CE2100 Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Quiz

4/15/25; Readings Masters and Ela (Chap. 9.1-9.4; 9.7), EPA’s Materials, Wastes and Recycling, introductory sections of Energy Recovery from Combustion

What is Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)?

• major federal statute that governs solid waste and separates them into two categories: hazardous and nonhazardous waste

• most of its focus is on Subtitle C, which defines and regulates hazardous wastes

• Subtitle D defines and regulates nonhazardous wastes

What types of materials are regulated in RCRA?

Hazardous waste (Subtitle C)

• fly ash is highly toxic and will almost always require special disposal

Nonhazardous waste (Subtitle D)

• municipal solid waste (MSW)

• construction & demolition debris

• industrial nonhazardous waste

• mining waste

• oil and gas waste

• agricultural waste

• agricultural sludge

• municipal sludge

• auto bodies

• trees and brush

What is the difference between Subtitle C and Subtitle D?

Subtitle C

• defines and regulates hazardous waste

Subtitle D

• defines and regulates nonhazardous waste

• of the roughly 12 billion tons per year of nonhazardous wastes, most is generated by industry during raw material extraction, material processing, and product manufacturing

• about 95% of RCRA regulated solid wastes fall under the nonhazardous category, with about 2% being municipal solid waste (MSW)

• sources include municipal solid waste (MSW), construction & demolition debris, industrial nonhazardous waste, mining waste, oil and gas waste, agricultural waste, municipal sludge, auto bodies, trees and brush

have to take care of the hazardous stuff first before you can manage the nonhazardous stuff (C comes before D in the alphabet)

What is municipal solid waste (MSW)?

• solid waste from residential, commercial, institutional, and industrial sources

• of the 95% of RCRA regulated nonhazardous solid wastes, it is roughly 2% of that

• all the industrial waste created in the process of providing us with material things may end up in the trash

• digging holes, removing the ores, and piling up the leftover residues creates aesthetic, environmental, economic, and energy problems

• consuming less saves the wastes that would end up in the municipal wastestream and reduces the energy, materials, and waste associated with providing those items

What are some examples of materials that may be landfilled, but are not considered MSW?

MSW does not include things such as construction waste, automobile bodies, municipal sludges, combustion ash, and industrial process wastes

What are the components of the waste management hierarchy?

from most preferred to least preferred:

• source reduction and reuse

  • reducing waste at the source

  • most environmentally preferred strategy

  • eg reusing or donating items, buying in bulk, reducing packaging, redesigning products, and reducing toxicity

• recycling / composting

  • collecting used, reused, or unused items that would otherwise be considered waste

  • sorting and processing the recyclable products into raw materials

  • remanufacturing the recycled raw materials into new products

  • composting of food scraps, yard trimmings, and other organic materials

  • consumers provide the last link by purchasing products made from recycled materials

• energy recovery

  • conversion of non-recyclable waste materials into useable heat, electricity, or fuel through a variety of processes, including combustion, gasification, pyrolization, anaerobic digestion, and landfill gas (LFG) recovery

  • often called waste-to-energy (WTE)

  • after energy is recovered, approximately ten percent of the volume remains as ash (sent to landfill)

• treatment and disposal

  • treatment can help reduce the volume and toxicity of waste

    • can be physical (e.g., shredding), chemical (e.g., incineration), and biological (e.g., anaerobic digestor)

  • methane gas, byproduct of decomposing waste, can be collected and used as fuel to generate electricity

https://www.epa.gov/smm/sustainable-materials-management-non-hazardous-materials-and-waste-management-hierarchy#Source_Reduction

What is the waste management hierarchy order of preference?

from most preferred to least preferred:

• source reduction and reuse

• recycling / composting

• energy recovery

• treatment and disposal

What are the major components of MSW generated in the US (by weight)?

in 2018:

• paper and paperboard: 67,390,000 tons

  • I use paper everyday

• food: 63,130,000 tons

  • I eat food everyday

• plastics: 35,680,000 tons

  • I consume (micro)plastics everyday

• yard trimmings: 35,400,000 tons

  • I mow my yard everyday

• metals: 25,600,000 tons

• wood: 18,090,000 tons

• textiles: 17,030,000 tons

• glass: 12,250,000 tons

• rubber and leather: 9,160,000 tons

• other: 4,560,000 tons

• miscellaneous inorganic waste: 4,070,000 tons

How many pounds of MSW are produced per person per day in the US?

in 2018:

• per capita MSW generation was 4.9 pounds per person per day in 2018

How has the pounds of MSW are produced per person per day in the US changed over time?

• Per capita MSW generation increased from 4.5 pounds per person per day in 2017 to 4.9 pounds per person per day in 2018 (8% increase)

• increase from 2017 to 2018 is mainly due to the EPA’s inclusion of additional wasted food management pathways

• overall, pounds of MSW produced per person per day in the US has increased since 1960

• generation of paper and paperboard, largest material component of MSW, fluctuates from year to year

  • decreased from 87.7 million tons in 2000 to 67.4 million tons in 2018

• generation of yard trimmings and food waste has increased since 2000

  • (tip to remember: population is growing, people have more lawns and consume more food)

• generation of other material categories fluctuates from year to year, but overall MSW generation increased from 1960 to 2005, with the trend reversing from 2005 to 2010, and rising again from 2010 through 2018

What countries generate the most MSW per person per year?

per capita generation (kg/yr)

• United States: 730 kg/yr

• Australia: 681 kg/yr

• Canada: 625 kg/yr

• Japan: 394 kg/yr

• United Kingdom: 357 kg/yr

(Uncle Alex can juggle umbrellas)

What countries produce little MSW per person per year?

per capita generation (kg/yr)

• Austria: 355 kg/yr

• Spain: 322 kg/yr

• Germany: 318 kg/yr

• France: 303 kg/yr

• Italy: 301 kg/yr

(Aunt Sarah gave Fred ice)

What recyclables provide the greatest greenhouse gas saving per ton?

when recycling or composting vs landfilling (MTCE/ton)

• aluminum cans (+3.71)

• mixed metals (+1.44)

• textbooks (+1.38)

• office paper (+1.31)

• mixed paper (+1.06)

• corrugated cardboard (+0.96)

• mixed recyclables (+0.83)

• magazines (+0.76)

pg 619 of textbook

What is the ‘current’ percentage (by weight) of material recovery from the wastestream (recycling and composting) in the US?

• 32.1% recycling and composting rate (almost 94 million tons of MSW were recycled and composted out of the total 292.4 million tons)

https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/national-overview-facts-and-figures-materials#:~:text=Created%20with%20Highcharts%204.2.7%20Total%20MSW%20Generated%20by%20Material,Inorganic%20Wastes:%201.39%25

For which type of materials do we have the highest and lowest recovery rates?

recycling:

• paper and paperboard: 45,970,000 tons (66.54%)

• metals: 8,720,000 tons (12.62%)

• wood: 3,100,000 tons (4.49%)

• plastics: 3,090,000 tons (4.47%)

• glass: 3,060,000 tons (4.43%)

• textiles: 2,510,000 tons

• rubber and leather: 1,670,000 tons

• other: 970,000 tons

• miscellaneous inorganic waste: 0 tons

composting:

• yard trimmings: 22,300,000 tons (52.35%)

• food-other management: 17,710,000 tons (41.57%)

• food-composting: 2,590,000 tons (6.08%)

https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/national-overview-facts-and-figures-materials#:~:text=Created%20with%20Highcharts%204.2.7%20Total%20MSW%20Generated%20by%20Material,Inorganic%20Wastes:%201.39%25

What are the benefits of energy recovery from MSW?

• key aspect of the nonhazardous waste management hierarchy, which ranks management strategies from most to least environmentally preferred

• confined and controlled burning (combustion) decreases the volume of solid waste headed to landfills and recovers energy from the waste burning process

  • generates an energy source

  • reduces carbon emissions by offsetting the need for energy from fossil sources

  • reduces methane generation from landfills

https://www.epa.gov/smm/energy-recovery-combustion-municipal-solid-waste-msw

What are the most common wastes combusted?

• food: 7,550,000 tons (21.85%)

  • food makes me combust after eating too much

• plastics: 5,620,000 tons (16.27%)

  • all the (micro)plastics in my food make me combust too

• paper and paperboard: 4,200,000 tons (12.16%)

  • the food that made me combust was packaged in paper

• textiles: 3,220,000 tons (9.32%)

  • gonna combust while wearing my clothes made from textiles

• metals: 2,950,000 tons (8.54%)

• wood: 2,840,000 tons (8.22%)

• yard trimmings: 2,570,000 tons (7.44%)

• rubber and leather: 2,500,000 tons (7.24%)

• glass: 1,640,000 tons (4.75%)

• miscellaneous inorganic waste: 800,000 tons (2.32%)

• other: 660,000 tons (1.91%)

https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/national-overview-facts-and-figures-materials#:~:text=Created%20with%20Highcharts%204.2.7%20Total%20MSW%20Generated%20by%20Material,Inorganic%20Wastes:%201.39%25