Chapter 14: Solid Waste

Aluminum

A lightweight metal; the easiest and most valuable to recycle, as the cost of mining and producing it from its raw state is very energy-intensive and expensive.

Bioremediation

A process where plants, bacteria, and fungi can be employed to treat hazardous waste

Hazardous Material

Can be fatal to humans or lab animals in low doses. Toxic, carcinogenic, or mutagenic to humans or other life-forms. Corrosive materials.

Liquid Contaminants

Collected in a drainage system and then managed.

Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Composed mostly of materials disposed improperly or accidentally on land. It's driven by a vast circulating ocean current known as a gyre. It has captured 100 million tons of plastic debris. It was discovered in 1997 by a sailor and is the best-known plastic debris field in the ocean.

Biodegradable

Plastics that are composed of or incorporate materials, such as cornstarch, that can be decomposed by microorganisms.

Ocean Dumping

Receives about 25,000 metric tons of packaging per year.

Incinerating

Reduces volume of waste and creates energy and air pollution.

Waste Exporting

Shipping waste to less-developed countries.

Reusing

The most energy efficient method.

Open Dumping

The most prevalent form of waste disposal in developing countries. They are inexpensive but have many problems such as smell, fires, vermin, and people scavenging in this hazardous area.

Recycling

The reprocessing of discarded materials into new, useful products. _______ reduces the need for raw materials to make a certain product, thereby reducing pressures on the areas where those materials are mined.

Methane

Vented, flared, or collected and used as fuel. It is produced in a landfill from decomposition can be collected and used as a fuel to generate electricity.

Reducing

________ waste is the cheapest option for waste management because it saves the most energy, materials, and money.

Municipal Solid Waste

a combination of the household and commercial refuse that amounts to more than 250 million metric tons per year in the United States.

Incineration

a quick way to dispose of hazardous wastes by heating the waste to over 1,000οC for a sufficient period of time. When done incorrectly, it may lead to pollution.

Superfund

a revolving pool of funds that was designed to immediately respond to emergency situations and remediate abandoned or inactive polluted sites.

Brownfield Sites

areas that have been, or have been suspected of being, polluted and therefore are abandoned or underutilized.

Composting

biological degradation or breakdown of organic matter under aerobic (oxygen-rich) conditions.

Sanitary Landfills

compacts and covers solid waste with dirt in order to decrease odors and discourage vermin populations.

Biogas Digester

converts organic waste to gas that is used to generate heat and electricity.

Waste Stream

describes the steady flow of varied refuse and garbage that humans produce.

Permanent Retrievable Storage

technical and expensive and is usually reserved for the most toxic waste types such as radioactive wastes (uranium, fuel rods and dioxins).