Chapter 12 Wastes in the Environment

1. Chapter 12 Wastes in the Environment

2. Old Automobiles • In NA, close to 12 million vehicles are discarded • 75% of a car can be reused or recycled • Reduces air and water pollution • Challenge: recycling plastic

3. Old Automobiles • Automakers making changes • Many companies developing completely recyclable cars • EU requiring cars to be 95% recoverable by 2015

4. Solid Waste Facts • U.S. generates most per capita, with Canada second • How much produced per person per day? • Why do we produce so much solid waste?

5. Solid Waste • Most produced by mining, agriculture, industry • Nonmunicipal solid waste • 98.5% of waste produced

6. Municipal Solid Waste • Residential and commercial waste produced in an area • Heterogeneous mixture

7. Disposal Of Solid Waste • Open Dumps • Now illegal • Sanitary Landfills • Receive close to 55% of the municipal solid waste generated in NA • Compacts waste and buries it under a shallow layer of soil • Plastic is a special problem, Why?

8. Sanitary Landfills • ≈ 54% MSW • Dig hole, add waste, compact, bury • Liner at the bottom • Leachate • Liquid that seeps down • Collection system

9. Sanitary Landfills

10. Problems With Landfills • No location is ideal • Methane may build up • Leachate may contaminate water supplies • They fill up • Passing problem on

11. Plastics • Fastest growing part of the waste stream • Why do we use so much plastic? • Don’t degrade • Some countries banning/taxing use • Photodegradable? • Biodegradable?

12. Incineration • Burning solid waste • Two benefits • Volume reduced up to 90% • Produces heat that can be used • Waste-to-energy incinerators • Less CO2 produced

13. Incineration • Best materials • Paper, plastics, rubber • Tires • Produce a lot of heat • Use instead of coal?

14. Types Of Incinerators • Mass burn: recover energy produced • Modular: small, less expensive • Refuse-derived • Remove noncombustible waste • Burn combustibles only

15. Mass Burn Incinerator

16. Problems With Incineration • Air pollution • Large amounts of ash produced • Bottom ash • Fly ash • No ideal location • Expensive • Passing problem on

17. Composting • Biodegradable solid waste • Yard waste, food scraps, sewage sludge • Forms compost • Uses?

18. Reducing Solid Waste • Three goals • Reduce • Reuse • Recycle • Needs vs. wants • Make good choices!

19. Source Reduction • Waste reduced at the source • Aluminum cans 35% lighter • Dry-cell batteries contain less mercury • Dematerialization • Decrease in size and weight of a product as technology improves • Must be durable!

20. How Can You Reduce? • Use reusable grocery bags • Eliminate your junk mail! • Mail Preference Service • Don’t use paper plates, cups, towels • Use a lunchbox & reusable containers • Buy in concentrate • Buy in bulk

21. How Can You Reduce? • Buy durable products • Use rechargeable batteries • Buy items with the least amount of packaging • Eat less fast food • Think about your purchases before you buy

22. Reusing Products • Many reduce ideas also good for reusing! • Donate or sell used items • Should beverage containers be refillable? • Why don’t we reuse items?

23. Recycling • Reclaiming a resource • Use it for same or different product • ≈ 32% MSW • Increased during the 1990s • There must be a market for recycled goods • Buy items made from recycled materials!

24. Recycling Benefits • Conserves resources • Saves energy • Creates jobs

25. Recycling Concerns • Generates pollution: de-inking paper • Separation may be difficult • Market fluctuates • Still encourages consumption

26. Recycling Paper • ≈ 1/3rd of waste in Canada is paper and paperboard • Denmark ≈ 97% of its paper is recycled • Legislation can make a difference: how? • Buy recycled paper!

27. Recycling Glass • Each year Canadians throw away 6 million tones of glass • Forms cullet • Make new products • Add to roadways: glassphalt

28. Recycling Metals • Aluminum • Big success story! • In U.S. ≈ 44% beverage cans recycled • Other metals also recycled • May be difficult: why?

29. Recycling Plastic • In Canada, plastic equals 7% of total weight in a typical landfill • May be more expensive to recycle: why? • Challenge: different kinds • Separation necessary

30. Recycling Tires • EPA indicates ≈ 36% of tires recycled • What are they used for? • Future holds many opportunities

31. Recycling electronics and Electrical Equipment • In Canada, provincial responsibility to regulate electronic waste • “Take Back” program exists in a number of promises • E-waste is still a massive problem in Canada • Exporting used electronics to places like Guiyu, China is a huge problem

32. Integrated Waste Management • Development of an overall waste management plan • Use the three R’s and other disposal methods

33. Hazardous Waste • Any discarded chemical that threatens human health or the environment • Reactive, corrosive, ignitable & toxic substances • ≈ 1% of North America solid waste stream • 700,000+ chemicals known to exist

34. Love Canal • Neighborhood in Niagara Falls, NY • 1977 • Hooker Chemical Co. • Disposed of toxic waste in canal • After filled, covered with topsoil and donated land

35. Love Canal • School and houses built • Toxic waste oozed out • 1978: many families evacuated • 1990: area safe for resettlement

36. Types of Hazardous Wastes • Acids • Dioxins • Abandoned explosives • Heavy metals • Infectious waste • Nerve gas • Organic solvents • PCBs

37. Dioxins • Group of 75 chemical compounds • Formed by combustion of chlorine compounds • Incineration, smelters, paper mills

38. Dioxins • Emitted in smoke • Settle on land • Incorporated into food web • Virtually everyone has them in their body • Carcinogenic

39. PCBs • Polychlorinated biphenyls • Group of 209 industrial chemicals • manufactured between 1929-1979 • Cooling fluids, vacuum pumps, inks • Dangers discovered in 1968

40. PCBs • Harm skin, eyes, reproductive organs, GI tract • Hormone disrupters • Intellectual impairments • Carcinogenic? • Hard to get out of environment • Some bacteria can degrade

41. Managing Hazardous Waste • Technology exists for environmentally sound management • Very expensive! • No country currently has an effective program • Using fewer chemicals would help

42. Chemical Accidents • In Canada, each province has a “hazmat team” • Most involve oil, gasoline, petroleum • Principle of inherent safety • Use less toxic materials • Fewer dangerous accidents • 1984, Bhopal chemical spill, one of the worst in world’s history

43. Public Policy & Toxic Waste Cleanup • Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act • Canadian Environmental Protection Act, Clean Air Act, Canada Water Act, Ocean Dumping Control Act

44. Basel Convention • A global convention under the United Nations • Goal is to harmonize hazardous waste disposal among nations • As of October 2006, 168 countries were a part of the convention

45. Managing Toxic Waste Production • Three ways • Source reduction • Conversion to less hazardous materials • Long-term storage

46. Source Reduction • Most effective approach • Green chemistry • Redesigning chemical processes • Reduce environmental harm • Will not eliminate hazardous waste

47. Convert Materials • Reduce dangerous compounds to less dangerous ones • High-temperature incineration • PCBs  water, CO2 • Still must dispose of ash

48. Long-Term Storage • Hazardous waste landfills • Strict environmental criteria and design • Leaching must be prevented

49. Hazardous Waste Landfill

50. Eco Canada Career Focus • Consider a career as a Hazardous Waste Technician • Handle, process, pack and track hazardous waste for shipment, treatment and disposal