Solid and Hazardous Waste Flashcards

WHat did the resource conservation and recovery act do

Forbade open dumping

introduced the sanitary landfill

When was the resource conservation and recovery act made

In 1976

What is the definition of discarded waste

paper, paperboard, yard trimmings, food wastes, plastics, glass, metal, and wood wastes

WHat were the top 3 goods that are in landfills by product

Containers and packaging 29.5%

nondurable goods 22%

Durable goods 19.2%

What makes up municipal solid waste

Landfilling 52.5%

Recycling 25.8%

Combustion with energy recovery at 12.8%

Composting 8.9%

What makes up the trash business

Largest six corporations 61%

Local government 27%

Private companies 12%

What do we use for the base layer other than two feet of compact clay

Bentonite aka expandable clay

Why do we use Bentonite

It holds heavy metals and allows water to pass by it

What are reduction activities that we can practice

Reuse package products

Redesign package or products that reduces the material or toxicity

Reducing the use by modifying practices

What are the top four materials that are recycled

mixed paper 39.4%

glass containers 20.4%.

Cardboard 13.9%

PET Bottles 6.6%

How much energy is saved by recycling these items

Aluminum Cans

Newspaper

Glass bottles

PLastic bottles

95%

68%

34%

87%

What are bottle bills

Laws that give out a deposit to customers when they return the bottles and cans to the retailers

What does it show on the recycling rate versus the bottle bill passing

It shows that the more the bottle bill is accepted by the state, the more the recycling rate would be

What are examples of large bottling comapnies in Georgia

The Coca-cola company

Keurig Dr Pepper

Sweetwater Brewing Company

What percent of these industries cover

Landscaping

Agriculture

Landfill cover

Nurseries

Bagged/Retail

31%

25%

14%

11%

7%

What are the four main steps of Waste To Energy

Combustion

Heat recovery

Power generation

Emissions control

What are the different kinds of hazardous wastes

Corrosive, explosive, reactive, flammable, toxic, listed waste

What is the definition of hazardous wastes

It is discarded solids and liquids with items that are fatal in low concentrations

What is the subtitle C disposal process

Generation

Transportation

Treatment

Storage

Disposal

What are the options for managing hazardous wastes

Reducing wastes at the source

Reducing the volume and/or hazard of the waste

long-term storage or disposal

What is the CERCLA or the Comprehensive environmental reponse, compensatoin, and liability act

It is the act where the federal government had to clean up using its 1.6 billion dollars to remove hazardous materials over a five year period

aka the Superfund

Under the superfund reimbursement, what is retroactive liabiliity

Any company that was a part of this before the superfund’s enactment is held liable

What is joint and several liability under the superfund reimbursement

Any one potentially responsible party may be held liable for the entire cleanup for the site if the actions cannot be separated from any other party

Who is lois gibbs

She is the director for the center for health, environment, and justice

What makes up the factors for the Hazard ranking system for a site

Distance to the local population

surface water

groundwater

drinking water supplies

WHat is the Superfund Amendments and Reauthroization Act or SARA

increased funding and provided new and stricter standards

What does Title III of Sara or the EPCRA (Emergency planning and community right to know act)

Established requirements for federal, state, and local governments and industry regarding emergency planning

also have right to know reporting on hazardous and toxic chemicals

What is exempt from the treatment under the RCRA

Non-land disposal aka Deep well injection that is regulated by the Solid Waste Disposal Act or the SWDA

What is non-exempt from treatment under the RCRA

Land disposal restrictions

Protects groundwater and soil from contamination by prohibiting land disposal of untreated hazardous wastes and applies to all RCRA hazardous wastes

What are examples of states that have Deep well injection sites

Texas

California

Louisiana

Kansas

Wyoming

How much pressure is being put into wells for hydraulic fracturing

Around 9,000 pounts per square inch

What are examples of mining done in GA

Kaolin

DImension stone

sand

marble

granite

WHere are the Major US gas shale beds

Montana

oklahoma

Texas

Louisiana

Illinois

Michigan

Pennsyvalia

Virginia

Mississippi

(U-Shape around the US)

On a national level, how much Municiple SOlid waste is handled

55% is landfilled

30% is recycled

15% is combusted

How is waste handled when there is little land for landfill construction

It is combusted

With recycling how much access does each place have

Average Curbside for US

Northeast and West

Georgia

70%

83-85%

59%

What is solid waste from the RCRA

Garbage

Refuse

Sludges from waste treatment plants, water supply treatment plants, or pollution control

nonhazardous industrial waste

other discarded materials from industrial and other activities

What are benefits to combustion in waste management

Decrease volume of solid wastes from landfills

Recover energy like getting steam and electricity from burning

How is treatment beneficial to waste management

reduces the volume and toxicity of waste before disposing of it

can make it reusable and recyclable

can change the waste’s physical, chemical, or biological characteristics

What is a municipal solid waste landfill

an area of land that recieves

• household waste

• commercial solid waste

• nonhazardous sludge

• industrial nonhazardous solid waste

• other nonhazardous waste

How is leachate formed

When rainwater filters through wastes placed in a landfill

What is hazardous waste

It is a waste with properties that makes it dangerous or capable of having a harmful effect on human health or the environment

What are the different basis that Subtitle C ranks hazardous solid waste

abandoned - disposed of, burned, or incernerated

inherently waste-like - things that pose a threat to human health and the environment

military muniitons - all ammunition products and components either used or produced for the US army and are also solid wastes

recycled - if a material is used or reused

What are spent materials

Materials that have been used and are no longer serve the purpose for which they were produced by iteself

What are sludges

any solid, semisolid, or liquid wastes generated from a wastewater treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control device

What are by-products

They are anything that does not classify as sludges or spent materials

What are characteristic wastes

Wastes that exhibit measureable properties which indicate that a waste poses enough of a threat to warrant regulation as hazardous. Has four characteristics.

What is the ignitability characteristic

wastes that easily catch fire and sustain combustion.

Paints, cleaners, and ohter industrial wastes have this characteristic

What is the corrosivity characteristic

wastes that are acidic or alkaline

readily corrode or dissolve flesh, metal, or other materials

some of the most common hazardous wastes

What is the reactivity characteristic

wastes that readily explode or undergo violent reactions or react to release toxic gases or fumes

Discarded munitions or explosives

it can explode or react violently if exposed to water or under normal handling conditions

makes toxic fumes or gases at dangerous levels

What is the toxicity characteristic

wastes likely to leach dangerous concentrations of toxic chemicals into ground water