Mining & Solid Waste Quest

The materials revolution ____.

substitutes silicon and other materials for metals

The world's largest producer of municipal solid waste (MSW) is ____.

the United States

Of the 20 key nonrenewable mineral resources it needs, what percentage does the U.S. import?

100%

The U.N. International Seabed Authority began issuing seabed mining permits in what year?

2011

According to the USGS, each person in the United States uses an average of how many metric tons of mineral resources each year?

22

The recycling and composting rate of U.S. municipal solid waste is about ____.

24%

The United States subsidizes mining companies through depletion allowances that amount to ____% of their gross income from mining and processing.

5â22

Depletion time is the time it takes to use up approximately ____% of the mineral reserves at a given rate of use.

80

What percentage of e-waste components contain materials that could be recycled or reused?

80

Surface mining is used to extract what percentage of nonfuel resources in the U.S.?

90

Experts are particularly concerned about four strategic metal resources that are important for the U.S. economy and military strength, and that must be imported. What percentage does the U.S. import?

90%

Polluting factories, hazardous waste dumps, incinerators, and landfills in the U.S. are located least in communities populated by ____.

Caucasians

Which of the following is known to be true concerning the possible mining of the ocean floor?

Countries cannot come to an agreement about who owns the minerals.

Which principle about the transition to a low-waste society is false?

Economic growth and free markets reduce waste.

Which strategy would be most likely to discourage reuse and recycling?

Encourage the shipping of hazardous waste to poor countries.

When a resource has been economically depleted, we can do something about it. Which of the following is not suggested as an appropriate action to take to mitigate this issue?

Find alternative supplies of the resource.

At the checkout counter, an environmentalist is most likely to say, "____."

I brought my own bag

Which strategy would be least effective for industry and communities in their efforts to reduce resource use, waste, and pollution?

Redesign landfills.

The ____ is used in the U.S. to regulate hazardous waste.

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act

Why does subsurface mining have less of an environmental impact than surface mining?

Subsurface mining uses less than one-tenth as much land.

____ are lined ponds, pits, or lagoons where liquid hazardous wastes are stored.

Surface impoundments

Because of the rising prices of many metals, there is now particular interest in pursuing mining in what location?

The ocean floor

Which statement about "bottle bills" is true?

They require a deposit for every bottle purchased, and refund the deposit when the bottle is returned.

Garbologists have discovered that trash in landfills is slow to decompose. Why is this?

Trash is compacted so tightly that sunlight, water, and air are unable to reach it.

Newspapers from 50 years ago may still be readable because trash can resist decomposition for centuries if it is not exposed to air, sunlight, water, and bacteria.

True

Which industrialized nation has refused to sign the International Basel Convention to reduce and/or control movement of hazardous e-waste across international boundaries?

United States

What is an advantage of deep-well disposal of liquid hazardous wastes?

Wastes can often be retrieved.

In an integrated waste management approach to solid waste, which action would be given last priority?

bury

Which material would not be dumped in the compost pile?

chicken bones

For recycling to be successful, three steps must be applied consistently. The three steps, in order of application, are ____.

collecting recyclables, converting recyclables, and buying/selling recyclables

One advantage on materials recovery facilities (MRFs) is that ____.

combustible wastes can be burned to generate electricity

Which is least characteristic of hazardous waste?

conductivity

Which procedure would most likely be used to mine coal on hilly terrain?

contour mining

Which of the following is a disadvantage of using a plasma torch to detoxify hazardous waste?

cost

Which toxic substance is often used to extract gold and results in harmful environmental effects?

cyanide

The time it takes to use up a certain proportion of the reserves of a mineral at a given rate is referred to as the ____.

depletion time

Surface mining, when compared to subsurface mining, ____.

disturbs more land

One way of increasing our supplies of rare earth minerals is to ____.

extract and recycle them from discarded electronics

There are many advantages to using microorganisms for mining. Which of the following is not one of these?

faster removal of the mineral

Outputs of hazardous waste can be reduced by relying less on ____ and more on ____.

fossil fuels; renewable energy

What is one breakthrough material in the materials revolution that is being used for bridges and buildings?

graphene

E-waste can be recycled to extract ____.

high quality plastics

A more sustainable approach to hazardous waste management is least likely to involve ____.

implementing a cap and trade system

Wastes produced by mines, farms, and industry is called ____.

industrial solid waste

One advantage of bioremediation over physical and chemical methods of cleaning up hazardous wastes is that ____.

it is cheaper

Some analysts suggest we can increase supplies of some minerals by extracting lower grades of ore. Which factor would not limit the mining of lower- grade ores?

lack of new earth-moving equipment and mining techniques

What is the most common method of storage of hazardous wastes used in most countries of the world?

land burial

Mining causes long-term harm to the environment in a number of ways. What is not one detrimental effect of mining?

large amounts of radioactivity

Waste that includes paper, food wastes, cans, bottles, yard waste, glass, wood, and similar items is called ____.

municipal solid waste

What is an example of an organic contaminant?

oil

Plastic is made from ____.

organic molecules derived from oil and natural gas

Filtration and distillation are ____ methods for detoxifying hazardous waste.

physical

Which type of method uses natural or genetically engineered plants to absorb, filter, and remove contaminants from soil and water?

phytoremediation

Which material takes the longest to break down?

plastic bottles

Consumers of recycled products are most effective when they maximize the amount of ____ waste in the products they buy.

post-consumer

The majority of recyclable wastes are ____.

pre-consumer, and generated by users of the product

Materials that are recycled into products of the same type are undergoing ____.

primary recycling

Acid mine drainage occurs when ____.

rainwater seeps through spoils piles and produces sulfuric acid

Which activity is the least desirable from an environmental standpoint?

recycling

Of the following methods of dealing with hazardous wastes, the most desirable is ____.

recycling and reusing hazardous wastes

Reusing items over and over provides several advantages. What is not one of these?

reducing bacterial infections

Identified deposits from which we can extract the minerals profitably at current prices are referred to as ____.

reserves

Taking a refillable coffee cup to the office and using it instead of throwaway cups is an example of ____.

reusing

Upcycling is an example of ____.

reusing

Much of the e-waste in the United States not buried or burned is ____.

shipped to Asia or Africa

Waste soil and rock removed during surface mining is called ____.

spoil

In the United States, most hazardous waste is produced which industries?

the military, mining, and the chemical industry

One method of biomimicry, in which the wastes produced by one manufacturer become the raw materials for another manufacturer, is called ____.

the reusability web

China has lower costs for the mining of rare earth minerals because of ____.

their fewer environmental regulations

Sanitary landfills typically have problems with ____.

traffic, noise, and dust

One way to deal with the creation of solid wastes is to reduce the environmental impact without trying to reduce the amount of waste produced. This is called ____.

waste management

One way to deal with the creation of solid wastes begins with the question "How can we avoid producing so much solid waste?" This approach is called ____.

waste reduction

One characteristic of waste-to-energy incineration is that it ____.

concentrates hazardous substances into ash

Which method is not used to detoxify hazardous and toxic wastes?

crushing and grinding

Dry cell batteries and household pesticides are classified as ____.

hazardous waste