biology 157: life science: an environmental approach (resources, solid wastes and recycling)

BIOLOGY 157: LIFE SCIENCE: AN

ENVIRONMENTAL APPROACH (Resources, Solid Wastes and Recycling)

RESOURCES

• DEFINITION anything obtained from the ecosystem to meet human

needs and wants

• ANYTHING and EVERYTHING can be considered a RESOURCE ( minerals, water, fuels, food, farm land, living space, air, germplasm, other species, etc.)

• Categories of Resources - Renewable - Potentially Renewable - Non-renewable

HOW TO USE A RESOURCE

• Different individuals and groups have varying opinions as to what to do with a particular resource (e.g. Land)

- leave it undisturbed

- build on it

- farm it

- mine it to get what is under it

• Most times there is no ONE best choice. Usually it is relative. We all have REAL needs!

SOLID WASTE, RESOURCE USE, POLLUTION

• The U.S. has about 4.5% of the world’s population.

• The U.S. produces at least 33% of the world’s solid waste.

• Is this a disproportionate ratio?• Ecological Footprint

U.S. SOURCES OF SOLID WASTE

U.S. SOURCES OF HAZARDOUS WASTE

U.S. MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE

U.S. WASTE FATE JAPAN

WHY RESOURCE WASTE MUST BE REDUCED

• Nowhere to put the wastes generated by resource use

• it depletes precious and limited resources

• it causes ecosystem damage

• it produces health hazards or has the potential to do so

ECOSYSTEM DAMAGE FROM RESOURCE USE I

This can occur from the:

• extraction of the resource

• modification / manufacturing of the resource

• transport of the raw resource / finished product

• use of the resource / product

• trashing of the resource / product

ECOSYSTEM DAMAGE FROM RESOURCE USE II

ARE MINERALS NON-RENEWABLE?

• In reality minerals (iron, copper, gold, silver, etc.) are NOT destroyed.

• They do tend to be dissipated and / or converted to unusable / unavailable forms (they go from ‘high quality’ to ‘low quality’).

• Thus in a PRACTICAL sense they ARE non-renewable.

MINERAL RESERVES

• RESERVE

a known deposit from which a usable mineral can be extracted at current prices(obviously this can vary over time)

• DEPLETION TIME OF A RESERVE

the time it takes to use the major portion (80%) of the reserve

DISTRIBUTION OF MINERAL RESOURCES IS UNEVEN

APPROACHES TO THE TRASH PROBLEM AND CONSERVING RESOURCES (I)

• ‘FRONTIER’ TYPE APPROACH - find a better way / place to dispose of the waste - doesn’t address conservation

• SOMEWHAT ‘SUSTAINABLE’ APPROACH - tries to reduce waste and extend resource life by

getting the most from the materials; this reduces the amount that must be trashed, detoxified

~ reuse the item ~ recycle its materials ~ produce energy from the spent resource ~ compost it

APPROACHES TO THE TRASH PROBLEM AND CONSERVING RESOURCES (II)

• A MORE ‘SUSTAINABLE’ APPROACH in addition to those strategies used in the SSA, this

approach tries to use less of our resources over the long term by:

1) increasing product lifespan (build things better, stronger, etc.)

2) where possible reduce the amount of materials in a product or use renewable materials or more “ecosystem friendly” materials

3) reduce consumption by a variety of techniques (increase purchase cost, increase disposal cost, education to do things differently, etc.)

RESOURCE DEPLETION CURVES

RESOURCE RECOVERY --- URBAN

PAPER RECYCLING

• Europe as a whole (2003) --- 60%

• In 2003, 70% in: Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Ireland, Germany, Switzerland

• Japan (2003) --- 66%

• 2006 --- U.S. --- 53.5% but 30% of that shipped overseas (more than half to China)

‘PROPER’ WASTE PRIORITIES

WHAT TO DO WITH WASTES

There will always be SOME wastes!

• Immobilization / detoxification of wastes

• Landfill (sanitary, secure)

• Deep mines or wells (salt formations for nuclear wastes ?????)

• Ocean Dumping

• N.I.M.B.Y.

SOME QUESTIONS TO ANSWER FROM CHAPTERS 11 & 13

• What defines a mineral?

• Energy wise, is it better to produce new aluminum from an ore, or recycle aluminum scrap? What about glass?

• Do you think there are any ‘brownfields’ in the Delaware Valley area?