Transcript Solid Waste Management

Solid Waste Management
Did you know??
• One ton of recycled paper uses
•64% less energy
•50% less water
•Causes 74% less air
pollution
•Saves 17 trees
•Creates 5 times more jobs
than one ton of paper
product made from virgin
wood pulp.
Did you know??
• New York City alone throw out
enough garbage each DAY to
fill the Empire State Building.
• In one day, Americans get rid
of 20,000 cars and 4,000
trucks.
In the U.S.
• Industry, people and institutions
produced 230 million pounds of
waste in 1999.
• This amount of trash equals
almost 5 pounds of waste per
person per day.
• Municipal solid waste is waste
that consists of paper, yard
waste, food and plastic. Solid
waste management can be
handled in several ways.
WAYS TO DISPOSE WASTES
• Open landfill – Just a hole in
the ground where trash is
dumped. Soil is placed over
the trash to help keep the
smell down. These types of
landfills were used in the
1960’s and have no lining.
• Sanitary landfills - A
landfill is a regulated area
where wastes are placed in the
land. Landfills are constructed
in several layers to prevent
contamination of the soil
and water around them and to
handle odor, gases and waste
volume.
• Examples:
• Municipal Waste Landfill,
• Construction and Demolition
Waste
• Resource Recovery (Waste-toenergy facilities)
Steps in creating a sanitary
landfill
1. Landfill is lined with a plastic
liner and several feet of clay
on the bottom and sides of the
hole.
• This lining prevents most
substances from leaking out
of the landfill into the ground
and water.
2. Wastes are compacted and
covered with several inches of
soil on a daily basis to help
reduce odor, and to control
litter, insects and rodents.
3. Landfills must be monitored
in order to prevent the
contamination of groundwater
and other areas around the
landfill.
4. Newer landfills have
leachate collection systems.
Collects water that has
percolated through the landfill
and contains contaminate
substances
(leachates/leeching).
5. Methane collection system.
Landfill gas (LFG) forms when
trash begins to decompose in
an anaerobic environment.
Landfill gas consists of 50 %
methane and 50% carbon
dioxide. Some landfills collect
the gases and convert them to
electricity.
6. The primary decomposers of
garbage are bacteria and
fungi.
Decomposers – organisms
that break down dead
organic wastes.
7. The amount of moisture and
air, temperature, light and
the decomposing material all
affect the rate at which
microbes can digest the
garbage.
8. According to the EPA, 25%
of all monitored landfills in the
US are leaking their contents
into the groundwater.
Landfill Construction
Simulation
• http://polaris.umuc.edu/mts/E
NVM/newsimu/02constr/constr.html
SOLID WASTE BREAKDOWN
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Paper: 2-4 weeks
Cotton rags: 1-5 months
Orange peel: 6 months
Wool sock: 12 months
Plastic bags: 10-20 yrs.
Leather shoes: 25-40 yrs.
Aluminum cans: 200-500 yrs.
Glass bottle: undetermined
By 2010, there may not be many
places where our trash can go.
RCRA
• Resource conservation and
Recovery Act (1976)
• This is a federal law which
helps to govern our waste
management system.
• *To protect public from harm
caused by waste disposal.
• *To encourage reuse,
reduction and recycling
• *To clean-up spilled or
improperly stored wastes
Combustion
• One way in which we try and
reduce the amount of waste is
by combustion. Combustion
is disposing of trash by
controlled burning.
• These stations are sometimes
called WTE facilities because
as the wastes burn energy is
produced.
1. Combustion of trash reduces
the volume of the wastes by
90% and the mass by 75%.
2. Burning at such high
temperatures destroys
harmful compounds and kills
disease-causing bacteria.
3. Burning trash also creates
energy and it can convert
water into steam to generate
electricity.
4.Combustion also pollutes the
air. A scrubber uses a liquid
spray to neutralize acidic gases
in combustion smoke. Filters
are also used to remove ash
particles from the smoke.
Biomediation Plants
• WTE plants may also use
heated tanks filled with
bacteria to break down
wastes. By products are
METHANE.
• Then the methane is burned to
produce heat and
ELECTRICITY most of which
is used in the plant itself.
Composting
• Biological way to rid of wastes.
• Worm, bacteria, fungi
decompose fruit and other
organisms decompose piles of
fruit & veggies, food scraps,
wood and lawn clippings
• Composting begins by
microorganisms digesting
and excreting the organic
matter into the pile. As the
temperature rises more
organisms are attracted to the
pile.
• The product of composting is
a dark brown substance called
humus. Humus is very rich in
nutrients and an important
part of good soil
Paper vs. Plastic
• Plastics buried in a landfill can
take an estimated time of up
to 500 years to break down..
• Plastic is made from long
complicated chains of atoms
called polymers. Bacterial
and other decomposers do not
find these polymers very
appetizing.
• Some plastics are
photodegradable, which
means they break down in the
presences of light.
• Other plastics are
biodegradable, which means
that they degrade by the
action of
microbes(bacteria/fungi)
• Biodegradable plastic bags
have been developed. They
are made of plastic webbing
and cornstarch.
• Paper presents a space
problem. There is more paper
used than plastics but it does
not compact. Paper will not
rot when sealed air tight.
WASTE PREVENTION –
REDUCE, REUSE AND RECYCLE
• There are three goals of waste
prevention.
• Reduce the amount of waste
• Reuse as much as possible
• Recycle materials
REDUCE
• We have many disposable
materials in our society. We
have been referred to as the
“throw away society.”
• Source Reduction alters the
design, manufacture or use of
materials to reduce the
amount and toxicity of the
waste generated.
• Purchasing durable goods
and products with little or no
packaging.
• Using environmentally
friendly cleaning products and
using small amounts to clean.
REUSE
• Reusing items rather than
throwing them in the trash is
another way in which we can
reduce the amount of waste.
• Give items away for redistribution.
RECYCLE
• Recycling is a series of
activities that reuse a product’s
raw materials to manufacture
new products.
1. Collect the materials: glass,
plastic, steel, paper, plastic
and aluminum
2. Manufacturing:
• Each recyclable has its own
process where it is broken
down and then made into
something new.
3. Recycling loop is completed
when recycled products are
bought. Buying recycled
products also saves resources
for future generations.
• Amount of items being recycled:
–42% of
–40% of
bottles
–55% of
–56% of
all paper
plastic soft drink
aluminum cans
all steel packaging
• Paper, especially newsprint, is
recycled and used on farms to
enrich soil and livestock
bedding.
• Not all glass can be recycled.
• Plastics are recycled based on
their SPI code numbers 1-7.
• Metals that are commonly
recycled are steel and
aluminum.
• Recycling aluminum cans have
diverted more than two billion
pounds of aluminum from the
landfills.
• Recycling DOES make a
difference!!!!!!
Penn Waste Single Streaming
• http://www.pennwaste.com/re
cycling/pw_single_stream_recy
cling.asp