Waste Management: Where Does It All Go?

1. Environment & Ecology 019 Waste Management Ch 16 Waimanalo Gulch landfill

2. Where’s it all going?

3. Central Case: Transforming New York’s Fresh Kills Landfill • After 50 years, the largest landfill in the world closed in 2001. • It was the primary repository of New York City’s garbage.

4. Approaches to waste management • Waste: any unwanted material or substance that results from human activity or process • Municipal solid waste: non-liquid waste that comes from homes, institutions, and small businesses • Industrial solid waste: waste from production of consumer goods, mining, agriculture, and petroleum extraction and refining • Hazardous waste: solid or liquid waste that is toxic, chemically reactive, flammable, or corrosive • Wastewater:water used in a household, business, or industry, as well as polluted runoff from our streets and storm drains

5. Waste Stream

6. Municipal solid waste is rising • In the U.S., waste generation per person has risen 72%. • Even after recycling, paper is the largest component of solid waste. • We are a throwaway society.

7. The U.S. municipal solid waste stream The average American generates 2.1 kg (4.6 lb) of trash per day — more than citizens of any other nation.

8. Waste generation is rising in all nations • Wealthy consumers discard items that can still be used. • At many dumps and landfills in the developing world, poor people support themselves by selling items they scavenge.

9. Improved disposal methods In the U.S. and other developed countries, recycling, composting, reduction, and reuse are decreasing pressure on landfills.

10. A typical sanitary landfill To protect against environmental contamination, landfills must be located away from wetlands, earthquake-prone faults, and 6 m (20 ft) above the water table.

11. Landfills can be transformed after closure Proposed plan for Fresh Kills Landfill with Windfarms

12. Landfills have drawbacks • Leachate will eventually escape. • The liner will become punctured. • Leachate collection systems aren’t maintained. • It is hard to find places suitable for landfills. • The not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY) syndrome • The “garbage barge” case • In 1987, Islip, New York’s landfills were full, and a barge traveled to empty the waste in North Carolina, which rejected the load. • After Louisiana and Mexico rejected the barge, it returned to New York to incinerate the waste.

13. A typical solid waste incinerator Incinerating trash reduces landfill pressure

14. Many incinerators create energy • Incineration reduces the volume of waste and can generate electricity. • Waste-to-energy facilities (WTE): use the heat produced by waste combustion to produce steam to create electricity Kapaa Quarry

15. Landfills can produce gas for energy CH4

16. Reducing waste is a better option Source reduction: • preventing waste generation in the first place • Avoids costs of disposal and recycling • Helps conserve resources • Minimizes pollution • Can save consumers and businesses money • Much of the waste stream consists of materials used to package goods.

17. Waste can be reduced by manufacturers • Waste can be reduced by manufacturers if consumers: • Choose minimally packaged goods • Buy unwrapped fruits and vegetables • Buy in bulk

18. Waste can be reduced by manufacturers vs Chokes animal life Litters environment

19. Reuse is a major strategy for reducing waste

20. Reuse is a major strategy for reducing waste Buy in bulk Reusable coffee cup

21. Composting recovers organic waste • Composting: the conversion of organic waste into mulch or humus through natural biological processes of decomposition • Can be used to enrich soil • Earthworms, bacteria, soil mite, sow bugs, and other organisms convert waste into high-quality compost.

22. Recycling consists of three steps • Recycling: collecting materials that can be broken down and reprocessed to manufacture new items

23. Recycling has grown rapidly and can expand • Recycling has exploded in the past 20 years. • Recycling rates vary widely, depending on the product. • 99% of auto batteries • 11% of plastics are recycled.

24. Financial incentives can address waste • Waste managershave used economic incentives to reduce the waste stream. • Pay-as-you-throwapproach: uses financial incentives to influence consumer behavior • The less waste a house generates, the less it is charged for trash collection. • Bottle bills: consumers receive a refund for returning used bottles and cans • These laws are profoundly effective and resoundingly popular.

25. Industrial solid waste Industrial waste: waste from factories, mining, agriculture, petroleum extraction, etc. 7.6 billion tons of waste/year in the U.S. — 97% is wastewater

26. Industrial ecology Redesigning industrial systems to reduce resource inputs and maximize physical and economic efficiency Industry mimics nature with little waste Waste from one organism is food for another Everything is connected by cyclic processes Living off nature’s interest Businesses can use industrial ecology to save money while reducing waste.

27. Conventional Waste Managment in Fiji MushroomGrowing Chicken Raising Methane Gas Production Fish Ponds Brewery waste dumped into oceans to destroy coral reefs Brewery Muck dumped on fields Waste piles up Methane vented Muck cleaned out

28. Industrial Ecology in Fiji MushroomGrowing Chicken Raising Methane Gas Production Fish Ponds HydroponicGardening Brewery waste fertilizes mushrooms Brewery Mushroom residue feeds chickens Chicken waste is composted Solids become fish food Nutrients used in gardens

29. Ahupua’a

30. Hazardous waste • Hazardous waste is defined as: • Ignitable: substances that easily catch fire (natural gas, alcohol) • Corrosive: substances that corrode metals in storage tanks or equipment • Reactive: substances that are chemically unstable and readily react with other compounds (i.e., explosively or by producing noxious fumes) • Toxic: substances that harm human health when they are inhaled, ingested, or contact human skin

31. Hazardous wastes have diverse sources • Industry: produces the largest amount of hazardous waste • But disposal is highly regulated in developed countries. • Mining • Households: include paints, batteries, oils, solvents, cleaning agents, pesticides • The average home contains 45 kg (100 lb). • Small businesses • Agriculture • Utilities • Building demolition

32. “E-waste” is a new and growing problem • Electronic waste (“e-waste”): waste involving electronic devices

33. Several steps precede disposal of hazardous waste • Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA): states are required to manage hazardous waste • Large generators of hazardous waste must obtain permits and track wastes “from cradle to grave.”

34. Illegal dumping of hazardous waste Kapaa Quarry Honolulu http://www.opala.org/solid_waste/Stop_Illegal_Dumping.html

35. Disposal of hazardous wastes: surface impoundments • Surface impoundments:temporarily store liquid hazardous waste Plastic lining

36. Deep-well injection • A well is drilled deep beneath the water table and waste is injected into it

37. Munitions Cleanup Ordinance Reef Kaho’olawe

38. QUESTION: Review • _______ is defined as “non-liquid waste from homes, institutions, and small businesses.” • Waste • Municipal solid waste • Industrial solid waste • Hazardous waste • Wastewater

39. QUESTION: Review • All of the following are main components of waste management EXCEPT: • Minimizing the amount of waste generated • Recovering waste materials • Recycling waste materials • Disposing of waste safely and effectively • All of these are components of waste management.

40. QUESTION: Review Within a sanitary landfill, waste is: • Poured into deep wells • Stored in large piles and then burned • Buried in the ground or piled up in large, carefully engineered mounds • Put onto barges and shipped overseas • Any of these occurs in a sanitary landfill

41. QUESTION: Review What are some ways we can reduce the amount of items entering the waste stream? • Donate used items to charity • Buy groceries in bulk • Buy rechargeable batteries • Make double-sided photocopies • All of the above are ways to reduce the waste stream.

42. QUESTION: Review Industrial ecology is defined by all of the following EXCEPT: • Redesigning industrial systems to reduce resource inputs • Making industrial systems work more like ecological ones • Minimizing physical efficiency • Maximizing economic efficiency • Eliminating environmentally harmful products

43. QUESTION: Review By EPA definition, hazardous waste can be: • Ignitable • Hot • Large • Moveable • Chemically stable

44. QUESTION: Review Which of the following are disposal methods for hazardous waste? • Hazardous waste landfills • Surface impoundments • Injection wells • All of the above are disposal methods.

45. QUESTION: Interpreting Graphs and Data Which statement is false for this figure? a) Less waste is going to landfills. • Recycling plays a smaller role than in 1985. • Combustion is increasing. • Composting is increasing.