Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)
Refuse collected by municipalities from households, small business, institutions, etc
Waste system inputs
Raw materials, energy
Waste system outputs
Materials that can be recycled/disposed of, waste
Waste stream
Flow of solid waste that is recycled, incinerated, placed in landfill, or disposed of another way
Electronic waste/E- waste
Waste from televisions, computers, music players, cell phones, etc
Source reduction
Cut waste by reducing use of potential waste materials in early stages of design/manufacturing (may include substituting with less toxic materials)
Landfill sitting
Designation of landfill location. Considers soil type, distance from drinking water, distance from population centers, scavengers
Environmental injustice
“Not in my backyard”, landfill locations often close to people who don’t have resources to advocate for self
Incineration
Waste burned at high temperature to reduce volume and mass (if effective, may reduce volume by 90% and weight by 75%)
Waste as energy
System where heat generated by incineration used as energy source rather than released into atmosphere
Dose response study
Exposes organisms to different amounts of chemicals and observe responses (mortality, behavior/reproduction changes)
LD50
Dose that is lethal to 50% of species population
LC50
Concentration of substance that can cause 50% deaths when exposed to population
Bioaccumulation
Selective absorption and concentration of elements/compounds by cells in living organisms (usually fat-soluble)
Biomagnification
Increase in chemical concentration per unit of body tissue occurring in higher trophic levels of food chain/food web