Waste Management

Waste Types

Solid waste (Municipal, Industrial),

Hazardous,

Biomedical,

Electronic,

Radioactive

Municipal (MSW)

materials discarded from homes, small businesses, and institutions such as hospitals and schools

Industrial (ISW)

materials produced by industrial processes before a product reaches the consumer

MSW facts

Quantities and composition differ region to region and with time

Paper products, yard waste, food scraps, plastic, metal, rubber, and cloth

Large increase in per capita production in recent history

In the U.S. the average person generated 1600 pounds of solid waste every year

Where does MSW go?

Sanitary landfills, incineration/waste-to-energy, reuse/recycle

Sanitary Landfills

Designed to prevent accumulation of methane gas, contamination of groundwater, reduce odors and aesthetic problems, and reduce rodents and spread of disease

Lined with impervious clay and plastic (Leachate: water that picks up chemicals)

Trash compacted and covered,

When full, capped with clay

Methane produced may be tapped as green energy,

Landfills are not sustainable

incineration/waste-to-energy

Burned at high temperatures to reduce volume and weight

Facilities use filters and scrubbers to reduce emissions of pollutants

Some harness heat for electricity generation (waste-to-energy facilities)

ISW facts

Waste streams very greatly across facilities

Usually collected and managed by private sector

In the U.S. 7.6 billion tons of waste per year (some ends up in industrial waste facilities, some ends up in municipal landfills)

Industry seeks ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle at every stage of production

Hazardous waste

Wastes that are flammable, corrosive, explosive, or toxic

3 categories of hazardous waste

Source-specific

nonspecific-source

discarded commercial chemical

source-specific wastes

waste from petroleum refiners, pesticide manufacturing

non-specific source wastes

common solvents and cleaners used during manufacturing

Discarded commercial chemical wastes

unused solvents, paints, cleaners, etc

methods of disposing hazardous wastes

Permanent retrieval storage sites (special landfills monitored for leakage)

Chemical processing (convert or high temp incinerate to less toxic materials)

Bioremediation (living organism breakdown)

Biomedical Waste

Produced in large quantities by hospitals and medical facilities

Solid waste, hazardous medical waste, radioactive waste, waste that can spread infection/disease or decompose and produce toxins or odors

Human and animal body parts, tissues, blood, and used medical instruments

Stored in special containers and then usually sterilized with heat or incinerated

Electronic Waste (e-waste)

Regulation only recent

Broken or obsolete electronics (may contain many heavy and precious metals)

United States doesn't have national regulations

European Union and some US states have take-back regulations (manufacturers must take back product at end-of-life cycle)

Radioactive Waste

Requires long-term monitoring

Low-level radioactive waste

low amount of radioisotopes, greatest volume of radioactive waste, mostly from hospitals and labs

High-level radioactive waste

spent fuel rods, most dangerous

Sustainable Waste Management

Diminishing the waste stream

strategies for shrinking the waste stream and removing pressure from landfills

Preventing waste (altering buying patterns)

Reducing waste (consumer choices)

Reusing waste (good will, salvation army)

Recycling waste (closed-loop, open-loop)

Energy Recovery (waste-to-energy process)

Disposal (final option)

Challenges to municipal recycling

Markets for recycled materials (consumer demand)

Cost of disposal (may be cheaper than recycling )

Government policies for resource extraction industry