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The Environmental Effects of Organic Waste In Waste Treatment Systems

The Environmental Effects of Organic Waste In Waste Treatment Systems. Harrison Elba SHWPCE Spring 2014. 3 Systems. Composting Aerobic decomposition Landfill Gas Energy Anaerobic decomposition Waste to Energy Combustion. Assumptions. 1 metric ton MSW subject to all 3 systems

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The Environmental Effects of Organic Waste In Waste Treatment Systems

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  1. The Environmental Effects of Organic Waste In Waste Treatment Systems Harrison Elba SHWPCE Spring 2014

  2. 3 Systems • Composting • Aerobic decomposition • Landfill Gas Energy • Anaerobic decomposition • Waste to Energy • Combustion

  3. Assumptions • 1 metric ton MSW subject to all 3 systems • Contains 25% organic waste (560 lbs) • Composting reduces mass by 20% • Divert 100% organic matter from waste stream for USA • Average heating content of unsorted MSW is 4500 BTU/ dry lb

  4. Composting • 560 lbs organic waste • Subjected to aerobic decomposition yields 448 lbs mature compost and 1350 scf methane • Diversion produces 103 billion lbs • Application depth of 1 foot allows 18,000 acres of farmland to be covered each year

  5. Landfill Gas Energy • Anaerobic decomposition yields 2,200 scf methane • 2 MMBTU • 10 days worth of gas energy for average home if captured, or high emissions if not captured • Diversion to compost prolongs landfill life by 25% but makes LGE projects obsolete

  6. Incineration • Combustion of 1 ton of unsorted MSW yields 10 MMTU • 1 ton CO2 + fine particulate, heavy metals, dioxins, acid gasses • Cogen is best practice • Diversion to compost reduces combustion heat value potential of waste stream by approx 50%

  7. Conclusions • Lack of emissions data • One method is not superior to the other 2 • Combination is necessary • Compost organic, combust the rest, landfill ash

  8. Yucca Mountain Controversy

  9. Risks • Radiation emissions • Water infiltration • Seismic activity • Vulnerability to attack

  10. Why Yucca? • DOE estimated public dose of .24-.98 mrem/year over 1 million years is less than EPA acceptable dose of 350 mrem/year • Would take thousands of years for water to infiltrate site • All fault lines were out of critical zones • Easy to defend location near military bases

  11. Conclusions • Public and political overreaction to slightly adverse unanticipated discoveries disregarded the ability to engineer solutions • The ensuing political dance regarding “Precautionary Principle” did not account for inherent risk in current distributed storage methods • Will not necessarily discover a more favorable storage site, and the earth was not designed for this purpose

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