Composting biodegradable organic waste is a way to recycle the yard trimmings and food wastes that would be sent to a landfill.

Composting mimics nature by recycling plant nutrients to the soil.

We Can Copy Nature and Recycle Biodegradable Solid Wastes

4. IncinerateCan reduce

volume of waste and decrease landfill use

Can produce heat which can be used

Incineration degrades air quality

Solutions: A Waste-to-Energy Incinerator with Pollution

Controls

Greater Detroit Resource Recovery Facility / Incinerator

Solutions: A Waste-to-Energy Incinerator with Pollution

Controls

Trade-Offs: Incineration, Advantages and

Disadvantages To be economically

feasible, incinerators must be fed huge amounts of waste every day.• Encourages trash production• Discourages recycling

Many proposed projects have been cancelled:• High costs• Pollution concerns

5. LandfillsMost of our garbage is placed in landfills

Originally a cheap way to dispose waste, not built to protect environment

Regulated under RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act)Location: not on floodplain, wetland, faultsMust have liners and leachate collection

systemsGroundwater must be monitored, even after

landfill closes

5. Landfills Sanitary Landfills: covered every day

minimizes odor, escaping gases, animal access, surface water run off)

Secure landfill: Designed for hazardous waste, built with multiple barriers

5. LandfillsEnvironmental risks of landfills

Access to wastes by animals (insects, rats, vultures, gulls)

Methane, ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, from decomposition

Heavy metal (Pb, Cr, Fe) contamination of soil.Leachate: chemicals dissolve in water moving

through, can contaminate ground and surface water

Social issues:Odor, traffic, land values.Environmental Justice: Poor communities bear

disproportionate risk

Burying Solid Waste Has Advantages and Disadvantages

We live in a high waste society!

Story of stuffhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GorqroigqM

Electronic waste, e-waste: fastest growing solid waste problem

Most is shipped to other countries70% goes to China Hazardous working conditions

International Basel ConventionBans transferring hazardous wastes from

developed countries to developing countriesThe U.S., Afghanistan, and Haiti are the only

countries who haven’t signed it.

Core Case Study:E-waste – An Exploding Problem

Hazardous waste: is any discarded solid or liquid material that is toxic, ignitable, corrosive, or reactive enough to explode or release toxic fumes.

Largest producers of hazardous wastes:1. Military

Munitions (used and unused), explosives, other chemicals2. Chemical industry

Chemical production, storage, disposal3. Mining

Heavy metal contamination

Hazardous Waste

Hazardous Waste1. Toxic:

Arsenic, pesticides, paints, anti-freeze, cleaning products

2. Ignitable Acetone, gasoline, charcoal fluid

3. Explosive/reactive Cyanide, chlorine

4. Corrosive Drano, Easy Off, acids

Harmful ChemicalsLeadMercuryChlorineDioxins

Integrated Hazardous Waste Management

We can:• First, produce less hazardous waste• Second, convert waste to less hazardous or

(better yet) nonhazardous substances• Lastly, put the waste into perpetual storage

systems

Methods for removing hazardous wastes or reducing their toxicity:

Physical Methods – Using charcoal or resins to filter out solids or precipitating harmful chemicals from solution

Chemical Methods – Using chemical reactions that can convert hazardous chemicals to less harmful or harmless chemicals.

Biological MethodsBioremediation – Bacteria or enzymes help destroy

toxic and hazardous waste or convert them to more benign substances.

Phytoremediation – Using natural or genetically engineered plants to absorb, filter, and remove contaminants from polluted soil and water.

We Can Detoxify Hazardous Wastes

Solutions:Phytoremediation

Without proper design and care, hazardous waste disposed of on top of or underneath the earth’s surface can pollute the air and water.

We Can Store Some Forms of Hazardous Wastes

• Deep-well disposal – liquid hazardous wastes are pumped under pressure into dry porous rock far beneath aquifers.• Surface impoundments –

excavated depressions such as ponds, pits, or lagoons into which liners are placed and liquid hazardous wastes are stored.• Secure Landfills – Sometimes hazardous

waste are put into drums and buried in carefully designed and monitored sites.

Love Canal – There Is No “Away”

Between 1842-1953, Hooker Chemical sealed multiple chemical wastes into steel drums and dumped them into an old and unfinished canal excavation (Love Canal).

In 1953, the canal was filled and sold to Niagara Falls school district for $1.

The company inserted a disclaimer denying liability for the wastes.

In 1957, Hooker Chemical warned the school not to disturb the site because of the toxic waste.

In 1959 an elementary school, playing fields and homes were built disrupting the clay cap covering the wastes.

In 1976, residents complained of chemical smells and chemical burns from the site.

There were also increased cases of cancers and birth defects reported by residents of the area.

Love Canal – There Is No “Away”

President Jimmy Carter declared Love Canal a federal disaster area.The area was abandoned in 1980

It still is a controversy as to how much the chemicals at Love Canal injured or caused disease to the residents.

Love Canal sparked creation of the Superfund law, which forced polluters to pay for cleaning up abandoned toxic waste dumps.

Love Canal – There Is No “Away”

CERCLAComprehensive Environmental Response

Compensation and Liability Act (passed in response to Love Canal)

Establishes policy and procedures for hazardous waste disposal.

National Priorities List (NPL) - listing of the most serious sites

Established funds (Superfund) to cover clean up costs

Relatively few sites have been completely cleaned up by superfund.

RCRA Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Governs the disposal of solid waste and hazardous waste requires tracking system (“cradle to grave”) and

regulates storage and disposal Substances must be labeled to indicate level of hazard

and have instructions for handling, first aid, and disposal. Labels indicate level of hazard:DANGER: extremely flammable, corrosive, or toxicPOISON: highly toxicWARNING or CAUTION: moderately or slightly toxic

Strategies to deal with waste:

Extended product liability – responsibility on manufacturers

Pay as you throw – responsibility on user Change tax and subsidy structure to favor reduction and

reuse Bottle bill, mandate refillable containers Strengthen and enforce laws (illegal to put Aluminum in

landfill in NC) Discourage unnecessary packaging and disposables Make recycling easier: more containers, more pickup Consume less

Just remember…

Everything is connected.

There is no “away” for the wastes we produce.

Dilution is not always the solution to pollution.

The best and cheapest way to deal with wastes are reduction and pollution prevention.

We Can Make the Transition to Low-Waste Societies