Solid Waste How much do we make?. Waste Overview: To Know Main Type of waste generated Major approaches to Managing Waste Conventional waste disposal

Solid WasteSolid WasteHow much do we make?How much do we make?

Waste Overview: To Waste Overview: To KnowKnow

Main Type of waste generatedMajor approaches to Managing WasteConventional waste disposal methods

Sanitary landfill Incineration

Approaches for reducing wasteManaging Industrial solid wasteManaging Hazardous waste

MAIN TYPE OF WASTEAny unwanted material or substance that results from a human activity or process

Types of Solid Waste

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Non-liquid waste that comes from homes, institutions, and

small businesses, commonly referred to as “trash” or “garbage”.

Includes everything from paper to food, old appliances, furniture

Industrial Solid WasteIndustrial Solid Waste Waste from production of consumer goods, mining,

agriculture, and petroleum extraction/refining Hazardous wasteHazardous waste

Solid or liquid waste that is toxic, chemically reactive, flammable, or corrosive

Can include everything from paint and household cleaners to medical waste and industrial solvents

Why Manage Waste?

Conserves resources & energyReduces water & air pollutionSaves landfill spaceWaste = Food In nature there is no waste Cradle to cradle design Product components are recyclable or biodegradable Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) or Product

Stewardship

Total US MSW Generation 2008 (by material) EPA


• Each American produces about 4.5 pounds of waste per day.

• This chart breaks down waste by material (before recycling and composting). Over the past 30 years, the percentage of plastics has grown; glass & metals are decreasing.


• About 57% of all generated waste is biodegradable (yard trimmings, food scraps, paper). 24 states and hundreds of municipalities now ban yard waste from landfills.

• Approximately 32% of municipal solid waste is recycled in the US. The Dept. of Environmental Quality estimates about 10% of municipal solid waste is recycled in Oklahoma, however, no state records are kept at this time.

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Integrated Solid Waste Management

•A set of plans to manage solid waste•Adopted by many governments•A means of achieving sustainability

Waste Management

• Three main components• Source reduction• Recycling • Safe waste

disposal

Source Reduction or “Reduce”

• Minimizing waste at it’s source• EPA definition of Source Reduction:

the design, manufacture, purchase, or use of materials to reduce their quantity or toxicity before they reach the waste stream including minimizing the production of wastes during any step in the creation or use of a product.

• Preferred method: Prevents the generation of waste in the first place


• Typically called “source reduction” when done by the manufacturer and “reduce” when done by the consumer.

• Manufacturer examples: Beverage cans made using a lighter gauge of aluminum; smaller computers, phones, and other electronics; development of concentrated forms of detergent, etc.; reduction of packaging materials; substitution of latex rather than lead paint.


• Consumer examples: Purchase items in bulk; purchase concentrated forms and refill systems; avoid single-serve containers; make double-sided copies; reduce the purchase of unnecessary items and borrow or rent rather than purchasing when possible. Other examples?

• Backyard composting of yard trimmings & food scraps is reduction (or reuse) because it keeps these items out of the waste stream (not collected at curb).


• 2007 – San Francisco became the first U.S. city to ban non- biodegradable plastic bags.

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Back-end or Waste-end Charge

• Imposed on waste at time of disposal• Provide financial incentive to reduce, reuse, recycle.• Known as

unit pricing, or pay-as-you-throw (PAYT), programs• Households are charged based on the weight or volume of

waste they put out at the curb rather than a flat fee.• Real-world usage• Used in over 4,000 communities in 43 states• Empirical evidence• $0.50 per container led to reduction of 3,650 tons/year for a

community of 100,000 people (Jenkins 1993)

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Front-end or Retail Disposal Charge• Imposed on the product at point of sale• Intended to encourage prevention through source

reduction• Aimed at a consumption externality

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Deposit/Refund System

• Up-front fee imposed on a product at point of sale (like retail disposal charge)

• Fee is returned if consumer takes proper action to avoid environmental damages

• Real world examples• Australia, Canada, Denmark, Mexico, South Korea, Sweden, and

U.S. for beverages• Greece, Norway, and Sweden on car hulks

Reuse

• Prolonging a product’s usable life• Repairing items, selling them or donating them to

charity• Using durable rather than disposable items (i.e.

reusable shopping bags, metal spoons)• Preferable to recycling because item does not need to be

collected/reprocessed

•Compare the waste impact of disposable vs. durable goods: shopping bags, cutlery, serving ware, razors, etc.

•The collection and reprocessing of goods to be recycled is a costly endeavor, which is one reason why reduce and reuse are preferred.

Reuse

• Very few plastics are recyclable. The numbers on the bottom of plastic containers indicate the resin used to make the plastic.

• Although, plastic containers and packaging numbered 1-7 are potentially recyclable, most programs only accept #1 & #2 (clear bottles and milk jugs).

• Plastic cutlery and serving ware are not recycled anywhere in the US.

Metal vs. Plastic Spoon

• Cost to Purchase: 50 cents for metal vs. one cent for plastic

• Cost to Produce & Maintain: Resources (metal, petroleum, water, chemicals, etc.) Energy used (in extraction, manufacturing, transportation)

• External Costs: Pollution (during extraction, manufacturing, transportation) Disposal (landfill, incineration, litter clean-up)

• Savings from repetitive use of metal spoon: Priceless!

One student in school about 200 days per year for 12 years may use 3 metal utensil vs. 7,200 plastic ones ($1.50 vs. $72. plus external costs).

Recycle

• Taking a product at the end of its useful life and using all or part of it to make another product

• Benefits: Saves energy, natural resources, and landfill space, reduces pollution, creates jobs and useful products

• Requires collection, processing, remanufacturing and purchase (Close the Loop!)

• EPA estimates 75% of our waste is recyclable

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Waste Disposal Last in the Hierarchy

Conventional Waste Conventional Waste Disposal MethodsDisposal Methods

• Open dumpsOpen dumps

• Ocean DumpingOcean Dumping

• LandfillsLandfills

• ExportingExporting

• IncineratingIncinerating

Open DumpsOpen Dumps

• Open dumping and Open dumping and waste burning were the waste burning were the acceptable approaches acceptable approaches to dealing with MSW to dealing with MSW until human population until human population and consumption rates and consumption rates increased dramatically increased dramatically in the late 20in the late 20thth century century

• It is still common It is still common practice in developing practice in developing countriescountries

Waste DisposalWaste Disposal

• Since the late 1980’s, recovery of materials for recycling expanded significantly.

• As of 2008, U.S. waste managers were landfilling 54% of MSW, Incinerating 13%, and recovering 33% for composting and recycling.

Waste Disposal Incineration

• CombustionCombustion

• Controlled process in which mixed garbage is burned at very high temperatures, reducing original weight by up to 75% and its volume by up to 90%

• Regular incineration (with out energy capture) is expensive and has environmental and human health consequences.


•Glass & metals are typically removed before incineration to extend furnace and processing equipment life.

•Hazardous waste is removed as well as it can be.


• Drawbacks include• Remaining ash contains toxic

components that must be disposed of in hazardous waste landfills.

• Hazardous chemicals, dioxins, heavy metals and PCBs can be created and released into the atmosphere.

• Particulate matter needs to be physically removed from incinerator emissions and disposed of safely because of fly ash• Heavy metals and dioxin

Waste Disposal Resource Recovery

• Resource Recovery (AKA Waste-to-Energy): Waste is burned to produce energy

• When burned, waste generates approximately 35% of the energy generated by burning coal.

• Heat energy used to boil water, creating steam that drives electricity generation.

Waste Disposal Resource Recovery

•Although pollution controls are strict, some pollution does occur, especially in the burning of plastics and hazardous waste.

•The environmental and human health impact of this pollution is known, however, we may not fully understand the extent of this impact.

Waste Disposal Landfill

• Sanitary landfillsSanitary landfills are carefully engineered sites where waste is buried in the ground or piled up in large mounds away from wetlands and earthquake-prone sites.

• Modern landfills are now lined with impermeable surfaces (plastic and clay) to prevent aquifer or groundwater contamination by leachate leachate (liquid that drains through the waste).


• Once a landfill reaches capacity it must be closed and monitored for 30 years or longer.

• Methane gas must be

now be collected from landfills and can be used to generate energy, but is usually just burned off.

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act

• RCRA was enacted in 1976• Sets the standards to be met

by all sanitary landfills• It also regulates the storage,

transportation, treatment, and disposal of hazardous waste, and permitting of these activities.

• It regulates underground storage tanks, and recycling and procurement of recycled goods.


• NIMBY syndrome• Not in my

backyard! Who wants a landfill or incinerator in their neighborhood?

• Challenge is to fine suitable areas for location.


• Dry and anaerobic conditions of capped landfills are not conducive environments for bacterial decomposition of the enclosed/buried wastes.

• Decomposition rates are turning out to be much slower than originally predicted.

• Solid waste that is considered neither MSW nor hazardous waste under the U.S. Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.

• Managed by state or local governments

Industrial Solid Waste

• Seeks to redesign industrial systems to reduce resource inputs and to maximize both physical and economic efficiency by functioning more like ecological systems and completing a product’s life cycle analysislife cycle analysis

Industrial Ecology

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Resource depletion, pollution and landfills are not the legacy we want to leave to future generations

Recycling/reuse saves precious resources & energyBest solution is to reduce waste in the first place

Documents

Solid Waste How much do we make?. Waste Overview: To Know Main Type of waste generated Major approaches to Managing Waste Conventional waste disposal