CHAPTER

19

Waste Management

Transforming New Yorks

Fresh Kills Landfill
Fresh Kills, on New Yorks Staten Island, is the
largest landfill in the world.
It closed in 2001, forcing New York City to find other
places for its trash, at great expense to taxpayers.
Today the landfill is in the process of becoming a
public park.

Talk About It Which should play a greater role in

reducing the waste we generatepersonal choices
by consumers or government regulation?

Lesson 19.1 Municipal and Industrial Waste

Of all the solid waste produced in the United

States, 33.9% is made up of paper.

Lesson 19.1 Municipal and Industrial Waste

What Is Waste?
Any unwanted material or substance
that results from a human activity or
process

Did You Know? The average

American generates more than
4.5 pounds of trash per day.

Municipal solid waste: From homes and businesses

Industrial waste: Resulting from manufacturing,
agriculture, and mining

Hazardous waste: Toxic,

reactive, flammable, and
corrosive
Wastewater: Includes used,
discarded water and runoff

Lesson 19.1 Municipal and Industrial Waste

Methods of Solid Waste Disposal:

Sanitary Landfills
Waste buried in the
ground or carefully
piled into mounds
Designed to prevent
groundwater
contamination and
minimize soil and air
pollution
Did You Know?
Regulations require that
landfills be at least 6 m
above the water table.

Lesson 19.1 Municipal and Industrial Waste

Benefits and Costs of 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).

A power company in Hull, Massachusetts

installed a large wind turbine on a site that had
previously been a landfill.

Lesson 19.1 Municipal and Industrial Waste

Incineration

Lesson 19.1 Municipal and Industrial Waste

Benefits and Cost of Incineration

Benefits
Incinerating waste reduces its weight by
up to 75% and volume by up to 90%.

Costs
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.

Toxic Substances Control Act Incinerator

The only U.S. facility permitted to burn
certain hazardous wastes

Lesson 19.2 Minimizing Solid Waste

In 2007, Americans recycled or

composted nearly 1/3 of municipal
solid waste, saving energy equivalent
to 10 billion gallons of gas.

Lesson 19.2 Minimizing Solid Waste

Waste Reduction Methods

Substitute disposable goods
with reusable ones.
Donate unwanted items.
Minimize packaging.
Reduce use of
nonbiodegradable plastic.
Design goods to last.
Use financial incentives such
as pay as you throw
garbage disposal and
bottle bills.

Did You Know? States with bottle bills

(consumers receive a refund per returned
bottle or can) have reduced their beverage
container litter by 6984% and total litter by
3064%.

Lesson 19.2 Minimizing Solid Waste

Waste Recovery: Composting

Conversion of organic waste into mulch or humus by
decomposition
Currently 3800 municipal programs in the U.S.
Has many benefits, including soil enrichment

Did You Know? About 20% of U.S.

waste is made up of organic material
that could be composted.

Lesson 19.2 Minimizing Solid Waste

Waste Recovery: Recycling

Collection and reprocessing of waste materials
Recycling rates among U.S. communities vary from 5 to 50%.
Many programs run at a
financial loss, but that
doesnt take into account
the effects of not recycling.

Lesson 19.3 Hazardous Waste

Common sources of
hazardous waste include
batteries, cleaning agents,
paints, and pesticides.

Lesson 19.3 Hazardous Waste

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

Lesson 19.3 Hazardous Waste

Sources of Hazardous Waste

Industry produces the most hazardous
waste, but it is usually highly regulated.
Household hazardous waste
is unregulated.
Did You Know? The average American home
contains about 100 pounds of hazardous waste
in different products.

Lesson 19.3 Hazardous Waste

Types of Hazardous Waste

Organic compounds: Can
act as mutagens, carcinogens,
teratogens, and endocrine
disruptors
Heavy metals: Many cause
neurological damage over
time.
E-waste: Contains heavy
metals and toxic chemicals,
but mostly treated as
conventional solid waste

Did You Know? U.S. households

threw out about 304 million electronic
devices in 2005most were still in
working order.

Lesson 19.3 Hazardous Waste

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

Lesson 19.3 Hazardous Waste

Radioactive Waste
Waste that gives off harmful radiation
Low-level: Less harmful; produced by
hospitals, labs, uranium mines

High-level: More harmful; produced by

nuclear power plants

Difficult to dispose of safely due to

long half-lives
Did You Know? As of March 2010, the
Obama administration has ruled out
Yucca Mountain for long-term storage
of high-level radioactive waste.

Lesson 19.3 Hazardous Waste

Hazardous Waste Regulation

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA): Sets
standards for hazardous waste management by states;
requires industry to track hazardous material cradle to grave
Comprehensive Environmental
Response Compensation and
Liability Act (CERCLA), or
Superfund Act: Federal
program for cleaning up sites
polluted by hazardous waste;
culprits held liable for damage
caused by their pollution
Did You Know? As of 2007, 1354 of the 1569
Superfund sites have been cleaned up.