Solid and Hazardous Waste

1. Solid and Hazardous Waste Chapter 21

2. Rapidly Growing E-Waste from Discarded Computers and Other Electronics

3. Core Case Study: E-waste—An Exploding Problem • Electronic waste, e-waste: fastest growing solid waste problem • Composition includes • High-quality plastics • Valuable metals – mainly copper • Toxic and hazardous pollutants – mainly air and water runoff • The U.S. produces almost half of the world's e-waste but only recycles about 10% of it.

4. Recycling E-waste Burn houses in distance and smoke where computer parts from the United States are burned. China 2008 Migrant workers from Hunan and Szechuan provinces cracking open charred components to remove the copper at the burn village. Guiyu, China. May 2008 Ghana 2009. Burning of plastics to get to metals.

5. Core Case Study: E-waste—An Exploding Problem • International Basel Convention click for link • Bans transferring hazardous wastes from developed countries to developing countries. U.S. has not ratified this treaty yet. • European Union • Cradle-to-grave approach

6. International Toxics Progress Report Card Grade based on ratification of four important Hazardous Material treaties. See link below for more information • Countries that rank excellent: (4 ratifications):-- Belgium-- Bulgaria-- China-- Denmark-- France-- Germany*-- Luxembourg-- Norway-- Slovenia-- Spain-- Sweden-- Switzerland-- United Kingdom Notable countries that are failing(0 Ratifications) include: -- Russia-- United States-- Israel-- Malta Click for link

7. Core Case Study: E-waste—An Exploding Problem • What should be done? • Recycle • E-cycle • Reuse • Prevention approach: remove the toxic materials

8. 21-1 What Are Solid Waste and Hazardous Waste, and Why Are They Problems? • Concept 21-1 Solid waste represents pollution and unnecessary waste of resources, and hazardous waste contributes to pollution, natural capital degradation, health problems, and premature deaths.

9. WASTING RESOURCES • Solid waste: any unwanted or discarded material we produce that is not a liquid or gas. • Municipal solid waste (MSW): often called garbage or trash and produce by homes and workplaces. • Industrial solid waste: produced by mines, agriculture, and industries that supply people with goods and services. • Hazardous (toxic) waste: threatens human health or the environment because it is toxic, chemically active, corrosive or flammable.

10. WASTING RESOURCES • Hazardous (toxic) waste can be classified as: • Organic compounds: such as various solvents, pesticides, PBC’s and dioxins. • Nondegradable toxic heavy metals: such as lead, mercury and arsenic. • Highly radioactive: produced by nuclear power plants and nuclear weapons facilities.

11. WASTING RESOURCES • The United States produces about a third of the world’s solid waste and buries more than half of it in landfills. • About 97% (7.6 billion tons) is industrial solid waste. EPA 2008 data. • About 3% (250 million tons) is MSW. • Click for more info on waste from EPA

12. EPA data on waste production in U.S.

13. EPA waste generation by material U.S.

14. We Throw Away Huge Amounts of Useful Things and Hazardous Materials • 80–90% of hazardous wastes produced by developed countries • Why reduce solid wastes? • ¾ of the materials are an unnecessary waste of the earth's resources. We can recycle instead of mix and bury them. • Huge amounts of air pollution, greenhouse gases, and water pollution is produced in producing the products we use and often discard

15. Solid Waste in the United States • Leader in solid waste problem • What is thrown away?. Data Page 563 • Leader in trash production, by weight, per person • Recycling is helping

16. What Harmful Chemicals Are in Your Home? Cleaning Gardening Disinfectants Pesticides Drain, toilet, and window cleaners Weed killers Ant and rodent killers Spot removers Flea powders Septic tank cleaners Paint Products Paints, stains, varnishes, and lacquers Paint thinners, solvents, and strippers Automotive Wood preservatives Gasoline Artist paints and inks Used motor oil General Antifreeze Dry-cell batteries (mercury and cadmium) Battery acid Brake and transmission fluid Glues and cements Fig. 21-2, p. 562

17. Natural Capital Degradation: Solid Wastes Polluting a River in Indonesia

18. Hundreds of Millions of Discarded Tires in a Dump in Colorado, U.S.

19. 21-2 How Should We Deal with Solid Waste? • Concept 21-2 A sustainable approach to solid waste is first to reduce it, then to reuse or recycle it, and finally to safely dispose of what is left.

20. We Can Burn or Bury Solid Waste or Produce Less of It • Waste Management • Reduce the environmental impact of MSW without seriously trying to reduce the amount of waste produced • Waste Reduction • Less waste and pollution are produced as well as reuse, recycle, and composting programs • Integrated waste management • Uses a variety of strategies for both waste reduction and waste management

21. Solutions: Reducing Solid Waste • Refuse: to buy items that we really don’t need. • Reduce: consume less and live a simpler and less stressful life by practicing simplicity. • Reuse: rely more on items that can be used over and over. • Repurpose: use something for another purpose instead of throwing it away. • Recycle: paper, glass, cans, plastics…and buy items made from recycled materials.

22. Integrated Waste Management Fig 21-5

23. Integrated Waste Management: Priorities for Dealing with Solid Waste Fig 21-6

24. We Can Cut Solid Wastes by Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling • Seven strategies: (1) Redesign manufacturing processes and products to use less material and energy (2) Redesign manufacturing processes to produce less waste and pollution (3) Develop products that are easy to repair, reuse, remanufacture, compost, or recycle (4) Eliminate or reduce unnecessary packaging (5) Use fee-per-bag waste collection systems (6) Establish cradle-to grave responsibility (7) Restructure urban transportation systems

25. What Can You Do? Solid Waste Fig 21-7

26. 21-3 Why Is Reusing and Recycling Materials So Important? • Concept 21-3 Reusing items decreases the use of matter and energy resources and reduces pollution and natural capital degradation; recycling does so to a lesser degree.

27. Reuse is an important way to reduce solid waste and pollution and to save money • Reuse involves cleaning and using materials over and over and thus increasing the typical life span of a product. • Salvaging automobile parts from older cars • Yard sales • Flea markets • Secondhand stores • Auctions • www.freecycle.org

28. Case Study: Use of Refillable Containers • Reuse and recycle • Refillable glass beverage bottles • Refillable soft drink bottles made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic • Paper, plastic, or reusable cloth bags • Pros • Cons

29. Energy Consumption Involved with Using Different Types of 350 ml Containers Fig 21-8

30. There Are Two Types of Recycling (1) • Recycling involves reprocessing discarded solid materials into new, useful products. • Five major types of materials that can be recycled: paper products, glass, aluminum, steel, and some plastics. • Primary, closed-loop recycling • Recycled into new products of the same type • Secondary recycling • Waste products are turned into different products • Types of wastes that can be recycled • Preconsumer: internal waste (manufacturing) • Postconsumer: external waste (consumer use) Preconsumer waste makes up more than ¾ of the total.

31. There Are Two Types of Recycling (2) • Key questions: • Are the items separated for recycling actually recycled? • Will businesses and individuals complete the recycling loop by buying products that are made from recycled materials?

32. We Can Mix or Separate Household Solid Wastes for Recycling • Materials-recovery facilities (MRFs o “murfs”). Expensive to build, operate and maintain • Mixed waste is separated into what can be reused by industry or recycled, the rest is burned to produce steam or electricity • Source separation: Produces less air and water pollution, cost less to implement than MRF’s, saves more energy and provides more jobs. • Pay-as-you-throw • Fee-per-bag • Which program is more cost effective? • Which is friendlier to the environment?

33. We Can Copy Nature and Recycle Biodegradable Solid Wastes • Composting involves allowing decomposer bacteria to recycle yard trimmings, food scraps, and other biodegradable organic wastes. • Individual • Municipal • Uses: • To supply plant nutrients. • Slow soil erosion • Retain water • Improve crop yields • Restore eroded soil • Restore strip-mined land or overgrazed areas. • Successful program in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

34. Backyard Composter Drum: Bacteria Convert Kitchen Waste into Compost

35. Trade-Offs: Recycling, Advantages and Disadvantages Fig 21-12

36. We Can Encourage Reuse and Recycling (1) • What hinders reuse and recycling? • Misleading accounting system (market price does not include the harmful environmental and health costs) • Uneven playing field (resource-extracting industries receive more tax breaks and subsidies) • Demand and price paid for recycled materials fluctuates (buying goods made with recycled materials is not a priority) • Encourage reuse and recycling • Government • Increase subsidies and tax breaks for using such products • Decrease subsidies and tax breaks for making items from virgin resources

37. We Can Encourage Reuse and Recycling (2) • Fee-per-bag collection • Encorage or require government purchases of recycled products to increase demand and lower prices. • New laws requiring companies to take back and recycle or reuse packaging and electronic waste discarded by consumers. • Citizen pressure to require labels on all products listing recycled content and amounts of any hazardous materials they contain.

38. 21-4 The Advantages and Disadvantages of Burning or Burying Solid Waste • Concept 21-4 Technologies for burning and burying solid wastes are well developed, but burning contributes to pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, and buried wastes eventually contribute to pollution and land degradation.

39. Waste-to-energy incinerators • Incineration with energy recovery is one of several waste-to-energy (WtE) technologies such as gasification and anaerobic digestion. • Incinerators reduce the mass of the original waste by 80–85 % and the volume (already compressed somewhat in garbage trucks) by 90 % . • However, without air pollution devices, incinerators pollute the air with particulates, carbon monoxide, toxic metals and other toxic materials. • The highly toxic fly ash must be safely disposed of. This usually involves additional waste miles and the need for specialist toxic waste landfill elsewhere. • 87 MSW Incinerators in U. S. • No plans to build more • Hazardous waste incinerators = Click link

40. Trade-Offs: Incineration, Advantages and Disadvantages Fig 21-14

41. Solutions: A Waste-to-Energy Incinerator with Pollution Controls

42. Burying solid waste has advantages and disadvantages • Types of landfills. • Open dumps: fields or holes in the ground where garbage is deposited and sometimes burned. Widely used in developing countries. • Sanitary landfills: solid wastes are spread out in thin layers, compacted, and covered daily with a fresh layer or clay or plastic foam to reduce leakage, risk of fire, odor and accessibility to vermin.

43. Burying solid waste has advantages and disadvantages • All landfills eventually leak. • In United States radioactive materials from nuclear weapons facitilities run by the Department of Energy were being dumped into regular landfills with little tracking of their dispersal, despite public opposition.

44. Trade-Offs: Sanitary Landfills, Advantages and Disadvantages Fig 21-16

45. Solutions: State-of-the-Art Sanitary Landfill

46. What Can You Do? Reuse Fig 21-9

47. RECYCLING • Primary (closed loop) recycling: materials are turned into new products of the same type. • Secondary recycling: materials are converted into different products. • Used tires shredded and converted into rubberized road surface. • Newspapers transformed into cellulose insulation or pencils (City of Oxnard).

48. EPA data on recycling in U. S.

49. EPA recycling by product

50. EPA Discards per capita to landfill