Ch 22 Solid and Hazardous Waste (Starts on P. 519)

Ch 22 Solid and Hazardous Waste (Starts on p. 519)

Explain the Case Study: Love Canal –

Wasting Resources: Types of Waste

· How are wastes disposed of in nature?

· Solid waste

· Hazardous Waste

· Solid Waste: MSW

· Solid Waste: Industrial Solid Waste

Solid Waste in the U.S.: Affluenza in Action

How Much Solid Waste Does the U.S. Produce?

· 4.6

· 1/3

· Affluenza is (p. 19)

· 98.5%

· 1.5%

· Amount of trash produced per person:

What Is in U.S. Garbage?

o 38%

o 12%

o 11%

· How does the amount of trash produced in U.S. compare with other countries?

· Where does it all go?

o 55%

o 30%

o 15%

Case Study: New York City (See “Spotlight” box on p. 521)

· How has trash production changed between 1900 and 2000? Explain.

Solid waste found in the US: (on p. 521 and 522)

· Aluminum:

· Tires:

· Disposable diapers:

· Carpet:

· Plastic bottles:

· Edible food:

· Office paper:

· Junk mail:

· Americans spend more on ____ each year than 90 other countries spend for ___.e-waste

Case Study: E-waste

· What is e-waste?

· What are the problems with this type of waste?

· What are the problems involved in recycling this type of waste?

· How does the EU (What is the EU?) handle e-waste?

o What is this called?

· What are dioxins? (see p. S68)

What is a garbagologist? (see ‘Spotlight’ box on p. 523)

Why doesn’t trash decompose in a landfill?

INTEGRATED WASTE MANAGEMENT

Solutions: Waste Management – Prevention versus Waste Reduction

What Are Our Options?

· High waste approach

· Low waste approach

What is Integrated Waste Management?

What is the ‘typical’ order in the U.S. (and most countries) for dealing with solid waste?

What do scientists recommend?

Solutions: Reducing Reduce Solid Waste

5 R’s:

Explain the ‘input’ approach versus the ‘output’ approach.

8 ways to reduce resource use, waste production and pollution:

From Figure 22-6 on page 524, which of the actions listed do you think are most important?

Which do you already do?

REUSE

How people Reuse Materials

Give some examples of how materials are reused.

www.freecycle.org

Case Study: Using Refillable Containers

Two examples:

Can make ___ round trips before being recycled.

Good because:

A Bottle Law is:

Why do large beverage industries lobby political leaders from passing bottle bills?

What do their ads say about bottle bills?

Evidence in Canada and states with bottle bills actually shows:

Federal legislation could:

Denmark, Finland, Prince Edward Island have

Ecuador

Finland

Germany

The Goal is:

Solutions: Other Ways to Reuse Things

1. Grocery bags:

4. Shipping pallets:

From Figure 22-8 on page 524, which of the actions listed do you think are most important?

Which do you already do?

RECYCLING

Two Types of Recycling

· Recycling involves:

Benefits:

· 5 types of materials to recycle:

1. 3. 5.

2. 4.

· Primary or closed-loop recycling:

· Secondary recycling AKA

· Preconsumer/internal waste:

· Postconsumer/external waste:

· Two important considerations for recycling:

First:

Second:

Japan & Switzerland:

U.S.:

Solutions: Two Ways to Recycle Municipal Solid Waste

MRF:

Source separation:

PAUT:

Composting: Recycling by Copying Nature

Composting is:

85%

35%

Compost could be used as/for

Case Study: Recycling Paper

How is newspaper recycled?

64%

35%

74%

US wastepaper recycling:

49%

60%

70%

U.S. compared to other countries:

EU goal:

L bad news:

Problem with making paper:

Staples pledge:

Case Study: Recycling Plastics

10% of plastics are recycled because:

Trade-Offs: Advantages and Disadvantages of Recycling – Does it make economic sense?

Critics argue

Proponents of recycling counter that

Encouraging Reuse and Recycling

· First:

· Second:

· Third:

We can encourage recycling by

· Increase

· Decrease

· PAUT

· Governments can require

· Citizens can pressure

BURNING AND BURYING SOLID WASTE

What Are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Burning Solid Waste?

· In a waste-to-energy incinerator,

· Great Britain burns

· U.S. burns

· Canada burns

· Advantages:

· Disadvantages:

What Are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Burying Solid Waste?

· 55%

· 80%

· 15%

· 12%

· Open dumps

· Sanitary landfills

o Structure and siting of landfills

o Advantages:

o Disadvantages:

Case Study: What Should We Do with Used Tires?

· In U.S., ______ used tires have accumulated in large dumps and vacant lots.

· _____ discarded each year

· Tires are health hazards because

· Few tires are ____ to extend their life

· In landfills, tires tend to…

· Tires are banned from sanitary landfills in

· In U.S., 38% of tires are

· 42% are

· We could reduce the accumulation of discarded tires by

HAZARDOUS WASTE

What Is Hazardous Waste?

· Hazardous waste is

o Largest classes

o Largest producer of hazardous waste is

· Which of the harmful chemicals listed in fig. 22-15 are in your home?

· RCRA is

o Goals

· Cradle to grave means

· CERCLA is

o Goals

o NPL

o Who pays for clean up?

§ Successes –

· Illegal dumps

· Waste producers

· Over 70%

o After the Superfund expired in 1995,

o Average cost of cleaning up a site

o About 1 of every 4 Americans…

o Is there a Superfund site near you? http://www.epa.gov/triexplorer/statefactsheet.htm

o From S67 (Supplement 22):

§ What is an epidemiological study?

§ Four factors that limit their usefulness:

· Brownfields

o Can be

· Threat of terrorist attacks

o An attack could endanger up to

o Chemical industry has opposed

DEALING WITH HAZARDOUS WASTE

Solutions: Integrated Management of Hazardous Waste

· U.S. National Academy of Science established three levels of priority for dealing with hazardous waste

· Top priority should be

· Scientists look for

· In Europe, about ___ of industrial hazardous wastes are

· In the U.S.,

Conversion to Less Hazardous Substances

§ First step in dealing with hazardous wastes is

o In Denmark,

§ Physical Methods

§ Chemical methods

o Cyclodextrin

o Nanomagnets

§ Biological Methods

o Bioremediation

§ Contaminated site is

§ Costs

o Phytoremediation

§ Advantages

§ Disadvantages

o Incineration

o Plasma torch:

§ Advantages

§ Disadvantages

Long-Term Storage of Hazardous Waste

§ Should only used as a ___ priority but in U.S. it’s the __

§ Deep well disposal:

o In the U.S., __% of wastes disposed of in this way

o Many scientists believe that

o Advantages

o Disadvantages:

§ Surface impoundments:

o Advantages

o Disadvantages:

§ Long-term retrievable storage

o Above ground buildings

§ Secure Landfills

o U.S.

o United Kingdom

o Developing countries

TOXIC LEAD AND MERCURY

Case Study: Lead

· Lead is

· Lead poisoning comes from

· Good news (and why)

· Bad news (and from where it comes)

· What is the safe level of lead in childrens’ blood?

· Situation in other countries

Case Study: Mercury

· Mercury is

· Mercury is found in

· What area of the world does mercury tend to accumulate in? Explain why.

· Mercury is persistent, which means

· How are humans exposed to mercury?

· Which individuals are most susceptible to mercury poisoning?

· What is biological magnification?

· How many bodies of water are contaminated?

· How did the UN recommend we reduce exposure to mercury?

· Solutions

o Prevention

o Control

ACHIEVING A LOW-WASTE SOCIETY

Grassroots Action for Better Solid and Hazardous Waste Management

· What have they done?

· Why?

o Diana Wilson (p. 544, “Individuals Matter”)

· NIMBY –

· NIABY –

· NOPE -

Environmental Justice

· Environmental justice means

· Studies show

· How does environmental justice apply at the international level?

o Basel Convention

Global Outlook: International Action to Reduce Hazardous Waste

· What are “POPs”?

· The list of 12 chemicals includes

· Goals of the POPs treaty

o Has the U.S. ratified it?

· What is the precautionary principle?

· In 2000, the Swedish Parliament…

· What is the U.S. policy on dangerous chemicals?

How Can We Make the Transition to a Low-Waste Society?

· Four key principles to live by

· Good news from Norway, Austria, and the Netherlands