Chapter 17: Solid and Hazardous waste

1. Chapter 17: Solid and Hazardous waste By Cesi Solari, Bill Bryson, Connor Donnelly

2. Case Study: “There is No Away” • 1942-1953 = Hooker Chemicals and Plastics put 200+ various chemicals in steel drums in a canal excavation • Sold to Niagara Falls, NY for $1 • Building over it altered the clay and resulted in overflow • 1976, residents complain about the chemical smells and burns on their children

3. Case Study Continued… • 1980, Pres. Jimmy Carter relocated people due to the Love Canal being a federal disaster area • A decade later, houses were being sold again in now Black Creek Village. An agreement must be signed that pertain to health • Clean-up is much more $ and wastes are never “gone” and can move • $400,000,000 and 24 years later, it was taken off the Superfund Priority List

4. 17-1: Solid Waste • Solid waste: any unwanted or discarded materials that is not a liquid or gas.(garbage) • Mines, Factories, Food Growers, and Businesses produce around 98% of the worlds solid waste • United states produces one third of the worlds solid waste and half of it goes to land fills • Solid waste is essentially a byproduct of providing the good and services to meet demands of consumers

5. 17-1: Why Care AboutSolid Waste? • Much of it represents an unnecessary waste of the earths precious resources • Producing solid products creates huge amounts of air pollution, water pollution, and land degradation • Potentially we could reduce our productions of solid waste by 75-90%

6. 17-1: Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) • MSW or garbage as we call it is generated mostly by homes and workplaces. • MSW only accounts for 1.5% of solid waste production but is still a huge problem • US creates enough MSW to fill enough garbage trucks lined up bumper to bumper to encircle the world 8 times • From 1960-1990 amount of MSW produced per person in US increased by 70% 

7. 17-1 Case Study: “Living in a High Waste Society” • Consider a few of the solid wastes that the US consumer throw away • Enough aluminum to rebuild the countries entire commercial airline fleet every 3 months. • 670,000 metric tons(1.5 billion pounds) of edible food per year • 2.5 million nonrenewable plastic bottles every hour

8. 17-2: Waste Management • We can either reduce waste or manage it • Waste management: high waste approach, views waste as unavoidable b/c of economic growth • Mixing/crushing wastes  burning/burying them, or transporting them somewhere else

9. 17-2: Waste Reduction • Waste reduction: low waste approach, believes waste is never actually disposed of • Solid wastes = potential resources • Waste reduction preferred b/c: • Saves energy/matter • Reduces pollution • Protects biodiversity • Saves money • Scientists say 60-80% of waste can be reduced

10. Sustainability 6 • Consume less. • Redesign manufacturing processes and products to use less materials and energy. • Replace toxic manufacturing processes with less harmful/wasteful alternatives. • Make products that are easy to repair/reuse/recycle/remanufacture/compost. • Make products that last longer. • Eliminate/reduce unnecessary packaging.

11. 17-3: Making Industries Sustainable • Biomimicry: Redesign industries to mimic how nature deals w/ waste (Ecoindustrial Revolution). • Nature: waste outputs of one organism = nutrient input of another organism • Recycle/reuse chemicals rather than dumping them in environment • Resource exchange webs: one company’s waste = another company’s raw materials (Europe)

12. 17-3: Selling Services • Mid 1980s German chemist Michael Braungart believed we should shift from current material-flow economy to service-flow economy • Ecoleasing= instead of buying things we could rent services that such things provide • Service-flow economy: manufacturer makes more money if product uses minimum amounts of materials, lasts long, and is easy to maintain, repair, remanufacture, reuse, or recycle

13. 17-3: Service-Flow Companies • Xerox: Since 1992, Xerox has been leasing copy machines instead of selling photocopiers • To save money, machines designed to use recycled paper, be energy efficient, and emit as little ozone, heat, and chemical as possible • Carrier: Leases cooling systems

14. 17-4: Reuse • Reusing Products is an important way to reduce resource use, waste, and pollution in developed countries, but can create hazards for the poor in developing countries. Reuse involves cleaning and using materials over and over, thereby extending the typical life span of a product. • Reuse can be dramatically increased in high throughput society's if they used plates, cups, silver ware instead of paper plates and plastic forks and knives. • Reuse is thriving in developing countries but can cause heath problems, about 80% of the US e-waste goes to developing countries where works dismantle TVs computers and sell phones which can prove to be a heath hazard.

15. 17-4: Refillable Containers • Refilling and reusing containers uses less resources and energy, produces less waste, saves money, and creates local jobs • Examples of reusable containers include refillable glass bottles and (PET) plastics

16. 17-4: Big Companies • Big companies make more money by producing throw away bottles then reusable bottles • Cost one third less to make a throw away bottle then a reusable bottle • In Finland 95% of beverages are served in refillable containers. • In Germany ¾ of all beverages are refillable • Some places like Prince Edward island of the coast of Canada has band throw away bottles all together.

17. 17-4: Solutions • Cloth bags can be used to carry groceries instead of the tradition paper and plastic throw away types • In the Netherlands and Ireland bags are added to the total price of the goods in grocery stores to encourage reusable cloth bags • Lunch boxes and reusable containers can be used instead of plastic bags and aluminum foil

18. 17-5: Recycling • Recycling is an important way to collect waste materials and turn them into useful products that can be sold in the market place • Reuse and recycling are hindered by • prices of goods that do not reflect the ecological truth • too few governments subsidies and tax breaks • low landfill dumping costs • price fluctuations

19. 17-5: Classification • Recycling comes in five flavors • Paper products(newspapers) • Glass(bottles) • Aluminum(cans) • Plastics(soda bottles)

20. 17-5: Processing • Primary (closed loop recycling) • Occurs when waste is recycled into new products of the same type(old newspapers into new newspapers) • Secondary (down-cycling) • Waste materials are converted into different products(shreadedtires into new pavement for roads)

21. 17-5: Two Types of Recyclable Waste • Pre-consumer (internal waste) • Generated in a manufacturing process and recycled in stead of being discarded • Postconsumer(external waste) • Generated by consumer use of products

22. 17-5: Composting • Composting biodegradable organic waste mimics nature by recycling organic matter and returning nutrients back to soil • Simple process where the processes of nature are used to break down organic matter into nutrient rich soil • Organic wastes can be collected at a large scale. Many European countries • To be successful on a large scale, the compost plant must be located in a controlled environment with an odor control system • Anything toxic must be removed before composting process can begin.

23. 17-5: Recycling Solid Wastes • There is disagreement over whether to send mixed urban wastes to centralized resource recovery plants or to have individuals sort recyclables for collection and sale to manufactures as raw materials

24. 17-5: Material Recovering Facilities VS. Source Separation • In a (MRF) a large quaintly of urban waste is sent to a MRF facility. • Machines and workers separate the mixed waste to recover valuable raw materials that can be sold back to manufactures (scrap metal) • The remaining paper, plastics, and other combustible wastes are recycled or burned to produce electricity • In Source Separation urban waste is separated at the instead of being mixed with other wastes • Produces less air and water pollution. • Low start up cost • Yields cleaner and more • Educates people on waste reduction, recycling, and reuse

25. Case Study 17-5: Problems With Recycling Plastics • Recycling many plastics is chemically and economically difficult • Currents only 10% by weight of all plastic wastes are recycled • Plastics are hard to find that have been mixed in with urban waste • Recovering small bits of plastic from urban waste is not economical feasible • Toyota the worlds second leading automaker is investing $38 billion in a process that makes plastics from plants. By 2020 its expects to control of two thirds of the worlds bio plastic • Price to produce plastic is lower then price to recycle it.

26. 17-5: Recycling Advantages Disadvantages • Reduces air and water pollution • Saves energy • Reduces mineral demand • Reduces greenhouse gas emission • Reduces solid waste disposal • Protects biodiversity • Saves money • Does not save landfill space • May lose money (glass and plastics) • Reduces profits from landfills/incinerators • Source separation inconvenient

27. 17-6: Burning Waste • Some countries incinerate waste (Japan and parts of Europe) • US doesn’t burn waste anymore due to high costs, pollution, and citizens disapproving • Waste-to-energy incinerators: burning waste which boils water and creates electricity

28. 17-6: Burning Waste Advantages Disadvantages • Reduced trash volume • Less need for landfills • Low water pollution • Quick and easy • High cost • Air pollution • Produces a highly toxic ash • Encourages waste production • Discourages recycling

29. 17-6: Burying Waste • Two types of landfills: • Open dump: fields/holes in ground where garbage is deposited and covered w/ soil • Sanitary landfills: solid waste spread out in layers, compacted, and covered w/ clay or plastic foam

30. 17-6: Burying Waste Advantages Disadvantages • No open burning • Little odor • Built quickly • Low operating costs • Can handle large amounts of waste • Landfill is multipurpose • Noise and traffic • Dust • Air pollution • Releases greenhouse gases • Groundwater contamination

31. 17-7: Hazardous Waste • Developed countries produce 4/5ths to 9/10ths of the wastes that can negatively affect people. What is more, these very wastes are, more often than not, not regulated. • Terms: • Brownfields: places contaminated by hazardous wastes. Ex. range from junkyards and landfills to gas stations and factories. • Hazardous waste: any material not of the gas phase that is “thrown-away” and is toxic, flammable, corrosive, and/or highly reactive.

32. 17-7: Hazardous Waste • 1/20th of all hazardous wastes are overseen by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. They do this by setting specific regulations and supplying permits to firms. • Permit holders follow cradle-to-grave method; must be aware of the hazardous material they produce from the very beginning to the very end. • 1980 in Congress = passing of Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act…or just the Superfund Program, which is supposed to find hazardous waste sites and clean them up. They start with the most dangerous one first and are found on the National Priorities List. • There were 1,250 sites, 900 cleaned up, the mean cost $20,000,000 a cite. • Waste Management Research Institute claims there could be north of 10,000 sites, therefore resulting in 1 trillion dollars. Mucho dinero. • Due to the polluter’s wealth, hazardous waste went from polluter-pays principle to taxpayers-pay principle.

33. 17-5: When Accidents/Terrorism Happen… • 790 sites that could potentially kill 100,000 to 1,000,000 people from things like a terrorist attack. • There are no national laws that make these facilities have security. • Rail cars are another potential thing that could have devastating effects because they often post near a human population and they travel close to or within cities. • 275 power plants could also release NH3 and Cl

34. 17-7 Case Study: Bhopal, India’s Blackest Day • Union Carbide Pesticide Plant on December 2nd, 1984 exploded from underground tank reacting with H20, releasing MIC. Some then reacted to HCN, a more deadly chemical. Spread 30 square miles. • Damage: • 10,000-20,000 people died in about 3 day • 120,000-150,000 people now have persistent illnesses • 50,000-60,000 suffer from not being able to see, damage to the lungs and/or brain • Could have been prevented had $1,000,000 been invested into the pesticide plant. • They paid affected about $500 per person, a total of $470,000,000. Never accepted responsibility

35. 17-7: Current Forms of Containment • People can reduce/store hazardous materials through physical, chemical, and biological means. • Bioremediation = bacteria and enzymes decompose hazardous chemicals • Phytoremediation = (plausibly genetically engineered organisms) absorb polluted H20 and soil • Burning only transforms material • Burry underground like deep-well disposal sending pipe under rocks (under aquifers) that will not let substance pass through • Surface impoundments = H2O storage then using evaporation • Other forms of containment include secure hazardous waste in landfills and aboveground buildings

36. 17-8: Lead • Pb is a neurotoxin. Comes from some paints, leaded gasoline, and pipes/faucets that have it • Children most susceptible to effects; U.S. had 12-16 thousand suffered from lead poising and 200 died, all of whom where 9&under • Even if one lives, palsy, paralysis, blindness and retardation are plausible effects • 1976 = 85% to 2000 = 2.2% (too high of Pb in blood on some scale of safe and not safe) • Still, no amount of Pb is ok

37. 17-8: Mercury • 1/3 Hg comes from “natural sources” • 2/3 Hg comes from coal, burning wastes, mining/smelting Ag and Au • 2 ways to get Hg into the system; • 1) breath in Hg(g) or Hg2+ (salts) • 2) eating fish which have CH3Hg+ in their system • Harms pregnant women and youth the most • EPA claims 33% lakes (all Great Lakes), 25% of rivers, and 75% of waters on coast have Hg

38. 17-8: Major Concepts • Solid waste is unnecessarily wasting resources  pollution and the degradation of the environment • Burning and burying < using less, reusing, recycling, and composting • Ecoindustrial revolution is attempting to mimic nature when producing things • Leasing can be more environmentally friendly • 4/5ths to 9/10ths of the hazardous wastes are produced by developed countries and most are not regulated • Biological and chemical means can reduce or store hazardous wastes like toxins Pb and Hg

39. 17-9: Achieving A Low Waste Society • In United States, citizens have kept large numbers of incinerators, landfills, and hazardous waste treatment plants from being built in local areas to reduce harmful effects of these facilities

40. 17-9: International Action to Reduce Waste • Between 1909-1994 international treaty to limit the transfer of hazardous from country to country • In 2000 122 countries completed a global treaty to control 12 persistent organic pollutants (POPs)

41. 17-9: Solutions • Albert Einstein “A clever person solves a problem, a wise person avoids it” • To prevent pollution environmentalist say to live by four key principals • Everything is connected • There is no “away” for the wastes we produce • Dilution is not always the solution to pollution • Best and cheapest way to deal with waste and pollution is to produce fewer of them and recycle the materials we use

42. THE END.