8.3: Hazardous Materials and Integrated Waste Managment

1. 8.3: Hazardous Materials and Integrated Waste Managment Chapter 16

2. Haz-Mats • s,l,g • Harmful to humans/ecosystems • 20,000 generators in US • Produce 36 million tonnes • Only 5% recycled • Households: 1.5 million tonnes

3. Haz-Mats • Any discarded chemical that threatens human health or the environment • Flammable, Reactive, corrosive, explosive or toxic chemicals • TOXIC: cancers, mutations, birth defects

4. Haz-Mat Sources • Cleaning machinery • Manufacturing computer parts • Dry cleaners • Auto service stations • Households: over cleaners • Fuels, solvents, lubricants, pesticides

5. Haz-Mats • Townships: Semi annual haz-mat collection days • Treatment before disposal: VERY Expensive • SOURCE REDUCTION • Switch to less toxic option

6. Haz-Mat Legislation • Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) • Cradle to grave documentation • Federal Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendment (HSWA)

7. Haz-Mat Legislation • Comprehensive Environmental response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) (Superfund Act) • Tax producers • Clean-up abandoned sites where unknown ownership • National Priorities List (NPL) (16.18) • NJ: 114 sites alone, NY/PA 94 each

8. 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)

9. Just because you are on the NPL there are MORE contaminated sites (114-v-9,000)

10. HAZARDOUS WASTES • Management the Waste we are Producing Now • (1) source reduction • (2) conversion to less hazardous materials • (3) long-term storage

11. Produce Less Waste Manipulate processes to eliminate or reduce production Recycle and reuse Convert to Less Hazardous or Nonhazardous Substances Chemical physical, and biological treatment Ocean and atmospheric assimilation Thermal treatment Land treatment Incineration Put in Perpetual Storage Aridregion unsaturated zone Underground injection Waste piles Surface impoundments Salt formations Landfill Dealing with Hazardous Wastes

12. Love Canal, NY • People had abnormally high incidents of cancer • 1970’s Lois Gibbs • 1983 Superfund Designation • 1994 taken off the NPL list

14. Brownfields • Brownfields Program 1995 • Contaminated Industrial commercial areas that are not Superfunds • Cleanup/remediation before they can be redeveloped • Old factories, industrial areas, waterfronts • Gas stations, dry cleaners • Landfills • Rail yards

15. Brownfields • State/local cleanup • Do not hold the polluter responsible • Phytoremediation

16. Detoxifying Wastes • Bioremediation • Microorganisms break down wastes • Phytoremediation • Removal of wastes from the soil

17. Hanford,Washington

18. Cleaning up existing hazardous waste: superfund program • Leaking chemical storage tanks and drums • Pesticides dumps • Piles of mining wastes • Must be cleaned up

19. Plastic cover Gas vent Earth Impervious clay cap Sand Topsoil Clay cap Leak detection system Bulk waste Reaction wastes in dreams Impervious clay Earth Groundwater monitoring well Water table Groundwater Double leachate collection system Plastic double liner Hazardous Waste Landfill Fig. 21.16, p. 539

20. Waste transporter Elevator shaft Hazardous waste Support column Inspector Above Ground Hazardous Waste Disposal Fig. 21.17, p. 540

21. Advantages Disadvantages Safe method if sites are chosen carefully Wastes can be retrieved if problems develop Low cost Leaks or spills at surface Leaks from corrosion of well casing Existing fractures or earth quakes can allow wastes to escape into groundwater Encourages waste production Deep-well Disposal

22. International Waste Management =Toxic colonialism • 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

23. Case Studies: Dioxins • Potentially highly toxic chlorinated hydrocarbons Sources of Dioxins • Waste incineration • Fireplaces • Coal-fired power plants • Paper production • Sewage sludge

24. Haz-Mats-International • Let’s Just Ship it to Africa! • Khian Sea, Philadelphia • Basel Convention • Indian Hg imported into US for reprocessing

25. Life-Cycle Analysis (Cradle to Grave Analysis) • Maps the materials used and released throughout the lifetime of the product • Opener: paper cup-v-polystyrene cup • Environmental impacts quantified • Economic impact quantified • Social impacts quantified • Green Glass example

26. Life-Cycle Analysis (Cradle to Grave Analysis) • Cost of disposal: Direct payment or indirect payment • ~recyclables cost les than MSW for disposal • Global market forces influence prices of recyclables

27. Integrated Waste Management • Holistic approach • W. McDonough’s book Cradle to Cradle • New approach to manufacturing • Develop products for disassembly • Ex: Volkswagen • Ex: carpeting

28. Integrated Waste Management

30. WST: Recycling eWaste in Chile

31. WST: Recycling eWaste in Chile • Lead, mercury, cadmium • Switzerland-v-US • Fully assembled products are exported as eWaste • “Recyla” • Green Seal: the manufacturing company is responsible for the safe disposal of their product • Jobs & worker safety • 1% to 5% GOAL 10% Pay to recycle today, or our children will pay in the future….

32. WTS: Nike Reuse-A-Sneaker • Poor unsafe working conditions • Inadequate wages • Toxic solvents, adhesives, and rubber manufacturing • VOC’s • Imposed a Cradle to Grave Analysis • “Nike Considered”: likert scale of sustainability at each step in the process • Friendlier adhesives/rubber • Organic Exchange Cotton • Reuse-A-Shoe • Nike Grind