Lab period o Article jigsaw Chapter 24

Lab period o Article jigsaw

Chapter 24 Solid and Hazardous Waste

Question of the day: o From when you woke up till Eco class, make a list of all the things you have thrown away? o Do you think about the packaging of a product before you buy it? (How about those Starbucks/Wawa cups? ) o How often do you reuse objects, recycle objects?

Overview of Chapter 24 o Solid Waste • o Waste Prevention • • • o Reducing the Amount of Waste Reusing Products Recycling Materials Hazardous Waste • • o Types of Solid Waste Types of Hazardous Waste Management of Hazardous Waste Environmental Justice

Solid Waste o US generates more solid waste per capita than any other country • o 2. 1 kg person per day Types of Solid Waste • Municipal solid waste • • • Solid material discarded by homes, office buildings, retail stores, schools, hospitals, prisons, etc Relatively small portion of solid waste produced Non-municipal solid waste • Solid waste generated by industry, agriculture, and mining

Composition of Municipal Solid Waste

Disposal of Solid Waste o Three methods • • • Sanitary Landfills Incineration Recycling

Sanitary Landfill o o Compacting and burying waste under a shallow layer of soil Most common method of disposal

Chester County Solid Waste Authority o http: //www. chestercountyswa. org/

Sanitary Landfill o Problems • • • Methane gas production by microorganisms Contamination of surface water & ground water by leachate Not a long-term remedy Few new facilities being opened Closing a full landfill is very expensive

Sanitary Landfill o Special Problem of Plastic • • o Much of plastic is from packaging Chemically stable and do not readily break down and decompose Special Problem of Tires • • • Cannot be melted and reused for tires Made from materials that cannot be recycled Can be incinerated or shredded

Tires o http: //tire-conversion. com/index. php/whywe-recycle/general-information o Household Hazardous Waste Days Chester County, PA http: //www. chestercountyswa. org/pdf/LH Schedule. pdf o o Delaware County, PA http: //www. co. delaware. pa. us/recycle/hhw. html

The Plastic problem o Pacific Ocean Garbage Issue o DVD-Clip from Wired Science

Incineration o o Volume of solid waste reduced by 90% Produces heat that can make steam to generate electricity • Produce less carbon emissions than fossil fuel power plants (right)

Incineration o Types of Incinerators • • • Mass burn (below) Modular Refuse-derived

Incinerator o Problems Associated with Incineration • • • Yields air pollution Produce large amounts of ash Site selection often controversial

Chester, PA “Trash to Steam” Plant o http: //www. delcotimes. com/articles/2009 /07/06/news/doc 4 a 51 b 600 e 99725466411 27. txt? viewmode=fullstory o http: //www. covantaenergy. com/en/list-offacilities/videos. aspx

Composting o Includes: • • o o Food scraps Sewage sludge Agricultural manure Yard waste Reduces yard waste in landfills Can be sold or distributed to community

How to yard compost? o http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=Zq. WTY B_XLw. E&feature=related

Waste Prevention o Three Goals • • • (1) Reduce the amount of waste (2) Reuse products (3) Recycle materials

Reducing Waste o Purchase products with less packaging

Reducing Waste o Source reduction • o o Products are designed and manufactured in ways that decrease the volume of solid waste in the waste stream Pollution Prevention Act (1990) Dematerialization • Progressive decrease in the size and weight of a product as a result of technological improvements

Reusing Products o Refilling glass beverage bottles • o Heavier glass that costs more Japan recycles almost all bottles • Reused 20 times

Recycling Materials o Every ton of recycled paper saves: • • o 17 trees 7000 gallons of water 4100 kwatt-hrs of energy 3 cubic yards of landfill space Recycle • Glass bottles, newspapers, steel cans, plastic bottles, cardboard, office paper

Recycling o Recycling Paper • • o US recycles 50% Many developed countries are higher Recycling Glass • • • US recycles 25% Costs less than new glass Can be used to make glassphalt (right)

Recycling o Recycling Aluminum • Making new can from recycled one costs far less than making a brand new one

Recycling o Recycling Metals other than Aluminum • • Lead, gold, iron, steel, silver and zinc Metallic composition is often unknown • o Makes recycling difficult Recycling Plastic • • Less than 20% is recycled Less expensive to make from raw materials

Recycling o Recycling Tires • Few products are made from old tires • • • Playground equipment Trashcans Garden hose Carpet Roofing materials 36% of tires are currently recycled to make other products

Single Stream recycling o http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=J_RWq g. Xc. P_k

Cell phone recycling o http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=s. CU 4 o_ Ce 9 PM&NR=1&feature=fvwp o Terracycle- video and website

Integrated Waste Management

Hazardous Waste o Any discarded chemical that threatens human health or the environment • o Reactive, corrosive, explosive or toxic chemicals Types of Hazardous Waste • • • Dioxins PCBs Radioactive waste

Management of Hazardous Waste o o Chemical accidents • National Response Center notified • Typically involves oil, gasoline or other petroleum spill Current Management Policies • Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (1976, 1984) • Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (1980)

Management of Hazardous Waste o Cleaning up existing hazardous waste: superfund program • • o 400, 000 waste sites Leaking chemical storage tanks and drums (right) Pesticides dumps Piles of mining wastes Must be cleaned up

Case-In-Point Hanford Nuclear Reservation

Management of Hazardous Waste o Superfund National Priorities List • • 2006: 1558 sites on the list States with the greatest number of sites • • • New Jersey (115) California (93) Pennsylvania (93) New York (86) Michigan (65)

Management of Hazardous Waste o Biological Treatment of Hazardous Chemicals • • o Bioremediation Phytoremediation Management the Waste we are Producing Now • • • (1) source reduction (2) conversion to less hazardous materials (3) long-term storage

Management of Hazardous Waste o Hazardous Waste Landfill

Environmental Justice o Environmental Justice and Ethical Issues • • • o Right of every citizen, regardless of age, race, gender, social class, to adequate protection from environmental hazards Fundamental human right Grassroots campaign Mandating environmental Justice- Federal Level-Clinton 1994, 1997 case in LA, nuke facility(Ur processing plant)

Environmental Justice o International Waste Management • Developed countries sometimes send their waste to developing countries • • • Less expensive than following laws within the country Controversial aspect of waste management Basel Convention (1989) • Restricts international transport of hazardous waste