What a Waste!!!
Types of solid wastes
– Ash
– Hazardous waste
– Industrial waste
– Infectious waste
– Municipal solid waste
– Sludge
-Toxic waste
– Yard waste
Household Hazardous Waste
• paint, cleaners, oils, batteries, and
pesticides, that contain hazardous
components.
What is Domestic Waste
Domestic waste usually comes
from homes.
It consists of organic material like
food scraps and garden waste,
but the majority consists of paper,
cardboard, and plastics.
According to the EPA
regulations, solid waste is
• garbage, or refuse
• sludge from a wastewater treatment plant,
water supply treatment plant, or air
pollution control facility
• Any phase of material resulting from
industrial, commercial, mining, and
agricultural operations, and from
community activities.
E Waste-Electronic Waste- TV,
Computers, Cell Phones etc.
• Comprise 2% of the waste stream
• Contain Lead Cadmium , Mercury and
other toxic metals.
• Costs more to recycle than to put in
landfills
• Some sent to China (controversial), where
metals are separated without saftey
practices harming humans.
How much municipal solid waste is generated
each year in the United States?
• 1998- 220 million tons of municipal solid
waste was generated in the United
States. average of 4.46 pounds of solid
waste per day.
• 2001- 229 million tons of MSW,
approximately 4.4 pounds of waste per
person per day
• 2008- 2.43 pounds per person
MSW management practices
• Source reduction altering the design, manufacture, or
use of products and materials to reduce the amount and
toxicity of what gets thrown away.
• Recycling diverts items, such as paper, glass, plastic,
and metals, from the wastestream. These materials are
sorted, collected, and processed and then manufactured,
sold, and bought as new products.
• Composting decomposes organic waste, such as food
scraps and yard trimmings, with microorganisms (mainly
bacteria and fungi), producing a humus-like substance
Other practices addressing
materials that require disposal
• Landfills are engineered areas where
waste is placed into the land. Landfills
usually have liner systems and other
safeguards to prevent groundwater
contamination.
• Combustion Combustion facilities burn
MSW at a high temperature, reducing
waste volume and generating electricity
The United States
• 30 percent of MSW is recovered and
recycled or composted
• 15 percent is burned at combustion
facilities
• 56 percent is disposed of in landfills.
Combustion and Incineration
Benefits
• reduce waste volume by up to 90 percent in
volume and 75 percent in weight.
• convert water into steam to fuel heating systems
or generate electricity.
• Burning waste at extremely high temperatures
also destroys harmful chemical compounds and
disease-causing bacteria
Combustion and Incineration
problems solved?
• pollution control technologies reduce the toxic
materials emitted in combustion smoke.
• 1. scrubbers—a device that uses a liquid spray
to neutralize acid gases in smoke
• 2. filters, which remove tiny ash particles from
the smoke.
• 3. Regular testing ensures that residual ash is
nonhazardous before being put in landfills
• Although source reduction, reuse,
recycling, and composting can divert large
portions of municipal solid waste (MSW)
from disposal, some waste still must be
placed in landfills
Source reduction = waste
prevention
• consuming and throwing away less.
• purchasing durable, long-lasting goods and
• seeking products and packaging that are as free
of toxics as possible.
• Because source reduction actually prevents the
generation of waste in the first place, it is the
most preferable method of waste management
and goes a long way toward protecting the
environment
Reuse
• Reusing items by repairing them, donating
them to charity and community groups, or
selling them also reduces waste.
• Reusing, when possible, is preferable to
recycling because the item does not need
to be reprocessed before it can be used
again.
• www.freecycle.com
Recycling Benefits
• Conserves resources
• Prevents emissions of many greenhouse gases
and water pollutants.
• Saves energy.
• Supplies valuable raw materials to industry.
• Creates jobs.
• Reduces the need for new landfills and
incinerators.
Recycling is one of the best environmental
success stories of the late 20th century.
• Recycling, including composting, diverted
68 million tons of material away from
landfills and incinerators in 2001, up from
34 million tons in 1990.
Composting
• Another form of recycling
• Composting is the controlled biological
decomposition of organic matter, such as
food and yard wastes, into humus, a soil-
like material.
For more interesting Information
• www.epa.gov/waste
Toxic Waste
Converting to less hazardous or nonhazardous
Methods
• Bioremediation
• Phytoremediation
• Burning-mass –burn incinerators Pros and cons
• Land disposal- Deep well
• Surface impoundments- should have a liner so
we don’t pollute groundwater
• Special landfills – materials are put into drums
and then housed underground.
Hazardous waste regulations
1.The Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act(RCRA) 1976 amended
1984
– Requires the EPA to set standards for
hazardous waste
– Permits are required for firms that store ,
produce or dispose of more than 100kg of
hazardous waste
– Cradle to grave system of tracking
•
Hazardous waste regulations
2. Superfund- 1980- Many Amendments
• Comprehensive Environmental Response
, Compensation and Liability Act
(CERCLA)
•
• Superfund is the Federal government's
program to clean up the nation's
uncontrolled hazardous waste sites.
Superfund
1. a tax is imposed on the chemical and
petroleum industry. This revenue funds
the cleanup of abandoned hazardous
waste sites.
2. Authorizes the federal gov. to respond to
the release of harmful substances.
3. EPA maintains a list of contaminated
sites, NPL list ( National Priorities list)
Super fund sites
• As of 2010 ther ewere 1,282 sites
• NJ has the most 114
• Followed by PA and California with 94
• NY has 85
• Most famous – Love Canal, NY
Hazardous waste regulations
3. Brown fields program
• Created in 1995
• Assists state and local government with
clean up of contaiminated sites.
Solution
• Reduce waste by doing a life cycle
analysis
• Look at materials used and released in the
lifetime of the product.
Be a smart consumer!!!!!!!!