21.1 What Are Solid and Hazardous Waste, and Why Are They Problems?

Wasting Resources

• Solid Waste

• Industrial Solid Waste

  • Mining

  • Agriculture

  • Industry

• Municipal Solid Waste

• Hazardous or toxic waste

  • Threatens human health or the environment

  • Poisonous

  • Reactive

  • Corrosive

  • Flammable

  • Developed countries produce 80-90%

• Solid waste and hazardous waste

  • About 3/4 of unnecessary resource waste

  • Create air and water pollution, land degradation

What Harmful Chemicals Are in Your Home?

Cleaning

• Disinfectants

• Drain, toilet, and window cleaners

• Spot removers

• Septic tank cleaners

Paint Products

• Paints, stains, varnishes, and lacquers

• Paint thinners, solvents, and strippers

• Wood preservatives

• Artist paints and inks

General

• Dry-cell batteries (mercury and cadmium)

• Glues and cement

Gardening

• Pesticides

• Weed killers

• Ant and rodent killers

• Plea powders

Automotive

• Gasoline

• Used motor oil

• Antifreeze

• Battery acid

• Brake and transmission fluid

21.2 How Should We Deal with Solid Waste?

Dealing with Solid Waste

• Waste management

• Waste reduction

• Integrated waste management

First Priority

Primary Pollution and Waste Prevention

• Change industrial processes to eliminate the use of harmful chemicals

• Use less of a dangerous product

• Reduce packaging and materials in products

• Make products that last longer and are recyclable, reusable, or easy to repair

Second Priority

Second Pollution and Waste Prevention

• Reuse

• Repair

• Recycle

• Compost

• Buy reusable and recyclable products

Last Priority

Waste Management

• Treat waste to reduce toxicity

• Incinerate waste

• Bury waste in landfills

• Release waste into the environment for dispersal or dilution

What Can You Do?

Solid Waste

• Follow the three Rs of resource use: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle

• Ask yourself whether you really need a particular item, and refuse to package where possible

• Rent, borrow, or barter goods and services when you can, buy secondhand, and donate or sell unused items

• Buy reusable, recyclable, or compostable things, and be sure to reuse, recycle, and compost them.

• Avoid disposables, and do not use throwaway paper and plastic plates, cups, eating utensils, and other disposable items when reusable or refillable versions are available

• Use email or text messaging in place of conventional paper mail

• Read newspapers and magazines online

• Buy products in bulk or concentrated form whenever possible

Reducing Resource Use, Waste, and Pollution

• Redesign processes and products to use less material

• Redesign processes and products to generate less waste

• Make products easy to repair, reuse, remanufacture, compost, or recycle

• Eliminate or reduce unnecessary packaging

• Use fee-per-bag waste collection systems

• Establish cradle-to-grave laws

21.3 Why Is Reusing and Recycling Materials So Important?

Reuse

• Reuse: Clean and use materials over and over

• The downside of reuse in developing countries

• Salvaginf automobiles parts

• Rechargeable batteries

What Can We Do?

• Buy beverages in refillable glass containers instead of cans or throwaways bottles

• Use reusable plastic or metal lunchboxes

• Carry sandwiches and store food in the refrigerator in reusable containers instead of wrapping them in aluminum foil or plastic wrap

• Use rechargeable batteries and recycle them when their useful life is over

• Carry groceries and other items in a reusable basket, a canvas or string bag, or a small cart

• Buy used furniture, computers, cars, and other items instead of buying new

• Give away or sell items you no longer use.

There Are Two Types of Recycling

• Primary, closed-loop recycling

• Second recycling

• Types of wastes that can be recycled

  • Preconsumer: Internal waste

  • Postconsumer: external waste

Bioplastics

• Plastics from soybeans: not a new concept

• Key to bioplastics: catalysts

• Source

  • Corn

  • Soy

  • Sugarcane

  • Switchgrass

  • Chicken feathers

  • Some garbage

  • CO2 from coal-burning plant emissions

• Benefits

  • lighter, stronger, cheaper, and biodegradable

Trade-Offs: Recycling

Advantages

• Reduces air and water pollution

• Saves energy

• Reduces mineral demand

• Reduces greenhouse gas emissions

• Reduce solid waste production and disposal

• Helps protect biodiversity

• Can save landfill space

• An important part of the economy

Disadvantages

• Can cost more than burying in areas with ample landfill space

• May lose money for items such as glass and some plastics

• Reduces profits for landfill and incinerator owners

• Source separation is inconvenient for some people.

We Can Encourage Reuse and Recycling

• Encourage reuse and recycling

  • Government

    • Increase subsidies and tax breaks for using such products

    • Decrease subsidies and tax breaks for making items from virgin resources

    • Fee-per-bag collection

    • News laws

    • Citizen pressure

21.4 The Advantages and Disadvantages of Burning or Burying Solid Waste

• Waste-energy incinerators

• 600 Globally

Tradeoffs- Incineration

Advantages

• Reduce trash volume

• Less need for landfills

• Low water pollution

• Concentrates hazardous substances into asking for burial

• The sale of energy reduces the cost

• Modern controls reduce air pollution

• Some facilities recover and sell metals

Disadvantages

• Expensive to build

• Costs most than short-distance

• hauling to landfills

• Difficult to the site because of citizen opposition

• Some air pollution and CO2 emissions

• Order or poorly managed facilities can release large amounts of air pollution

• Outputs approach that encourages waste production

• Can compete with recycling for burnable materials such as newspaper

Tradeoffs- Sanitary Landfills

Advantages

• No open burning

• Littler order

• Low groundwater pollution if sited properly

• Cna be built quickly

• Low operating cost

• Can handle a large amount of water

• Filled land can be used for other purposes

Disadvantages

• Noise and traffic

• Dust

• Air pollution from toxic gases and trucks

• releases greenhouse gases (methane and CO2) unless they are collected

• Slow decomposition of wastes

• Output approach that encourages waste production

• Eventually, leaks can contaminate groundwater

21.5 How Should We Deal with Hazardous Waste

We Can Use Integrated Management of Hazardous Waste

• Integrated management of hazardous wastes: produce less, convert to less hazardous substances, rest in long-term safe storage

• Increase the use of post-consumer hazardous waste.

We Can Detoxify Hazardous Wastes

• Collect and then detoxify

  • Physical methods

  • Chemical methods

  • Use nonmagnetic

  • Bioremediation

  • Phytoremediation

• Incineration

• Using a plasma arc torch

Phytoremediation

• Rhizofiltration: Roots of plants such as sunflowers with dangling roots absorb pollution.

• Phytostabilization: Plants such as willow trees and popular can absorb chemicals and keep them from reaching groundwater or nearby surface water

• Photodegradation: Plants can absorb toxic organic chemicals and break them down into less harmful compounds which they store or release slowly into the air

• Phytoextraction: Roots of plants can absorb toxic metals

We Can Store Some Forms of Hazardous Waste

• Burial on land or long-term storage

• Deep well disposal: disposal of fluids

• Surface impoundments: holds an accumulation of liquids

• Secure hazardous landfill: a built-on or depression of the ground to hold waste.

United States

• 1979: Resource Conservation and recovery act

• 1980: Comprehensive Environmental, compensation, and liability act

  • The pace of cleanup has slowed

  • Superfund is broke