Solid waste management to other stuff

Percentages of solid waste

landfill 55%, recycle 31%, burn 14%

types of solid waste

mining waste (most), industrial waste, municipal waste (garbage, domestic household)

Integrated Waste Managment

combination of sanitary landfills, incineration, and recycling/recovery

sanitary landfill

dump which waste is deposited, produces methane gas (escapes and burned) and leachate (liquid from decomposing trash, may contaminate groundwater, bottom lined with clay or plastic to minimize leakage)

advantages to landfill

easy

disadvantages to landfill

produces gases, running out of room near cities, often contaminates groundwater

incineration advantages

reduces waste by over 75%, generate energy

disadvantages

air pollution (NOx, dioxin), disposal of ash, contains heavy metals

3 Rs

reduce, reuse, recycle (primary: into same type of product, secondary: converted to other product)

composting

invertebrates/microbes break down organics, add compost to garden, problems are oder and rodents

benefits of 3 Rs

reduce use of virgin materials, decrease pollution, saves everyone from manufacturing, saves money, creates jobs, saves landfill space

glass

takes lots of energy to reduce, best to reuse

aluminum

good choice to recycle (34% in US)

paper

easy to recycle (40% in US), saves energy, trees, less pollution

plastic

takes a long time to degrade in landfills, hard to recycle

microplastics

get into aquatic food chains

hazardous waste

toxic, flammable, reactive, or corrosive, contaminates land, groundwater, people

E-waste

often contains hazardous chemicals (lead and mercury), reduce by recycling and reuse

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

federal agency, pollution control, administers superfund

toxicology

study of poisons/toxins and their effects on living organisms

carcinogen

type of toxicant which cause cancer

synergism

interaction of different substances where their combined effect is greater than the sum of the individual substances (ex SO2&Particulates → smog)

radiation

cause mutations, cancer

organic chemicals

pesticides (cause cancer and food-chain effects) and dioxin (extremely toxic, by-product of chemical reactions, in agent orange, released from waste incineration)

Dioxin

Extremely toxic, by-product of chemical reactions. (Ex:In agent organogenesis veterans exposed in Vietnam). released from waste incinerators.

Heavy Metals

cadmium (in ash from burning coal), lead (brain damage), mercury (mining+industry, released from coal burning, bacteria convert into toxic methylmercury, tuna, brain damage), PCBs (not actual metal, accumulates in fatty tissues, skin conditions and liver effects banned in 1970s)

endocrine disruptors

chemicals that interfere with hormonal systems at high doses

3 conditions for biomagnification

pollutant must be persistent (long lived), concentrated by producers, fat-soluble

dose

amount of substance entering body

response

resulting damage to body

dose/response curve

bioassay, compare effect of a chemical by exposing a test group of organisms

LD-50

50% of population dies

TD-50

50% of population is harmed

ED-50

50% of population is affected in some way

threshold

level at which effects are observed if below, safe for substance if above toxic for substance

acute effects

effect occurs soon after exposure

chronic effects

effect occurs over time

risk assessment

determines potential effects to people or environment from exposure of a chemical

Four steps 1. Identify hazard, is chemical toxic, 2. dose-response assessment, dose vs. response 3. Exposure assessment, intensity, duration of exposure 4. Risk characterization health risk based on exposure

tragedy of the commons

Analogy written by Garret Hardin, the tendency of a shared, limited resource to become depleted because people act from self-interest for short-term gain

modern day examples of the tragedy of the commons

high seas fishing, whaling industry, national parks

high seas fishery options to resolve

establish quotas, require licenses, tax catch

Problem with common resources

individuals have no incentive to conserve, use resource before someone else does

Solutions to Tragedy of the Commons

ownership of resource, government regulation

tangible items

easy to put a price on (market value)

intangible items

hard to put a price on

direct costs (internal costs)

included in the price of an item

indirect costs (externalities)

costs not included in the price of an item

solutions to externalities

include external cost in price of an item, better labeling for consumer

marginal cost

cost to reduce one additional unit of pollution

types of economic systems

centrally planned economy (communism) and pure market economy (capitalism)

government options for pollution control

set maximum levels for emissions, require specific pollution control measures, charge fees for polluting

cost benefit analysis

compares costs and benefits of a course of action, 1. make assumptions regarding costs and benefits, 2. evaluate data, 3. make projections

problems

only consider economics not ethics, externalities are not considered

land ownership percentages

70% private and 30% public (50% western states)

Federal management agencies

Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service, National Park Service

Public Trust Doctrine

government has responsibility to protect the enrironment

land use percentages

97% rural and 3% urban

rural use

56% agricultural and 18% forests

benefits of forests

timber, reduce erosion, store water, wildlife

forestry concepts

sustainable timber harvest Amount which can be cut year after year, multiple use lands, how national forests are managed

urbanization

growth of cities, 90% of urbanization occurs in developing nations, increase in poverty

consequences

air pollution, water pollution, increase disease, urban sprawl/transportation problem, affects carbon cycle, flooding

Urban sprawl/transportation problems

cities spread out as they grow

urban blight

degrading of inner city as city dwellers move to suburbs

sustainability

use of resources without depletion of resource for the future, amount of a renewable resource which can be taken without reducing available supply, indications which can guide humans to include biodiversity, global temp, and resource depletion

Agenda 21

UN program to promote sustainable development in developing countries, part of 1992 Earth Summit in Rio

Ecological Footprint

environmental impact of a person

cultural issues

cultural effects of development

aesthetic impacts

how something looks, smells, sounds

reasons to value environment

utilitarian (economic) value, ecological value, aesthetic value, moral value

Aldo Leopold

early conservationist, proposed Land Ethics, that plants and animals have rights

preservation

no/very limited use of a resource to preserve it

conservation

some use

mitigation

compensate for negative impacts

restoration

undo environmental damage, return to natural state

remediation

clean up of a contaminated site

resource

something which has the potential to be extracted

reserve

portion of a resource which can be legally and economically extracted at a given point in time