Transcript WFSC 420 Chapter 19

Chapter 16
Municipal Solid Waste: Disposal
and Recovery
Chapter Introduction
Danehy Park- Cambridge, MA
Danehy Park
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50-acre park opened in 1990.
Built on a former city dump.
Light system in the restrooms to warn of
evacuation in the case of methane buildup.
Many dumps since the “solid-waste crisis”
of 1970s and 80s have been converted to
parks, golf courses, and nature preserves.
The Ideal:
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When looking for sustainable
solutions, the ideal would be to imitate
the natural world and reuse
everything.
The Solid-Waste Problem
Lesson 18.1
MSW
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MSW=Municipal Solid Wastes
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The total of all materials from homes
or commercial establishments thrown
away and collected by local
governments.
Commonly called trash, refuse, or
garbage.
Types of Waste:
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Hazardous: made up of the HAZMAT
materials: ignitable, corrosive,
reactive, or toxic.
Industrial: 7.6 billion tons generated
annually. Composed of demolition
and construction waste, agricultural
and mining residue, combustion ash,
sewage treatment sludge.
Factors Contributing to Increasing Amounts
of MSW
The Story of Stuff:
21 minutes
Factors Contributing to Increasing
Amounts of MSW
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In part by: Increasing populations
More so by: Changing lifestyles,
increased use of disposable
materials*, excessive packaging*
* = two largest contributors to waste volume
Compare the procedures:
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1960 the nation generated 2.7 pounds of MSW per person
per day. Most was combusted in open landfills to reduce
volume. Produced clouds of smoke, bad smell, and
breeding ground for rats and flies.
Some cities turned to incinerators (combustion facilities).
Produced large amounts of air pollution when not
monitored correctly.
Open dumps turned to landfills.
2003 the nation generated 4.5 pounds per person per day.
MSW Patterns of Disposal
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US 1998: 55% disposed in landfills, 28%
recovered for recycling and composting,
17% combusted.
US 2003: 55.4% landfills, 30.6% recycling,
14% combustion.
Over the past 10 years, the overall trend is
landfill and combustion declining, recycling
increasing.
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Pattern not the same for highly populated areas like
Japan (combusts 75%) and Western Europe (0ver
50%).
US: MSW Components
**However the
proportions can
vary depending
on the season,
the affluence or
the generator
(commercial vs.
home).
The US Fate of MSW
In countries with large
populations like
Japan, these numbers
change toward the
direction of
combustion…Japan
combusts 80% of its
MSW.
Who is in Charge?
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Customarily the local jurisdictions
have been in charge of waste
collection.
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Own their own trucks.
OR contracted out.
The cost is traditionally passed along
to home owners via taxes or a PAYT
system.
Landfills: waste put on or in the ground
and covered with earth.
 Problems with old
landfill structures.
 Leachate generation
 Methane production
 Incomplete
decomposition
 Settling
Leachate Generation
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As water percolates through the refuse
and ground, it carries contaminates
with it to ground water.
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Florida: Superfund helped to get
landfills state-of-the-art liners to
prevent ground water contamination
Much of the land is flat, only a few feet
above sea level and rests on watersaturated limestone…big problem.
Methane Production
Natural Decomposition.
 Buried wastes are anaerobicaly
broken down by detritus feeders
creating biogas.
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Gases seeping to the surface kill
vegetation, leading to erosion that
exposes the unsightly wastes.
Biogas Exploitation
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390 commercial landfill gas
facilities in the US
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California has the largest facility
1998: produced 108 trillion BTU’s
of energy=20 million barrels of oil.
2005: produced 9 billion kWh of
electricity.
Riverview, Michigan
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The city collaborates with DTE to
“mine” the landfill gas under the 212acre landfill (Mt. Trashmore).
Provides 3700 homes with energy.
Doubles as a ski and recreation area
during winter months.
Incomplete decomposition
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Materials don’t completely break
down.
 Paper makes up 35% of the MSW.
If paper is recycled, it won’t
become MSW.
 Research
out of the University of Arizona
has shown that even materials previously
thought to be biodegradable are often
degraded at a very slow rate.
 30 year old papers have been recovered
(readable).
Why do the papers not break down?
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Not enough moisture.
The problem?
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If you add more water to the landfills
(which will make the papers degrade
faster), more toxic leachate is produced.
Archer Daniels Midland
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As oil prices rise, agricultural giant Midland,
has created biodegradable plastics made of
PHA (polyhydroxylalkanoate) based on corn
sugars.
The growth rate of these products is expected
to increase by 20% per year based upon two
things.
1.
2.
High oil price
Demand for environmentally friendly
packaging.
Settling
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Buildings not built on landfills
because of settling.
Causes a problem for playgrounds,
golf courses that are converted
landfills because it creates shallow
depressions (or even deep holes)
that hold water and seeps into
ground water.
EPA: Improving Landfills
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EPA has upgraded siting and
construction regulations.
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Sited on high ground.
Floor contoured.
Layering of materials, leachate
draining system, and liners.
Ground water monitoring.
Siting: Public Reactions
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LULU (locally
unwanted
landuse)
NIMBY (not in
my backyard)
NIMTOO (not in
my term of
office)
Siting Problems
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Drives up the cost of waste disposal.
Leads to inefficient and equally
objectionable practice of long-distance
transfer.
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Table 18-1 p 470.
A positive of the landfill siting
problem is that it encourages people to
reduce their amount of MSW and
recycle
Advantages of Combustion: waste to energy
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Can reduce weight by 70% and volume by
90%.
Toxic/hazardous materials concentrated into
two streams for easier handling and control.
Generate electricity.
No changes needed for collection procedures.
2/3 of combustion facilities are WTE facilities
(compliant with clean air act regulations).
Resource recovery.
Combustion: Drawbacks
 Health affects: older, poorer managed
facilities.
 Expensive to build.
 Ash loaded with heavy metals.
 Must have continuing supply of
MSW.
 Impedes recycling (direct competition
for same materials).
Waste to Energy facility (Figure 18-7 page 471)
Steps to process p.471, #ed.
Cost of MSW disposal
Tipping fees: $30-$100 per ton.
 Transportation costs.
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Increasing expense has lead to
illegal dumping.
Solutions
Lesson 18.2
The Solutions
Reduction
 Recycling
 Reusing
 Composting
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Source Reduction
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Definition: practice of designing,
manufacturing, purchasing, or using materials in
ways that reduce the amount or toxicity of the
trash collected.
Accomplishes waste prevention
EPA measures it by the amount of consumer
spending.
Accomplishes two goals:
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Reduces amount of waste to be managed.
Conserves resources.
Source Reduction in Action
 Lightening the weight of many items
has reduced the amount of materials
used.
 Electronic communication lessens
paper load.
 Durable goods made reusable.
 Lengthening product life.
 Get off the bulk mail list
 Begin composting
Recycling as a Solution
More than 75% MSW is recyclable.
 Primary recycling: original waste
material made back into same
product. News papers to newsprint
 Secondary recycling: waste made
into a new product. Newspaper to
cardboard
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How does recycling help?
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Recycle steel saves 2500 lbs of iron
ore, 1000 lbs of coal and more than
5400 BTU’s of energy
One ton of paper saves 17 trees, 6953
gallons of water, 463 gallons of oil
and 4000 kWh of energy.
Recycling paper decreases air
pollution by 74%, and water pollution
by 35%
Recyclable Materials
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Paper and paperboard
(48%)- recycled paper
or insulation.
Most glass (19%)- new
bottles or fiber glass.
Some forms of plastics
(5.2%)- carpet fiber,
outdoor apparel,
building materials.
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Metals (22%)- saves
energy, creates jobs,
and reduces trade
deficit.
Yard wastes (56%)humus
Textiles (14.4%)strengthen recycled
paper products.
Old tires (36%)- asphalt
Recyclable material (% recovery)-product it is made in to.
The Most Successful Recycling Programs
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No cost to recycle but PAYT for MSW
Mandates
Make it curbside
Goals are ambitious but clear and
feasible
Efforts made to involve industry
Municipality has hired a recycling
coordinator
How popular is recycling?
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Virtually every state has specific recycling
goals.
EPA reports state that in 1960 only 6.7%
MSW was recycled as compared to the
30.6% in 2003.
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Mostly driven by economic savings and
environmental concern.
All of the recycling is highly promotes by
the Global Recycling Network.
“Experience has shown that at
least two-thirds of
households will recycle if
presented with a curbside
pickup program”
Critics of Recycling
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Generally base their argument on
economics.
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If the costs of recycling are compared to the
cost of combustion or landfills, recycling
generally comes in second best.
Market for recyclable materials fluctuate greatly.
 The shortfall between cost and market value is
generally between $20-$135.
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Garbage collection is a big business and
those involved see recycling as cutting into
their market.
International paper trade:
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The market for recycled paper has fluctuated
greatly over the years.
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1980’s- market saturated and municipalities
had to pay to get rid of it.
1995-paper was so valuable is was bought at
about $160 a ton.
Forest-poor countries like Europe and Asia
purchase paper from the US and other
industrialized countries in the N hemisphere.
Fact:
A
one meter stack
of newspapers is
equal to the
amount of pulp
from one tree.
Glass recycling:
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5.3% enter the solid waste stream.
50% non burnable portion.
Large portion of the roadside litter.
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Injuries, flat tires, pollution created to mine
and manufacture.
Not al the cost shows in the price of the
item, some appears in taxes to clean up the
litter, as well as injuries, flat tire repair,
environmental degradation…
Bottle Laws:
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Environmental and consumer groups
have set some laws to promote
recycling and reuse of beverage
containers.
The opposition comes from beverage
and container industries who say that
bottle laws result in loss of jobs and
higher beverage costs for the
consumer.
Bottle Laws Continued:
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11 states as of 2006 have adopted some
type of bottle law.
The experience has been positive, proving
the beverage companies wrong by
providing more jobs and costs have not
risen, higher percentage of bottles are being
recycled and a marked reduction in bottle
litter.
In 2003 22% glass, 44% aluminum, 60%
steel, 25% plastic bottles were recovered.
Bottle laws continued:
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Only two states have bottle laws with
regard to non returnables such as
water and other non-carbonated
drinks.
With the rising cost of petroleum and
the many uses of plastic bottles,
recycling them makes both economic
and environmental sense.
Plastic Recycling
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Code 2: HDPE-high density polyethylene.
Code 1: PETE-polyethylene terephthalate.
Use for recycled plastics is limited
somewhat because of contamination in the
cross over process. Ex: some may not be
reused for food containers.
MRF’s- “murfs”
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Materials recovery facilities.
2001 there were 480 operating in the
US.
Wastes are sorted and shipped to
proper locations for reuse.
Advantages:
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Economy of sale
High quality end products
Mixed waste facilities:
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Receives waste as if it were going to a
landfill or combustion facility.
Waste put on a conveyer and is sorted
for recyclables before sending it to the
landfill.
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43 facilities in the US in 2001.
Public Policy and Waste Management
Lesson 18.3
MSW Regulations
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Solid waste disposal act 1965
Resource recovery act 1970 and1976
Superfund act 1980
Hazardous and solid waste
amendments 1984
Integrated Waste Management
Different combinations of source
reduction, WTE combustion,
recycling, recovery facilities,
landfills, and composting
depending on the options that work
best for the region.
 A system of several alternatives in
operation at the same time.
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Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
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Recycling is the wave of the future.
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Should not be the main pursuant in
lieu of reduction or reuse
Reduction is the most
environmental sound.
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Wastes that are not generated do not
need to be managed.
Sustainable MSW Management
Waste reduction
 Safe waste disposal
 Recycling and reuse
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Leachate
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Residues of decomposing organic
matter combined with iron, mercury,
lead zinc, and other metals from
rusting cans, discarded batteries, and
appliances, paints, pesticides, cleaning
fluids, news inks, and other chemicals.