APES- Chapter #23 Guided Reading Botkin & Keller- Materials Management Name: ________Chau Vu___________________________ Chapter Objectives:

The importance of resources to society The differences between mineral resources and reserves The factors that control the environmental impact of mineral exploitation How wastes generated from the use of mineral resources affect the environment The social impacts of mineral exploitation How sustainability may be linked to the way we use nonrenewable resources The emerging concepts of materials management and how to achieve it The advantages and disadvantages of each of the major methods that constitute integrated waste management The various methods of managing hazardous chemical waste The problems related to ocean dumping and why they will likely persist for some time Pg. 520: Treasures of the Cell Phone 1: What are the reasons why e-waste is not recycled more? -> Complicated processes, expensive 23.1: The Importance of Resources to Society 1: Define the following: * Renewable Resources A resource, such as timber, water, or air that is naturally recycled by artificial processes within a time frame useful for people. * Non-Renewable Resources A resource that is cycled so slowly by natural Earth processes that once used, it is essentially not going to be made available within any useful time framework. What differentiates renewable and non-renewable resources? -> Renewable resources (air, surface water, some groundwater, plants, animals, and some energy sources) and nonrenewable resources (soil, some groundwater, oil, coal, and most minerals)

2: How many tons of non-fuel minerals does the typical American use per year? -> 10 tons of non-fuel minerals per year. 23.2: Materials Management: What is it? 1: Define Materials Management: In waste management, methods consistent with the ideal of industrial ecology, making better use of materials and leading to more sustainable use of resources. 2: What are 5 ways that this can be pursued? -> Eliminate subsidies for extracting virgin materials such as minerals, oil, and timber. -> Establish green building incentives that encourage the use of recycled -content materials and products in new construction. -> Assess financial penalties for production that uses poor materials-management practices. -> Provide financial incentives for industrial practices and products that benefit the environment by enhancing sustainability (for example, by reducing waste production and using recycled materials). -> Provide more incentives for people, industry, and agriculture to develop materialsmanagement programs that eliminate or reduce waste by using it as raw material for other products. 3: How does the idea of materials management and recycling changing where paper mills are located? -> Today, they are being built near cities that have large supplies of recycled paper. 23.3: Mineral Resources 1: When metals are concentrated in such high amounts by geologic processes, ore deposits are formed. 2: In the Earths crust, which element makes up the most % by composition? What is 2nd? -> Oxygen, 45.2%. Next is silicon, 27.2% 3: How are sedimentary processes and weathering involved in mineral deposits? -> Sedimentary processes related to the transport of sediments by wind, water, and glaciers often concentrate materials in amounts sufficient for extraction. Weathering, the chemical and mechanical decomposition of rock, concentrates some minerals in the soil, such as native gold and oxides of aluminum and iron.

23.4: Figuring Out How Much is Left 1: What is the difference between a mineral resource and a mineral reserve? -> Mineral resources are broadly defined as known concentrations of elements, chemical compounds, minerals, or rocks. Mineral reserves are concentrations that at the time of evaluation can be legally and economically extracted as a commodity that can be sold at a profit. 2: Earths mineral resources can be divided into which broad categories? -> Elements for metal production and technology, building materials, minerals for the chemical industry, and minerals for agriculture. 3: When the availability of a particular mineral becomes limited, there are four possible solutions: 1: Find more sources 2: Recycle and reuse what has already been obtained 3: Reduce consumption 4: Find a substitute 23.5: Impact of Mineral Development 1: What are some of the environmental impacts of surface mining (open-pit mines)? -> Environmental degradation tends to extend beyond the immediate vicinity of a mine. Large mining operations remove material in some areas and dump waste in others, changing topography. In addition, dust may affect the air quality and release of harmful trace elements into the environment. 2: What are some of the social impacts of large scale mining operations? -> Stress on local services, such as water supplies, sewage and solid-waste disposal systems, and also on schools, housing, and nearby recreation and wilderness areas. 3: What can be done to minimize the environmental effects of mining? -> Reclaiming areas disturbed by mining; stabilizing soils; controlling air emissions; treating waste onsite and offsite. 4: What are the 3 Rs of waste management? -> Reduce the amount of waste produced; reuse waste as much as possible, and maximize recycling opportunities.

23.6: Materials Management and Our Waste 1: Compare dilute and disperse to the contemporary method of concentrate and contain. -> Dilute and disperse: Factories were located near rivers because the water provided a number of benefits, including easy transport of materials by boat, enough water for processing and cooling, and easy disposal of waste into the river. With few factories and a sparse population, dilute and disperse was sufficient to remove the waste from the immediate environment. -> As industrial and urban areas expanded, the concept of dilute and disperse became inadequate, and a new concept, concentrate and contain, came into use. It has become apparent, however, that containment was, and is, not always achieved. Containers, whether simple trenches excavated in the ground or metal drums and tanks, may leak or break and allow waste to escape. 2: In the next few years, how many U.S. cities will run out of landfill space? -> Half the cities in the U.S. may run out of landfill space. 3: What is NIMBY? -> Not in my backyard. 4: Describe the concept of industrial ecology and how it will be essential in the future. -> The study of relationships among industrial systems and their links to natural systems. Under the principles of industrial ecology, our industrial society would function much as natural ecosystem functions. Waste from one part of the system would be a resource for another part. 5: What is your opinion of pay as you throw? Defend your opinion -> I think pay as you throw is that you have to pay for what you throw, if you throw something, and then you have to pay the cost that commensurate with the effect of that thing to environment. It will cost a lot of money, so people wont waste their items. 23.7: Integrated Waste Management 1: Define Integrated Waste Management (IWM): Which is best defined as a set of management alternatives that includes reuse, source reduction, recycling, composting, landfill, and incineration. 2: What is waste stream? -> The waste produced 3: What is single-stream recycling?

-> Recycling is simplified with single-stream recycling, in which paper, plastic, glass, and metals are not separated before collection; the waste is commingled in one container and separated later at recycling centers. 4: What are some creative ways that industry is encouraging recycling? -> Fast-food restaurants are using less packaging and providing onsite bins for recycling paper and plastic. Automobile industry designed cars that have parts that are easily disassembled. 5: How can human waste (night soil) be re-used and recycled? What are some drawbacks? -> Chinese agriculture was sustained for thousands of years through collection of human waste, which was spread over agricultural fields. Early uses of human waste for agriculture occasionally spread infectious diseases through bacteria, viruses, and parasites in waste applied to crops. 23.8: Municipal Solid-Waste Management 1: Which product comprises the largest percentage of waste dumped in the United States? Is this surprising? -> Paper is the largest percentage of waste dumped on the U.S. It is no surprise that paper is by far the most abundant component because it is used for almost everything today. 2: Define Composting: (What are the pros and cons?) -> Composting is a biochemical process in which organic materials, such as lawn clippings and kitchen scraps, decompose to a rich, soil-like material. 3: What are the pros and cons of incineration? -> Pros May reduce the volume of waste by 75%-95%. It can be used to supplement other fuels and generate electrical power. -> Cons It may produce air pollution and toxic ash. 4: What is a sanitary landfill and how is it accomplished? How is a sanitary landfill selected? What things need to be considered? -> A sanitary landfill is designed to concentrate and contain refuse without creating a nuisance or hazard to public health or safety. Sanitary landfill is selected by topography, location, amount of precipitation, types of soil and rock. Things that need to be considered are the local resistance and places where residents tend to have low socioeconomic status. 5: What is environmental justice?

-> The study of social issues in sitting waste facilities, chemical plants, and other such facilities is an emerging field known as environmental justice. 6: What is leachate? -> Noxious, mineralized liquid capable of transporting bacterial pollutants. Produced when water infiltrates through waste material and becomes contaminated and polluted. 7: How can pollutants enter the environment from sanitary landfills? -> Methane, ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, and nitrogen gases can be produced from compounds in the waste and the soil and can enter the atmosphere; heavy metals, such as lead, chromium, and iron, can be retained in the soil; soluble materials, such as chloride, nitrate, and sulfate, can readily pass through the waste and soil to the groundwater system; overland runoff can pick up leachate and transport it into streams and rivers; some plants growing in the disposal area can selectively take up heavy metals and other toxic materials. These materials are then passed up the food chain as people and animals eat the plants; if plant residue from crops left in fields contains toxic substances, these substances return to the soil; streams and river may become contaminated by waste from groundwater seeping into the channel or by surface runoff; wind can transport toxic materials to other areas. 8: What are the federal mandates for sanitary landfills? -> RCRA is a federal mandate for sanitary landfills. It is intended to strengthen and standardize the design, operation and monitoring of sanitary landfills. 9: What are some actions you can take to reduce the waste you generate? -> Keep track of the waste you personally generate; recycle as much as is possible and practical; reduce packaging; use durable products; reuse products; purchase products made from recycled material; purchase products designed for ease in recycling. 23.9: Hazardous Waste 1: Where is most of the hazardous waste generated in the U.S.? What are the sources of hazardous waste in the United States? -> The most hazardous waste generated in the U.S is east of Mississippi River. Sources of hazardous waste are chemical products, electronics, and petroleum and coal products industries. 2: Summarize (in 3-4 sentences) the story of Love Canal. -> From 1920 to 1952, some 20,000 tons of more than 80 chemicals were dumped into the canal. In 1953 the Hooker Chemical Company which produced the insecticide DDT as well as an herbicide and chlorinated solvents, and had dumped chemicals into the canal-was pressured to

donate the land to the city of Niagara Falls for $1.00. The city knew that chemical wastes were buried there, but no one expected any problems. Eventually, several hundred homes and an elementary school were built on and near the site, and for years everything seemed fine. In 1976, trees and gardens began to die. A swimming pool popped from its foundation and floated in a bath of chemicals. 23.2: A Closer Look: e-waste: A Growing Environmental Problem 1: Summarize the problem with e-waste in the United States. -> In the U.S., computers cannot be recycled profitably without charging the people who dump them a fee. Even with that, many U.S. firms ship their e-waste out of the country, where greater profits are possible. 23.10: Hazardous-Waste Legislation 1: What is the purpose of RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act)? -> The idea was to issue guidelines and assign responsibilities to those who manufacture, transport, and dispose of hazardous waste. 2: What is the purpose of CERCLA (Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act)? -> Policies and procedures for release of hazardous substances into the environment. It mandated development of list of sites where hazardous substances were likely to produce or already had produced the most serious environmental problems. 23.11: Hazardous-Waste Management: Land Disposal 1: Look at the chart on pg. 541- List the PROS/CONS of each of the Hazard Reduction Technologies -> Landfills and impoundments pros Low to moderate costs -> Landfills and impoundments cons Highly toxic, persistent chemicals, surface water and groundwater -> Injection wells pros Low cost -> Injection wells cons Surface water and groundwater, reactive; corrosive; highly toxic, mobile, and persistent 23.13: Ocean Dumping 1: What are some of the ways that ocean pollution has affected ocean life?

-> Death or retarded growth; reduction of dissolved oxygen; eutrophication; habitat change 2: Why are the marine waters of Europe in trouble? -> Because urban and agricultural pollutants have raised concentrations of nutrients in seawater. 3: Why is the microlayer of the ocean considered to be so important? -> The upper 3mm of ocean water. The base of the marine food chain consists of planktonic life abundant in the microlayer, and the young of certain fish and shellfish also reside there in the early stages of their life. 23.14: Pollution Prevention 1: What are the steps of ocean pollution prevention? -> Purchasing the proper amount of raw materials so that no excess remains to be disposed of; exercising better control of materials used in manufacturing processes so that less waste is produced; substituting nontoxic chemicals for hazardous or toxic materials currently used; improving engineering and design of manufacturing processes so less waste is produced. 23.15: Sustainable Resource Management 1: What is the R to C Ratio- What does it tell us? -> A measure of how much time we have for finding solutions to the depletion of nonrenewable reserves is the R-to-C ratio, where R is the known reserves (for example, hundreds of thousands of tons of a metal) and C is the rate of consumption (for example, thousands of tons per year used by people) Read: Can We Make Recycling a Financially Viable Industry? Answer the following: 1: What can be done about the global problem of e-waste? Could more be recycled safely? -> Incentives could assist recycling industries to become more cost-effective. 2: What can be done to assist recycling industries to become more cost-effective? -> Incentives could assist recycling industries to become more cost-effective. 3: What are some of the indirect benefits to society and the environment from recycling? -> Cleaner air and cleaner water

4: Define or criticize the contention that if we really want to do something to improve the environment through reduction of waste, we have to move beyond evaluating benefits of recycling based simply on the fact that it may cost more than dumping waste in a landfill. 5: What are the recycling efforts in your community and university, and how could improvements be made? -> Soda cans, glass, and plastics Summary: Suppose you found that the home you had been living in for 15 years was located over a buried waste disposal site. What would you do? What kinds of studies could be done to evaluate the potential problems? -> I would go online and find out that whoever is responsibility; I would contact the lawyer, and go to the doctor to see if I have any disease from the house. Some kinds of studies could be done to evaluate the potential problems are including finding out what chemicals are underground and how is it harmful.