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Environmental Science Unit

What is recycling?• Recycling is a series of

activities that includes collecting, sorting and processing recyclable materials into raw materials and manufacturing them into new products.

• EX: Plarn (plastic yarn)

Some Cool Recycled Products on The Market – pass around my recycled items

Recycling Entrepreneur Project

• Handout provided.

• Due March 13

Why Is It Important to Recycle?• It limits the amount of

garbage going to the landfill, therefore saving valuable landfill space.

• Creates jobs, businesses -3,177 business establishments in Ohio, employing 98,302 people!

• Better for the environment (energy efficient, resource efficient, habitat efficient)

• Close the loop- you aren’t a die-hard recycler unless you close the loop & buy recycled products-keep the industry going.

What about plain old garbage?MSW

Municipal Solid Waste

• Defined as anything normally discarded from home or community.

• Average person produces about 4.4 lbs. trash per day! (1600 lbs./year! Or 726 kilograms!)

MSW generation in the U.S. has increased more than 60% since 1980 to the current level of 251 million tons per year!

How Long Does It Take for Garbage to Break

Down (if it can)?• Plastic takes 500

years/common pollutant• Aluminum cans take

500 years• Organic materials take

6 months• Cotton, rags, & paper

take 6 months

We can recycle these!

Where Does It Go If We Don’t Recycle It?

• Household waste is typically land-filled

• Landfills require careful planning, time, and money before they become a reality. 

• combustion- reduces waste to ash then goes to landfill

Environmental/Human Health Effects of Combustion

produce pollutants such as CO2, heavy metals, dioxins and particulates

which contribute to climate change, smog,acidification, asthma, and heart and nervous

system damage

Environmental Considerations -Landfills-

• Leachate- groundwater/surfacewater contamination

• Methane production-GHG

• Monitoring once capped-$$$

• Eyesore (not aesthetically pleasing)-NIMBY!- what to make of “hill” when capped?

Leachate Pond

NIMBY

• Acronym for “Not In My Backyard,”

• used to negatively describe the attitude of a person or group who oppose the development (wastwater treatment plant, landfill, highway, airport runway extension) of anything they deem inappropriate in their town or neighborhood.

• Show Cleveland Airport Runway Extension video! A perfect NIMBY example right here in our town.

Taking away your trash is not free! 

• Landfills need money to: -pay workers -maintain safety -environmental standards/monitoring

  • Tipping Fee- a charge for garbage

production.U.S tipping fees currently average $41 per ton with a high of $98 per ton in Vermont.

Average Tipping Fees

• Ohio $32.00• Michigan $36.00• Kentucky $31.00• Indiana $32.00• West Virginia $35.00• Pennsylvania $58.00• New York $95.00• New Jersey $73.00

Because Ohio is “cheap”, we import trash from up to 22

different states in the US!

Most from New York & New Jersey via

truck or rail.

Modern Landfill Design

Ohio’s Solid Waste Law

• The passage of House Bill 592 in 1988 established a law for Ohio to properly plan for the proper disposal of the >14 million tons of waste produced/year in Ohio.

• GOAL: to reduce our reliance on landfills by expanding waste reduction & recycling activities statewide.

• Required the formation of solid waste management districts; EX: Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District

• Funding for the district is provided by a per ton waste generation fee.

Click here for VIDEO about Cuyahoga County waste.

Feb 2009- Governor Strickland proposes raising garbage fee $1.25/ton

(from $3.50/ton $4.75/ton). Twenty-five cents would go to ODNR for the Soil and Water

Conservation Districts. The remaining $1.00 will go to Ohio EPA to support various programs.

Construction and Demolition Debris (CDD)

increase the CDD tipping fee by $2.70 a ton(from $1.70 a ton to $4.40 a ton) 

Increase would be divided as follows:  $2.25 will go to ODNR for the Soil and Water Conservation Districts

.45 will go to Ohio EPA for operation costs throughout the agency.

Some People Actually Litter!

• Talk about whole storm drain thing here:

Ergghh!

Drains to River !!!!!!!

America’s Typical Waste Consistency

What goes in a landfill….

Weight isn’t the only issue with garbage. The amount of space the item takes up (VOLUME) is important. More volume = more landfill space needed.

What Can be Recycled?

• Paper• Cardboard• Aluminum• Steel• Organic food waste• Plastics:

Polyethylene terephthalate HDPE (High-density polyethylene)

There is a lack of market for the other numbered plastics. However, public pressure is causing increasing numbers of manufacturers to switch to No.1 and 2 plastics to facilitate their recycling. 

Trees, Trees, Trees!

I Love Trees!

Recycling decreases tree cutting

One day newspapers=41,000 trees!

Recycling newspapers would divert 6 million tons of waste in landfills.

Junk Mail If only 100,000 people stopped their junk mail, as many as 150,000 trees annually would not be cut down for paper productions.

• Carbon (“browns” 25-30 parts) to nitrogen (“greens”1 part) ratio important

• Decomposition slows down if this ratio is not met.• Browns: ashes, wood, fruit waste, shredded

newspaper, peanut shells, pine needles,wood chips, leaves, cornstalks

• Greens: garden waste, coffee grounds, grass clippings, manures, veggie scraps, food waste

Compost- Controlled aerobic decomposition of organic waste; also known as brown manure; used as soil conditioner/fertilizer

It is an alternative to a landfill.

Cuyahoga County Stats

In 2007, residential recycling in Cuyahoga County:• Diverted 213,120.45 tons of solid waste from

landfills

• Recovered 26.53% of all household waste for recycling

• Conserved 11,587 tons of non-renewable natural resources

• Conserved 861,387 trees

• Saved over 1,063,483 million BTU’s of energy – enough to power 10,530 homes for one year

• Reduced air emissions by 80,844 tons.

What You Need to Know• What is recycling? Provide some cool examples of products made from recycled

material.• 3-R’s stand for?• What is meant by closing the loop on recycling?• 3 reasons why we should recycle.• Landfill design. Be able to ID: compact clay, synthetic liner,waste, leachate collection

pipes, leachate collection sump, clay cap, gas extraction pipe. • List 3 environmental considerations with landfills?• NIMBY-acronym for? Explain.• MSW-stands for? Define.• Combustion-of waste produces? Where does it go? Pros/Cons.• What is the goal of House Bill 592 in Ohio? What year was it passed?• Storm drains/litter prevention-know storm drain design.• Know relative %’s of waste in landfills for: paper, organic wastes, metals, glass, plastics.• What items can be recycled?• Why are some plastics not recyclable? Most common plastic #’s that are recycled?• What is a compost pile?• What are 3 characteristics of a successful compost pile?