Chapter 9: Solid and Hazardous Waste Production

Notes
Methods of Solid Waste Disposal
The Human Population produces large amounts of unwanted, discarded
product known as Solid waste.
Solid waste generated by agricultural, mining, and manufacturing activities
are referred to as Industrial solid wastes.
Most of the solid waste generated in the United States come from mining
activities.
Mining activities provide many raw materials for both consumer products
and industrial products.
What is typically referred to as trash or garbage that is thrown out by
residential or commercial buildings is known as Municipal solid waste or
(MSW).
The United States is the world leader in producing solid waste, generating
nearly 5 pounds of waste per person per year.
The largest source of municipal waste in the U.S. is Paper Products.
In the United States, about 25% of municipal solid waste currently is
recycled, and another 54% is buried in landfills.

Open Dumping
Open dumps are simply large fields or holes in the ground where garbage is
deposited and often buried.

Sanitary Landfills
Sanitary landfills are specially prepared facilities that must meet specific
federal requirements mandated by the Resource Conservation and Recovery
Act for location, design, operation, closure, monitoring, and financial
assurance.

Sanitary Landfill Disadvantages:

Landfills release greenhouse gases (Methane and CO2) as wastes

decompose.
Toxic Materials leach out of landfills as liquid moves downward through the
layers. This liquid is known as Leachate.
Air pollution is generated from both the landfill and trucks transporting
waste.

Incineration of Waste
 Some municipal solid waste is sent to waste-to-energy incinerators. These
incinerators can reduce the volume of solid waste up to 90%. The waste
incinerators can be used to produce steam to create electrical energy.

Incineration disadvantages:
Releases air pollutants such as nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxides, mercury, and
dioxins.
Creates large amounts of fly ash that must be stored in hazardous waste
landfills.
Expensive to build and operate; incineration typically costs twice as much as
landfilling.

Methods of Reducing Solid Waste Production

Reduce- Simple ways to reduce consumption may be to walk, bike, or
carpool to work, read newspapers or magazines online, and buy items
secondhand.
Reuse- Reusing items that arent One-time use like water bottles.
Recycle- Materials like Paper, steel, aluminum, glass, and some plastics are
reprocessed to provide materials for new products.
The three types of recycling are Primary recycling or closed-loop recycling,
Secondary recycling, and Compositing.
In Primary recycling, materials are converted to new products of the same
type. Like an aluminum can recycled toward another aluminum can.
In Secondary recycling, materials are converted into a different type of
product. Like converting old rubber tires into rubberized road surfacing.
Compositing is a type of recycling that utilizes the natural role of
decomposing bacteria and fungi to convert biodegradable waste into usable
soil amendments.

Methods of Hazardous Waste Disposal

Any waste that poses potential harm to human health due to its toxicity is
known as Hazardous Waste.
Hazardous waste is often corrosive, flammable, or dangerously chemically
reactive.
Many developed nations do not have adequate procedures for dealing with
hazardous waste materials.
Households in the United States alone generate over one million tons of
hazardous waste each year.

Integrated Management of Hazardous Waste

1. Producing less and recycling
Producing less hazardous waste will require industries to actively
search for alternatives to commonly used hazardous materials.
 Some types of hazardous waste can be recycled to become raw
materials for other industrial processes
2. Converting to Less Hazardous Substances- Methods of detoxifying
Chemical Methods- Some types of hazardous waste can be
remediated by chemical reactions that convert the waste into
compounds that are less toxic.
Physical Methods- Hazardous waste can also be physically
removed by distilling liquid mixtures to remove toxic compounds.
Biological Methods- Bioremediation includes the use of
organisms, such as bacteria or other microorganisms, to remove
contaminants from solid or liquid hazardous waste.
Phytoremediation utilizes natural plant species or genetically
engineered plants to absorb contaminants such as mercury, lead,
pesticides, or organic solvents.
Incineration- Much like solid waste incineration, hazardous waste
can also be broken down in high temperature incinerators.
Plasma Arc Torch- This device generates plasma by passing and
electrical current through the gas at very high temperatures. This
process converts solid or liquid hazard waste into synthetic gas that
can be utilized to make fuels.

Storing Hazardous Waste

The least expensive method of disposal of hazardous waste is simple burial
on land and therefore this is the predominant method used in the United
States.

Storing methods:
Deep-Well Disposal (injection)- This is the most common form of storing
liquid hazardous waste. Liquid wastes are pumped through pipes into
permeable injection zones that are beneath aquafers and ideally sealed off by
impermeable vertical rock layers above the injection zone.
Surface impoundment- some liquid hazardous waste is simply stored in
natural topographic depressions in the earth or man-made lagoons or ponds
Hazardous Waste Landfill- Solid or Liquid hazardous waste can also be
placed in drums or barrels that are sealed and buried in special hazardous
waste landfill facilities

Hazardous Waste Legislation in the United States

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)- This act allows the EPA
to set standards for management of several types of hazardous waste
products.
The Crave-to-grave system is used to track hazardous waste disposal.
Comprehensive Environment Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
(CERCLA or Superfund Act)- This act identifies areas that have been
 contaminated with hazardous waste. These areas, known as superfund sites,
are placed on the national priorities list for cleanup.
The U.S. Government, state legislatures, and local agencies are passing laws
and providing incentives for the cleanup of abandoned industrial and
commercial sites is known as Brownfields.
Basel Convention- This international treaty was drafted as a result of
hazardous waste, including e-waste, from developed nations being shipping
overseas to developing countries without their permission.
Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) treaty- This Treaty originated at the
Stockholm convention. It is the international agreement to phase out 12
organic persistent pollutants, also known as the dirty dozen, such as DDT
and PCBs.