Waste &
Core Case Study:
Love Canal — There Is No “Away”
1942-1953: Hooker Chemical sealed chemical wastes into steel drums and dumped them into an old canal excavation 1953: Canal was sold for $1 to Niagara Falls school board
The deed indicated chemicals were buried and the site should not be disturbed; however…
An elementary school and hundreds of homes were built (disrupted the clay cap covering the wastes)
1976: Residents complained of chemical smells and chemical burns
Core Case Study:
Love Canal — There Is No “Away”
President Jimmy Carter declared Love Canal a federal disaster area
1980: Area was abandoned
Controversy remains as to how much the chemicals injured or caused disease to the residents
Sparked creation of the “Superfund law”
Forced polluters to pay for cleaning up abandoned toxic waste dumps
Types of Waste
Solid Waste:
Industrial Solid Waste
Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)
Hazardous (or Toxic) Waste: threatens human health or the environment because it is toxic, chemically active, corrosive or flammable
Organic compounds (e.g. pesticides, PCBs, dioxins) Toxic heavy metals (e.g. lead, mercury, arsenic)
Biodegradable (or Organic) Waste
Comprises over 1/2 of the solid waste
Includes inert waste, yard debris, wood materials, food, manure, construction debris, used paper, etc.
Recyclable Waste Soiled Waste
Jakarta, Indonesia
Nuclear Waste
Safe disposal of radioactive wastes is a large
problem
Radioactive wastes must be stored in an isolated area where they can’t contaminate the
environment
It must have geological stability and little or no water flowing nearby
Electronic Waste (E-Waste)
Consists of toxic and
hazardous waste such
as PVC, lead, mercury,
and cadmium
The U.S. produces almost half of the world's e-waste but only recycles about 10% of it
U.S. Waste
Produces around ¼ - ⅓ of the world’s solid
waste and buries more than half of it in
landfills
Less than 5% is MSW
• How is the MSW
disposed of?
Texas Commission of Environmental Quality (TCEQ) oversees Texas municipal waste
Formally the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC)
Texans disposal of over 6 lbs per person every day
Landfills
Most of the world’s MSW is buried in landfills that eventually are expected to leak toxic liquids into the soil and underlying aquifers
Open Dumps: fields or holes in the ground where garbage is deposited and sometimes covered with soil (primarily in developing countries)
Sanitary Landfills: solid wastes are spread out in thin layers, compacted and covered daily
Landfills Cont…
Solid waste is placed in a hole, compacted, and covered with soil
Lessens the danger of fire
Reduces the number of rats associated with solid waste Decreases the odor
Current Criteria
Landfills cannot pollute surface or groundwater
Compacted clay and plastic sheets need to be placed at the bottom of the landfill in a double liner system to collect leachate
Item Restrictions in Landfills
Must go to an automotive or environmental company for recycling
Oil
Antifreeze
Air Conditioner Coolants Car Batteries (lead)
Tires: Sometimes allowed if they are quartered or shredded
Sand
When landfill is full, layers of soil and clay seal in trash.
Methane storage and compressor building Leachate storage tank Leachate monitoring well Groundwater monitoring well Electricity generator building Leachate treatment system Methane gas recovery well Compacted solid waste Leachate pipes
Leachate pumped up to storage tank for safe disposal
Groundwater
Clay and plastic lining to prevent leaks; pipes collect leachate from bottom of landfill
Topsoil Sand Clay Subsoil Probes to detect methane leaks Garbage Garbage Synthetic liner Sand Clay
Pipes collect explosive methane as used as fuel to generate electricity
Composts
Sweet-smelling, dark-brown, humus-like material; rich in organic material and soil nutrients
Benefits
Aerates the soil
Helps prevent erosion
Improves soil’s ability to retain water and nutrients Prevents nutrients from being dumped in landfills
• Mimics nature by returning plant nutrients to the soil “Recipe” for Compost
6-12 inches of grass clippings Leaves or other plant material Shade & Soil & Water & Air Garden fertilizer or manure
Burning MSW
Globally, MSW is burned in over 1,000 large
waste-to-energy incinerators
Japan and a few European countries incinerate most of their MSW
The US has around 100 incinerators
• Said to produce less CO2 emissions than power plants that run on fossil fuels
Advantages
Used to boil water to make steam for heating spaces and for production of electricity
Boil the water To make the steam
To turn the turbine To go to the generator
Recycling
Conservation of resources by converting them into a new product from that material
EX: Metals (gold, lead, nickel, steel, copper, silver, zinc, and aluminum) are recyclable
Advantages
Conserves natural capital
Has a positive effect on the economy by generating jobs and revenue
Helps prevent land degradation
• EX: One Sunday NY Times consumes approx. 62,000 trees
Reduces (not eliminates) the amount of solid waste, energy consumption and pollution
• EX: Recycling one aluminum can...
• EX: The de-inking process for paper produces a toxic sludge that contains heavy metals
3 tons of mining waste are produced to
extract enough gold for one wedding ring
Recycling
Primary (closed loop) recycling: materials are turned into new products of the same type
Secondary recycling: materials are converted into different products
Used tires shredded and converted into rubberized road surface
Newspapers transformed into cellulose insulation
Materials Recovery Facilities
& Mixed Waste Processing
Specific Recycled
Items
Glass
U.S. recycles less than half of its glass containers Costs less to recycle glass than to make new glass Mixed color glass “cullet” is used for glassphalt, a glass/asphalt mixture
Most recycled material in the U.S. because of incentive
Approximately 2/3 of cans are recycled each year, saving 19 million barrels of oil annually
Making a new can from an old one requires a fraction of the energy required to produce a can from the raw material
bauxite
Paper
U.S. currently recycles around one-half of its paper and cardboard
Denmark, recycles almost 100% of its paper
Many U.S. mills are not able to process waste paper
We export about 19% of our recycled paper to countries like Mexico
#1 - PET
Used to make soda bottles, peanut butter jars, etc. Can be recycled into fiberfill for sleeping bags, carpet fibers, rope, and pillows
Found in milk jugs, butter tubs, detergent bottles, and motor oil bottles
Can be recycled into ropes, trashcans, toys traffic barrier cones, and detergent bottles
#2 - HDPE (High-density polyethylene)
#3 - PVC (Polyvinyl chloride)
Used in shampoo bottles, cooking oil bottles, and fast-food service items
Can be recycled into highway sound barriers, vinyl flooring, and water pipes
Found in grocery bags, wash bottles, shrink-wrap, and margarine tubs
Can be recycled into new grocery bags
Used in yogurt containers, straws, pancake syrup bottles, and bottle caps
Can be recycled into plastic lumber, DVD & car battery cases, and former items listed
#4 - LDPE (Low-density polyethylene)
#6 - PS (Polystyrene)
Found in Styrofoam cups, plastic cutlery, packaging peanuts, and license plate frames
Can be recycled into packaging materials (often not accepted for recycling)
Found in a things like squeeze ketchup bottles and microwaveable dishes
Can be recycled into buckets
#7 - Other
Recycling plastics is chemically & economically difficult
Many plastics are hard to isolate from other wastes
Recovering individual plastic resins doesn’t yield much material Virgin plastic resins often cost less than recycled resins
New technologies are working to make plastics biodegradable
100 meal worms could digest about a pill’s worth per day
Bisphenol A (BPA)
Can be found in plastics 3 through 7
Heat can accelerate breakdown
July 2012—FDA outlaws BPA from baby
bottles and children’s drinking cups
Some states have enacted stricter policies (California, Oregon, and South Dakota)
Polylactic Acid (PLA)
Nature Works has the largest lactic acid plant
Reduces the estimated
200,000 barrels of oil used each day to make plastic products
According to Smithson.com, Wal-Mart plans to use 114 million PLA containers, saving 800,000 barrels annually
Compostable that breaks
Integrated Waste
Management
An effective way to deal with solid
and hazardous waste.
Includes the 3 R’s:
We can manage the solid wastes we produce and
reduce or prevent their production.
Solutions: Reducing Solid Waste
Refuse: to buy items that we really don’t need
Reduce: consume less and live a simpler and less stressful life by practicing simplicity
Reuse: rely more on items that can be used over and over
Can be hazardous in developing countries for the poor who scavenge in open dumps (are exposed to toxins and disease)
Repurpose: use something for another purpose instead of throwing it away
Recycle: paper, glass, cans, plastics…and buy items made from recycled materials
Dealing with
Waste Regulation in the U.S.
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
Cradle-to-the-grave system to keep track of waste
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)
Commonly known as Superfund program
Designed to make polluters pay for cleaning up abandoned hazardous waste sites
• 70% of the cleanup costs have come from the polluters
• Until 2003, the rest came from a trust fund financed by taxes on chemical raw materials and oil
• Now, unfinanced projects go before Congress for approval from the general fund
includes all of RCRA’s hazardous waste C on se qu en ce s R ul es
Conversion to Less
Hazardous Substances
Physical Methods: using charcoal or resins (flammable organic material) to separate out harmful chemicals
Incineration: heating to high temperatures – up to 2000 °C – can break down and convert toxins to harmless or at least, less harmful chemicals
Plasma Torch: passing electrical current through gas to generate an electric arc can be combined with very high temperatures to create plasma
Chemical Methods: using chemical reactions that can convert hazardous chemicals to less harmful or harmless chemicals
Biological Methods:
Bioremediation: bacteria or enzymes destroy toxic wastes or convert them to more benign substances
Phytoremediation: uses natural or genetically engineered plants to absorb or filter contaminants from polluted soil and water
PHYTO-STABILIZATION
Plants such as willow trees and poplars can absorb chemicals and
keep them from reaching groundwater
or nearby surface water.
RHIZOFILTRATION
Roots of plants such as sunflowers with dangling roots on ponds or in green-houses can absorb pollutants such as radioactive strontium-90 and
cesium-137 and various organic chemicals.
PHYTOEXTRACTION
Roots of plants such as Indian mustard and brake ferns can absorb toxic metals such as lead,
arsenic, and others and store them in their leaves. Plants can
then be recycled or harvested and incinerated.
PHYTODEGRADATION
Plants such as poplars can absorb toxic organic chemicals and break them
down into less harmful compounds which they store or release slowly into the air.
Inorganic Metal Contaminants Organic Contaminants Radioactive Contaminants Brake fern Poplar tree Indian mustard Willow tree Sunflower Oil spill Landfill Polluted leachate Decontaminated water out Polluted groundwater in P H Y T O R E M E D I A T I O N
Long-Term Storage
of Hazardous Waste
Deep-well Disposal: liquid hazardous wastes are
pumped 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
Long-Term Retrievable Storage: storage of metal
drums in areas that can be inspected and retrieved (used to stored some highly toxic materials that cannot be detoxified or destroyed)
Secure Landfills: hazardous waste are put into drums
Secure
Hazardous
Waste Landfill
In the U.S., there are 23 commercial
hazardous waste landfills
International Action to Reduce
Hazardous Waste
U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP)
developed a treaty that has become known as
the Basel Convention
Outlaws all shipping of hazardous waste to developing countries
Calls for phasing out the use of harmful persistent organic pollutants (POPs)
• POPs are insoluble in water and soluble in fat
• Nearly every person on earth has detectable levels of POPs in their blood
The U.S has not ratified this treaty Resource Conservation and Recovery Act needs amended
NIMBY or …
Environmental justice means that everyone is entitled to protection from environmental hazards without
discrimination
New movement for “Not in ANYONE’S BACKYARD” partly due to the following realizations
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
