Waste Management

Solid and Liquid Waste Management

What do you know about recycling?

Who knows how to recycle the following items?

Item % Who know How to Recycle

Cardboard boxes (corrugated)

Cardboard boxes with tape

Cloth and other textiles

Food waste

Hardcover books

Paperback books

Paperboard (such as cereal boxes)

Plastic drink bottles

Plastic shopping bags

Stryofoam food containers

Canadian artist Aurora Robson created with

walk-in exhibit called “The

Great Indoors” from 15 000 plastic bottles.

What are some materials that are thrown out that could be re-used for

other purposes?

Less Than 1% Of Sweden's Trash Ends Up In Landfills

I Haven't Made Any Trash In 2 Years. Here's What My Life Is Like

Solid Waste Management

Solid waste: is any solid or semi-solid material that has been discarded

Each year, Canadians generate 30 million tonnes of solid waste (that’s 250 CN Towers or 4,000,000 African elephants!)

Waste stream: the movement of waste from its sources to its final destination

Solid waste enters the waste stream from three main sources: agriculture, industry, and municipalities.

Agriculture Solid Waste

Agriculture solid waste is made up of animal waste and organic matter that is left over after harvesting and processing crops and animals.

Farms, ranches, feedlots and many slaughterhouses are the sources.

Industrial Solid Waste

Industries such as manufacturing, construction, mining and other industries are sources.

These wastes range from chemicals used to wastes produced during construction or demolition.

Most industrial waste is recycled by industry.

Mines such as the McArthur River mine in northern Saskatchewan produce so much solid waste that mining is sometimes classified as a separate category of solid waste.

The McArthur River mine is one of the largest uranium mines in the world. Cameco has been working with a geoscientist at the UofS on safe ways to store and dispose of harmful mine wastes.

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)

MSW includes all garbage – including items that can be recycled and composted – from homes, businesses such as office buildings, and institutions.

Canada has the dubious distinction of being among the world leaders in the yearly production of MSW.

Provincial and territorial governments manage MSW. However, responsibility for collecting and treating the waste is often passed on to municipal or regional governments.

Today, especially in developed countries, the final destination for most municipal solid waste is a landfill site.

Landfill: a disposal site for solid waste where the waste is buried between layers of soil, filling in low-lying ground

Landfills isolate waste from ground water, air, and surrounding soils. Isolation from ground water is made possible by large, impermeable liner that is buried deep into the ground.

Landfills provide several benefits to the environment.

First, they are an immediate solution for solid waste management.

Some landfills use gases produced by waste to generate electricity.

Without landfills, waste would enter the environment directly.

Leachate: liquid from landfills composed of chemicals from garbageRubber or clay liners are used to trap leachate. Drainage systems are installed to monitor and collect leachate before it leaves the landfill.

Landfill gas is created by bacteria as they break down food and other organic material in landfills.

The gas is a mixture of mostly methane and carbon dioxide, both of which are potent greenhouse gases.

Technology can help manage landfill gas. Gas capture and combustion converts methane into carbon dioxide.

Vancouver has also started burning methane and it is used for energy!

Available Space

Today, about 80% of municipal solid waste from Canada and 55% from the US goes into landfills.

An ongoing debate over how to replace lost landfill capacity is developing where population density is high and available land is scarce.

Where do places like Toronto, New York, and LA find space for new landfills?

Alternatives

1. Thermal Treatment: processing of solid waste at high temperatures

As of 2013, Ontario, Quebec, B.C., Alberta, and P.E.I have thermal treatment facilities.

Advantages:

- Reduces the volume of waste (by 10-20%)

Disadvantages:

- Thermally treated waste can enter the atmosphere in the form of ash and gases

- Production of energy (see next slide)

- Facilities use pollution control technologies to treat or capture this waste (which we talked about!)

Charlottetown, PEI, has a thermal treatment facility (also called energy recovery or waste-to-energy).

They use a mass burn incinerator to produce steam. The steam is used to generate electricity.

2. Exportation

Where waste is exported to different cities, states or countries.

For Example: In 2011, New York shipped nearly 11 tonnes of waste every day to landfill sites in other states!

Disadvantage:

Expense! In 2011 it cost New York 300 million dollars to transport its waste.

For Example:

From 2003 to 2010, Toronto exported its waste to a landfill in the state of Michigan!