materials; communities may designate locations where residents can drop off recyclables or receive money for them == many of these have now been replaced by the more convenient option of curbside recycling - second: items collected are taken to materials recovery facilities, where workers and machines sort items, using automated processes including magnetic pulleys, optical sensors, water currents, and air classifiers that separate items by weight and size — the facilities clean the materials, shred them, and prepare them for reprocessing - third: these materials are used in manufacturing new goods - if the recycling loops is to function, consumers and businesses must complete the thirds steps in the cycle by purchasing products made form recycled materials; buying recycled good provides economic inventive for industries to recycle materials and for new recycling facilities to open or existing ones to expand — in this arena, individual consumers have power to encourage environmentally friendly options through the free market — many businesses now advertise their use of recycled materials, a widespread instance of eco-labeling

Industrial Solid Waste

- solid waste that is considered neither municipal solid waste nor hazardous waste under the Resource Conversation and Recovery Act - local governments regular industrial solid waste (w/ federal guidance) - includes waste from factories, mining activities, agriculture, petroleum extraction - generated at various points along the process from raw materials extraction to manufacturing to sale and distribution

Recovery

- the next-best strategy in waste management is recovery, which consists of recovering or removing waste form the waste stream - recovering includes both recycling and composting

Recycling has grown rapidly and can expand further

- the thousands of curbside recycling programs and the 500 MRFs in operation today have sprung up only in the last 25 years - recycling rates vary greatly from one product or material type to another and from one location to another - rates for different types of material and products range from nearly zero to almost 100% - recycling's growth has been propelled in part by economic forces as established businesses see opportunities to save money and as entrepreneurs see opportunities to start new businesses - it has been drive by the desire of municipalities to reduce waste an day the satisfaction people take in recycling - these latter two forces have driven the rise of recycling even when it has not been financially profitable — many of the increasingly popular municipal recycling programs are runs at an economic loss - the expense required to collect, sort, and process recycled goods is often more than recyclables are worth in the market - the more people recycle, the more glass, paper, and plastic is available to manufacturers for purchase, driving down prices — and transporting items to recycling facilities can sometimes involve surprisingly long distances - recycling advocates point out that market prices do not take into account external costs — in particular, the environmental and health impacts of not recycling - as more manufacturers use recycled products and as more technologies and methods are developed to use recycled materials in new ways, markets should continue to expand, and new business opportunities may arise.

Industrial ecology seeks to make industry more sustainable

- to reduce waste, growing numbers of industry today are experimenting w/ industrial ecology - a holistic approach that integrate principles from engineering, chemistry, ecology, and economics, industrial ecology seeks to redesign industry systems to reduce resource inputs and to maximize both physical and economic efficiency - industrial ecologists would reshape industry so that nearly everything produced in manufacturing process is used, either within that process or in a different one - the larger idea behind industrial ecology is that industrial systems should function more like ecological systems, in which almost everything produced is used by some organism, w/ very little being wasted — this principle brings industry closer to the ideal of ecological economists, in which human economies attain sustainability by functioning in a circler fashion rather than linear one - industrial ecologist pursue their goals in several ways: they examine the entire life cycle of a given product — from its origins in raw material, through its manufacturing, to its use, and to its disposal — look for ways to make the process for efficient; life-cycle analysis - industrial ecologists try to identify how waste products from one manufacturing process might be used as raw materials for a different process - industrial ecologists examine industrial processes w/ an eye toward eliminating environmentally harmful products and materials - they study the flow of materials through industrial systems to look for ways to create products are more durable, recyclable, or reusable

Reuse is a main strategy to reduce waste

- to reduce waste, you can save items to use again or substitute disposable goods w/ durable ones - habits as simple as brining your own offer cup to coffee shops or brining sturdy reusable cloth bags to the grocery store can, over time, have substantial impact - you can donate unwanted items and ship for used items yourself at yard sales and resale centers

Sanitary landfills

- waste is buried in the ground or piled up in large, carefully engineered mounds - are designed to prevent waste from contaminating the environment and treating public health - most municipal landfills in the U.S are regulated locally or by the states, but they myst meet national standards set by the EPA, under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), enacted in 1976 and amended in 1984 - in sanitary landfill, waste is partially decomposed by bacteria and compresses under its own weight to take up less space; soil is layered along w/ the waste to speed decomposition, reduce odor, and lessen infestation by pests; some infiltration of rainwater into the landfill is good, b/c it encourages biodegradation by aerobic and anaerobic bacteria - to protect against environmental contamination, U.S. regulations require that landfills be located away from wetlands and earthquake-prone faults and be at least 6 meters above the water table - the bottoms and sides of sanitary landfills must be lined w/ heavy-duty plastic and 60-120 cm of impermeable clay to help prevent contaminants from seeping into aquifers - sanitary landfills have systems of pipes, collection ponds, and treatment facilities to collect and treat leachate, liquid that results when substances from the trash dissolve in water as rainwater percolates downward - landfill manager are required to maintain leachate collection systems for 30 years after a landfill has closed - regulations require that area groundwater be monitored regularly for contamination - once a landfill is closed, it is capped w/ an engineered cover that must be maintained - this cap consisted of a hydraulic barrier of plastic, which prevents water from seeping down and gas from seeping up; a gravel layer above the hydraulic barrier, which drains water, lessening pressure on the hydraulic barrier; a soil barrier which stores water and protected the hydraulic layer from weather extremes; and a topsoil layer which encourages plant growth to minimize erosion - the Fresh Kills Landfill predated most of the EPA guidelines — it caused some environmental contamination — however, engineers have retrofitted the landfill w/ clay liners and a sophisticated leachate collection system — three of the sic mounds have been capped w/ a "final cover", and the remaining mounds will soon be capped

Financial incentives can help address waste

- waste managers have employed economic incentives to reduce the waste stream - the "pay-as-you-throw" approach to garbage collection uses a financial incentive to influence consumer behavior — in these programs, municipalities charge residents for home trash pickup according to the amount of trash they put out — the less waste the household generates, the less the resident has to pay - Bottle bills represent an approach that hinges on financial incentive — eleven U.S. states have these laws, which allow consumers to return bottles and cans to stores after use and receive a refund — generally 5 cents per bottle or can - the first bottle bills were passed to cut down on litter, but they have served to decrease the waste stream - in states where they have been enacted, these laws have proved effective and popular; they are recognized as among the most successful state legislation of recent decades - states w/ bottle bills have reported that their beverage container litter has decreased, their total litter has decreased, and their per capita container recycling rates have risen - it was a testament to the lobbying influence of the beverage industries and grocery retailers, which have traditionally opposed passage of bottle bills, that more states do not have such legislation - states w/ bills now face 2 challenges: one is to amend these laws to include new kinds of containers; the second is to adjust refunds for inflation

Organic compounds and heavy metals can be hazardous

- we rely on the capacity of synthetic organic compounds and petroleum-derived compounds to resist bacterial, fungal, and insect activity - items such as plastic containers, rubber tires, pesticides, solvents, and wood preservatives are useful to us precisely b/c they resist decomposition - we use these substances to protect our buildings from decay, kill pests that attack crops, and keep stored foods intact — the resistance of these compounds to decry is a double-edged sword, for it also make them persistent pollutants - many synthetic organic compounds are toxic b/c they can be readily absorbed through the skin and can act as mutagens, carcinogens, teratogens, and endocrine disruptors - heavy metals are used widely in industry for wiring, electronics, metal plating, metal fabrication, pigments, and dyes - heavy metals enter the environment when pains, electronic devices, batteries, and other materials are disposed of improperly - lead has accumulated in many rivers, lakes, and forests - in older homes, lead from pipes contaminates drinking water, and lead pain remains a problem - heavy metals that are fat-soluble and break down slowly are prone to bioaccumulate and biomagnify

source reduction

Minimizing waste at its source — called source reduction — is the preferred approach

Hazardous Waste

diverse in their chemical composition and maybe liquid, solid, or gaseous

Industrial Solid waste

includes waste from production of consumer goods, mining, agriculture, and petroleum extraction and refining

Composting

is the practice of recovering organic waste, by converting it into mulch or humus through natural biological processes of decomposition

Recycling

is the process of collecting used goods and sending them to facilities that extract and reprocess raw materials that can then be used to manufacture new goods

Municipal solid waste

non liquid waste that come from homes, institutions, and small businesses

Waste

refers to any unwanted material or substance that results from a human activity or purpose

Hazardous waste

refers to solid or liquid waste that it toxic, chemically reactive, flammable, or corrosive

waste-water

waste we use in our households, businesses, industries, or public facilities and drain or flush down our pipes, as well as the polluted runoff from our streets and storm drains