WASTE E8 by Mickey Mulder George Washington High School

1. WASTE E8by Mickey MulderGeorge Washington High School Click to continue

2. "According to the World Wildlife Fund's 2006 Living Planet Report, we are now turning resources into waste 25% faster than the Earth can turn waste back into resources“ –John Green

3. Methods of Waste Disposal • Landfill Sites • Incineration • Recycling • Burial of Radioactive Waste

4. LANDFILLS!!!!

5. A Little About Landfills • Waste is increasing rapidly, so sequentially landfills compactly is decreasing. • Landfills take up land where people, animals and plants could be growing • They are the most common form of waste disposal

6. The Pros • Waste is out of sight out of mind • People believe once the garbage has left there home or office it doesn’t effect them….. WRONG!!! • Its easy • That’s It, there are many better alternatives to landfills including recycling and incineration

7. The Cons • Ugly, Stinky, Space consuming, Loads of garbage • Transportation costs to landfills are high and tend to be far away from cities. For example Toronto outsourced their garbage all the way to Michigan. • Underground water and soil pollution can permanently scar the surrounding land as well as the organisms living there • Anaerobic decomposition of organic wastes, such as most foods, plants, and some other garbage can releases the green house gas methane (CH4) as well as ammonia (NH3), Hydrogen Sulfide and others

8. Medical waste and biological contaminates • Medical Waste also tends to be thrown in landfills, although not much of this waste can be recycled, some materials can be made from recycled goods which ultimately cuts down on garbage, this includes things like pipette tips, as well as biological storage bags or boxes. Found on http://www.ehs.uci.edu/programs/biosafety/medwasteguide.pdf • Other medical waste includes • CHEMO waste • Sharps • Pharmaceutical • Chemical waste

9. INCINERATION!!!

10. What’s the deal with incineration?!?! • Incineration is the burning and melting of garbage in order to produce energy and slag • This resulting slag can either be used in construction such as building roads and buildings or be safely discarded in a landfill • Incineration also requires energy to transport waste similar to a landfill, however in the burning process some energy can be recovered

11. The good, the bad, and the ugly The Pros The Cons • Creates Energy • Doesn’t scar the land like a landfill • Can kill disease causing microorganisms • Uses less space, and is not as unattractive as a landfill • Expensive, and still uses more energy that eat creates • The burning of plastics release dioxins into the environment • Slag doesn’t serve many purposes

12. RECYCLING!!!

13. Recycling • Recycling is presently the best way to get rid of waste. Not only does it reduce green house gasses, conserve energy, and have lower costs, but your neighbors will thank you for it! • The recycling process is divided into four parts • Glass • Metals • Plastics • Paper Products

14. Glass-The process • 1st Glass is separated by colors mainly, clear, amber, and green, many glass containers for food and drinks fall into these categories. However special composition glass such as mirrors and light bulbs cannot be recycled. • 2nd The glass in than crushed, and is now called “cullet.” • 3rd The glass is exposed to magnets to remove metal and a vacuum to get rid of paper and plastic. • 4th The glass is finally heated to about 1200˚C where it is mixed with sand, limestone, or ash to create new bottles jars and tiles

15. Glass- The Benefits • Reduces costs in mining for new glass such as mining waste and cost of raw materials • Uses only a third the energy to produce as virgin glass • Uses only half the water virgin glass does • Reduces use of landfills • Cullet can be used in construction • Glass can be recycled over and over again

16. Metals- The Process • The metals must be separated into ferrous metals and non ferrous metals (I.E. Tin cans separated from Aluminum cans) • 1st The Metal is cut up than magnets separate the lighter aluminum metal by flotation. • Next the metals are melted and reused

17. Metals-The Benefits • Conserves raw materials • Dramatically reduces energy costs, water use, and landfill use, therefore less greenhouse gasses • Aluminum and steel, the most common recycled material, can be recycled over and over again! Non ferrous (left) Ferrous (right)

18. Plastics

19. Plastic-The Process • Because of the many different types of plastic, such as polyethene and polystyrene, it is expensive and difficult to recycle plastics. • Hence the numbering system which helps to manually separate similar plastics. • Low density polyethylene (LDPE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS) can not always be recycled however polyethylene terephthalate (PETE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) can. • Once similar products are combined they are melted and reused

20. PETE- polyethylene terephthalate- found in soft drink, water and beer bottles etc. • HDPE- high density polyethylene- found in bleach, milk jugs, juice bottles etc. • V-vinyl- found in PVC • LDPE-low density polyethylene- Squeezable bottles, bread, frozen food, dry cleaning and shopping bags • PP- polypropylene- found in some yogurt containers, syrup bottles and ketchup bottles • PS-polystyrene- found in Disposable plates and cups, meat trays, egg cartons and carry-out containers

21. Plastics-The Benefits • Greatly reduces landfill sites and use of incinerators • Uses less petrochemicals • Uses less energy and water compared to virgin plastics • There are many uses for recycled plastics, from plastic lumber such as Trex to polyester fibers.

22. Paper

23. Paper-The Process • Paper with wax or plastic coatings cannot be recycled therefore paper must first be separated • Paper is than chopped and mixed with water as well chemicals such as Calcium Oxide (CaO) and Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3) • This process brakes the paper down and creates pulp. • Spinning this pulp than removes heavy objects like paper clips and staples, the ink is than washed away by adding more water • Other chemicals are used to remove dyes, inks, and glues

24. Paper-The Process cont. • Often fresh pulp is added, if this not treated to remove lignin, a glue in wood that holds fibers together, the paper will turn yellow in sunlight such as with newspapers • Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2) or Chlorine Dioxide (ClO2) can also be used to bleach the paper

25. Paper- The Benefits • Only needs half the energy and water that virgin paper needs • Reduces trees that have to be cut down, preserving natural forests and saving animal habitats • By saving forests use also reduce greenhouse gasses as CO2 is consumed by plants • Extends life of landfill sites because less trash is there • Note: Paper can only be recycled so many times as the fibers lose strength

26. Radioactive Waste!!!

27. What is Radioactive Waste? • It all started when the French physicist Henri Becquerel (1896) accidentally discovered that some isotopes undergo reactions that change the nuclear form • There are three common types of radiation • Alpha • Beta • Gamma

28. Alpha Radiation • An Alpha radiation an alpha particle, a positively charged helium nuclei. • These alpha particles have a low penetrating power, only about a few centimeters of air and can be stopped by clothing paper and skin.

29. Beta Radiation • Beta radiation occurs in beta decay when a stream of negatively charged electrons are expelled from an atom • In beta decay, a neuton converts to a proton emitting a beta decay in the process. The beta particle is identical to an ordinary electron. • Beta particles, electrons, can penetrate a few meters of air, this is still only a moderate penetrating power.

31. Gamma Radiation • Gamma rays are emitted if a nucleus still has excess energy following decay and the emission of other particles. They are electomagnetic in nature (called photons), with a discrete, unique energy (this is used to identify different radioisotopes). • Photons are packets of energy, with wave like properties. Photons make up light. • Gamma rays are not physical particles, but their interactions with matter are described by assigning them particle-like properties. • Gamma rays can penetrate 10cms of lead and up to a couple meters of concrete

33. Radioactive Half lives • Because of decay, all radioactive isotopes, eventually brake down into other materials, when only half the original substance is left, it has gone though 1 half-life • Half-lives can range from milliseconds to billions of years depending on the element and isotope • To equate half lives use the equation: Original Mass = Remaining Mass 2^half life

34. Radioactive Waste Disposal • There are three levels of waste storage, depending on the type of decay it produces and the length of half life • Low Level Waste • Medium or Intermediate Waste • High-level Waste

35. Low-Level Waste • Holds 90% of nuclear waste, but is only responsible for about 1% of the radiation • Compacted to reduce volume, than buried in shallow lined land-burial trenches • 90% of this waste will return to background radiation within 100 years. • This radioactive waste typically has only alpha and low level beta radiation and short half-lives • Waste includes clothes, gloves, paper, products from nuclear fuel cycle, hospitals and nuclear research facilities

36. Mid-Level/ Intermediate Waste • This waste is often stored in steel containers in concrete vaults below ground • Intermediate waste is used with intermediate levels of beta decay, and with intermediate half-lives, shockingly. • This waste is produced from nuclear reactor parts and processing nuclear fuel

37. High-level Waste • Very small percentage of waste but is the biggest contributor to radiation • Must be stored for a very long time, which causes the most problems • Presently the best solution is to change the liquid waste into glass, than burying deep underground in earthquake free environments. Such as granite or salt mines. • This waste is normally due to high beta or gamma radiation with a long half-live • High-level waste comes from spent fuel rods, and processing of spent nuclear fuel

38. The End