Chapter 12 Waste NotesGuiding Questions

p. 303-309
(1) What is solid waste? How much of it do we
produce in the U.S. each year? SW-any discarded
material that is not a liquid or a gas. 10 billion tons
+
(2) Why has the amount of waste produced doubled
in the U.S. since the 1960s? Many products are made
to only be used once
(3) Compare and contrast biodegradable versus non
biodegradable materials. Provide an example of each
as well. BM- a material that can be broken down by
living things into simpler chemicals that can be
consumed by living things. EX- Newspaper. NBM-
Things that cannot be broken down naturally EX- TV
(4) Where does most of our solid waste come from
(about 70%)? Manufacturing and mining waste
(5) What is municipal solid waste? What makes up the
largest portion of this waste (Figure 12-8)? MSW- the
trash produced by households and businesses. Paper
and cardboard
(6) What percentage of our trash is recycled? Over
25%
(7) Where does our trash that is not recycled go (you
can use Figure 12-9)? Stored in landfills or
Incinerated
(8) Describe three problems with storing waste in
landfills. Leachate(water that contains toxins),
Methane, and Takes up space
(9) When is NC estimated to run out of landfill space
(use Figure 12-12)? 5-10 years
(10) Describe two problems with incinerating waste.
Pollutes the air and Material still ends up in landfill