Transcript Document

WASTE MANAGEMENT
Chapter 19
Mr. Manskopf
Notes Also At
www.manskopf.com
Love Canal, New York
When Waste is Not Disposed of Properly
• 1942 to 1958 Hooker
Chemicals Disposal Site
• 1953 Sold to Niagara Falls
School Board (school,
housing)
• 1976 Residents becoming
sick
• 1978 Lois Gibbs leads
outcry
• 1980 Declared Disaster Site
• 2004 Taken off Superfund
List
Section 1: Wasting Resources
• Why should we care about
solid waste?
• How much waste does the
U.S. produce?
• What is in the garbage?
• The throw away
mentality: OUT of
SIGHT… OUT OF
MIND
Solid Waste
• Unwanted or discarded
material that is not liquid
or gas
• Out of sight Out of Mind
• No Waste In Nature
Two Reasons to Be
Concerned:
1) Wasted Resources
2) Causes huge amounts of
air, water, land pollution
and soil erosion
Wasting Resources
Industrial and agricultural waste
Municipal solid waste
Fig. 24-2 p. 533
US: 11 billion metric tons/year
Affluenza In Action
• U.S. produces 1/3rd of
world’s solid waste and
buries ½ of it
• Most waste comes
from mining, oil, gas,
ag., sewage, industry
• Think about a simple
product like a
computer…how much
waste produced to
create it (Life Cycle)
Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)
• 1.5% of Solid Waste is
MSW
• Between 1960 and 1990
per capita MSW grown
70%...why do you think
that is?
• 38% is paper, 12% yard
waste, 11% food waste,
10% platics
• E-Waste Growing FAST
MSW
MSW Continued…
Garbologists findings
• 50 year old
newspapers still
readable
• Pork Chops decades
old
WHY DO THEY
NOT
DECOMPOSE????..
...what do things
need to decompose
MSW Continued…
Enough disposable
diapers each year
linked together
would go to moon
and back 7 times
Enough office paper
to build a wall 11
feet high between
NYC and SF
What are the options for dealing with
waste?
 Waste management (high waste approach)
Waste is part of economic growth, lets manage negatives
 Burying, burning, shipping
 Waste prevention (low waste approach)
Before product is produced look to minimize life cycle
 Reduce, reuse, recycle
Six Ideas For Less Waste
1) Consume less: Do we
Really NEED this?
2) Redesign products to
use less resources: How
can we make this
product using less
resources throughout
their life cycle
3) Redesign to use and
make less pollution:
Toxic substances etc.
Six Ideas For Less Waste
4) Develop products
that are easier to
repair, reuse,
remanufacture,
compost or recycle
5) Design products to
last longer
6) Eliminate or reduce
packaging (nude
packaging)
Methods of Solid Waste
Disposal
Burning and Burying
• What are
advantages and
disadvantages of
burning solid
waste?
• What are the
advantages and
disadvantages of
burying solid
waste?
Typical Waste to Energy Plant (incinerator)
Burning Wastes
Burning Waste
• Japan and Switzerland
over 50%, U.S. about
16%
• More than 280 project
canceled in U.S. due
to high costs, concern
among citizens, air
pollution etc.
Burying Wastes
 Open dumps
 Sanitary landfills
 Leachate collection
 Monitoring wells
 Emit greenhouse gases (CO2 and
methane)
Sanitary Landfill
Fig. 24-14 p. 547
And what
about all
of the
older
landfills
around
U.S. and
the rest of
the
world???
NIMBY
• Not In My Back Yard
common with landfills and
incinerators
Review Costs and Benefits:
Landfills
Benefits
Costs
Decomposition yields methane, which Leachate may eventually escape
can be used like natural gas.
and contaminate the groundwater.
When full, landfills are capped. The
land can be used for recreation.
Trash decomposes very slowly.
Few communities are willing to
host landfills (NIMBY).
Review: Costs and Benefits of
Incineration
Benefits
Costs
Incinerating waste reduces its weight by
up to 75% and volume by up to 90%.
Toxic ash must be disposed of.
Heat from burning trash can be used to
generate electricity (waste-to-energy).
Dioxins, heavy metals, and
PCBs can be created and
released by burning waste.
Section 2: Minimizing Waste
• How can we reduce,
reuse, recycle our
waste?
What is REUSE?
Cleaning and
using the material
over and over
again increasing
the lifespan of the
product
Junkyards and
salvaging wood from
old homes etc.
Not Reuse…
Reuse: Benefits
 Extends resource supplies
 Saves energy and money
 Reduces pollution
 Create jobs
 Reusable products
Reuse: Costs
• Waste (especially e-waste)
can contain harmful
substances…especially
heavy metals
Many eke out living scavenging for waste in large open dumps
Some Success
• 95% of Finland’s soft
drink, beer, wine
bottles reused
• Germany about 3/4th
are refilled
Other examples of Reuse…
Shopping bags and
tool libraries
Recycling
•
•
•
•
What is recycling?
What is composting?
How should we recycle solid waste?
How much waste paper is being
recycled?
• How feasible is recycling plastics?
• Why isn’t more reused and recycled?
What is recycling?
Reprocessing solid waste into
new useful products
5 Categories in US
Household Recycling
1) Paper Products
2) Glass
3) Aluminum
4) Steel
5) Some plastics
Characteristics of Recyclable
Materials
Easily isolated from other waste
Available in large quantities
Valuable
Recycling Rates
• Switzerland, Japan
50%
• U.S. 30% up from
6.4% in 1960
• 60-80% is
achievable
Wastepaper Recycling
• Easy to recycle
• Removing ink, glue
coating and reconverting
into pulp
• 42% of world tree
harvest is for paper
• Currently U.S. recycles
49% of waste paper
• Making paper has big
enviro impact
Wastepaper Recycling
How plastics
are made
Recycling plastic is
difficult chemically and
economically
•10% in U.S. recycled
•Different resins
•Low cost of oil
•Biodegradable plastics
(bioplatics) offer hope
Types of Plastic
Economics of Recycling
• Paper, aluminum, steel
are easy to recycle and
make easy economic
sense
• CRITICS: 1) plenty of
landfill space, 2) Glass
and plastic expensive to
recycle
• Employs 1.1 million
people
Why we don’t recycle more
• Enviro Costs not included
(externalities)
• Too few government
subsidies
• Tipping fees at landfills
cheap
• Price fluctuations for
goods
• Often don’t PAUT
• Life cycle costs often not
factored in
Did You Know? States with
“bottle bills” (consumers receive
a refund per returned bottle or
can) have reduced their beverage
container litter by 69–84% and
total litter by 30–64%.
Composting
• Composting organic waste mimics
nature
• Only 5% of yard waste composted
in U.S….could easily be raised to
35%
• Compost used as fertilizer, topsoil
and help restore eroded land
Composting
Section 7: Hazardous Waste
•
•
•
•
What is hazardous waste?
What can we do with hazardous waste?
How can we detoxify waste?
What are advantages and disadvantages
of burying hazardous wastes?
• What are Brownfields?
What is Hazardous Waste?
Any discarded solid or
liquid that is toxic,
ignitable, corrosive or
reactive enough to
explode or release toxic
fumes.
• 80-90% from developed
countries
• 72% from Petro-Chem
• 22% mining
What is hazardous waste?
• Ignitable: Can catch fire
• Corrosive: Can damage or destroy metals
• Reactive: Chemically unstable; can explode or produce fumes
when combined with water
• Toxic: Harmful or fatal when inhaled, ingested, or touched
• Common sources of hazardous waste include
batteries, cleaning agents, paints, and pesticides.
Case Study: Bhopal India
• 1984 World’s worst
industrial accident
• Union Carbide pesticide
plant explosion
• Toxic cloud settled over
region killing 23,000
• 120,000 to 150,000
suffer chronic illnesses
related to accident
Hazardous Waste Disposal
• Landfills: Specifically
designed to keep hazardous
waste contained
• Surface impoundment:
Liquid waste poured into
shallow lined pits; water
evaporates and solid waste
is transported elsewhere
• Deep-well injection (see
diagram on right): Wastes
injected into deep, confined
porous rock layers
Hazardous Waste Landfill
Surface Impoundments: Trade-offs
Brownfields
Abandoned industrial
and other hazardous
waste site
• Factories, junk
yards, gas stations
• Usually older urban
areas like Camden
are full of them
Brownfields
• Can be cleaned up
and reborn as parks,
industrial parks, etc.
• First need to be
cleaned
• Some developers
weary of taking risks
and costs
Brownfields
One example of many in Camden:
http://www.state.nj.us/dep//srp/brownfields/bda/n_camden.htm
Case Studies: Lead
 Lead poisoning major problem in children
Primary Sources of Lead
 Leaded gasoline (phased out by 1986)
 Lead paint (banned in 1970)
 Lead in plumbing
 Progress is being made in reducing lead
Case Studies: Mercury
 Vaporized elemental Mercury
 Fish contaminated with methylmercury
 Natural inputs
 Emission control
 Prevention of contamination
Case Studies: Dioxins
 Potentially highly toxic chlorinated
hydrocarbons
Sources of Dioxins
 Waste incineration
 Fireplaces
 Coal-fired power plants
 Paper production
 Sewage sludge
Hazardous Waste Regulation in
the U.S.
• What is RCRA?
• What is
Superfund?
Hazardous Waste Regulation in the
United States
 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
(RCRA)
 Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act (Superfund)
 National Priority List
 Polluter-pays principle
RCRA
1976 Passed By
Congress: amended
1984
1) ID Hazardous Waste
and set standards
2) Companies that deal
with Haz. Waste over
220 lbs. must get
permits
3) Cradle to Grave
tracking and submit
proof to EPA
CERCLA
Commonly called
Superfund
• Passed in 1980 (NJ
Congressman leaders)
• Established tax on on
chemicals to
1) ID abandoned dumps
sites
2) Clean up groundwater
3) Establish NPL list for
cleanups
http://www.scorecard.org/envreleases/land/
Why do you think NJ has so many?
CERCLA
• Responsible parties must
pay
• If no party can be found
clean ups down using $
from tax on oil and
chemical companies (tax
expired 1995)
• 1,250 NPL sites…113 in
NJ
• About 72% clean up
underway avg. $20
million per site
CERCLA
• Some estimates 10,000
sites could cost $1
trillion…pollution
prevention cheaper?
• Toxic Release Inventory
www.epa.gov/tri
Polluter Pays Principle
• Who should pay for
cleanup when
responsible parties can
not be found?
• Currently tax payers
• 1 in 4 Americans live
within 4 miles of
Superfund NPL site