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Waste and waste management

Garbage Barge: NIMBY• Long Island, NY 1987

– Landfill full so trash shipped on barge to methane production plant in NC

• Became known that 16 bags of medical waste on board (syringes, gowns, diapers)

• Plant rejected entire load• After 11 days at NC dock, headed to LA – not

permitted to dock, then to Mexico, then Belize, before returning to NY

• Traveled 6,000 mi before returning to NY, several court battles later, it was incinerated in Queens.

Love Canal• Portion of uncompleted canal in Niagara Falls

bought by chemical company, used as dumping ground from 1942-1952

• Sold to city for $1, included warnings of waste– Dump capped with clay cap and topsoil, accepted

practice of day– Company released from future liability– School and houses built on site, clay cap removed

in 1954 during construction

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Love Canal• Problems began in late

1950s – barrels surfaced, children playing near them became sick (some died)

• Fumes killed vegetation, surface pools of toxins

• 1970s: heavy rain caused black sludge to leak into basements; medical studies showed higher rates of birth defects, miscarriages, asthma

Love Canal in 1980

• School closed in ~1979, houses evacuated

• Late 1980s – cleanup began

• Limited leakage away from canal site

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Managing garbage• Fresh Kills Landfill, NY, Staten Island: largest

landfill in world– Operated for 50 years – NYC only landfill– Closed in March, 2001: Welcomed event for Staten

Island residents– Had 6 mounds of trash (largest higher than Statue

of Liberty)– Plans to turn into public park – bigger than Central

Park

Fresh Kills• Stations developed in city to transfer waste out

of city on barges and rails– Mob, neighborhood opposition, economic issues,

and political shenanigans interfered– Forced to truck out trash to 26 landfills in NY, NJ,

VA, PA, OH– Budget doubled

Mounds

1.8 million tons of rubble produced from World Trade Center collapse– In 2008, Americans produced 250 tons of trash

total– Fresh Kills opened to take in rubble– Now closed again – plans on for parks, vistas

(from tops of hills of trash), estuary, and trails– Because landfill operated before EPA regulations

in place – will have to be monitored more carefully (not only because of 9/11 rubble) for contamination

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Waste• Any unwanted material or substance• Adverse affects of waste:

– Degrade water, soil, and air quality• Indicates inefficiency in system

– Reduce waste = potentially reducing cost

• Why do we study waste management?– Affects air quality, water quality, and

environmental health

Types of waste• Municipal solid waste (MSW)

– Homes, businesses, and institutions• Industrial solid waste

– Production of consumer goods, mining, agriculture, and petroleum extraction and refining

• Hazardous waste– Solid or liquid substance that is toxic, chemically

reactive, flammable, or corrosive• Wastewater

– Produced from households, businesses, industries, or public facilities

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Waste management• Dealing with sites already containing waste

– 1989: hazardous waste sites est. at 32,000, could be up to 400,000, not including military bases

• Dealing with waste now– Safely storing waste created now and in future

• Future waste– Reducing the amount of waste generated and

preventing waste from being created

Goals of waste management

• Minimize the amount of waste generated– Preferable: source reduction: reduce waste at

place generate (house, business, industry)• Recover and recycle waste• Dispose of waste effectively

Regulation• EPA regulates all waste: household, industrial,

manufacturing, hazardous• Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)

– 1976, notable amendments in 1984 to reduce waste– Refinement of earlier law regulating solid waster– Set national goals of:

• Protecting humans and environment from the potential hazards of waste disposal.

• Energy conservation and natural resources. • Reducing the amount of waste generated, through source reduction

and recycling• Ensuring the management of waste in an environmentally sound

manner.

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Regulations

• RCRA defines what is hazardous waste• Cradle-to-grave approach – used by EPA

on hazardous waste– Track all hazardous waste from point of

generation to disposal• Paper trail• Industrial standards for packaging, disposing, and

shipping waste– Most notable parts of RCRA

Waste stream

• Waste stream: flow of waste from sources toward disposal generation

From: Essential Environment, Ch 17

Municipal solid waste (MSW)• Paper largest component (even after recycling)• Plastics: greatest increase

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MSW generation by material

The problem with waste in US• 2.9 x mores municipal solid waste is generated

in the US than in 1960• A person generates 72% more waste than in

1960• Each person generates approximately 4.5 lbs of

MSW/day– ~1642 tons/year or about the weight of a VW

Beetle• Excess packaging and reliance on nondurable

goods (discarded after short period of use)• “The Throwaway society”

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Waste in other countries• Developing nations: waste generation rising

– Latin America: rates doubled– Middle East: 5x increase

• Developed nations are more able to manage waste issues

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OECD Environmental Data Compendium: 2002

Waste in other countries• Germany leads European nations in

recycling– 70% recycled vs. 33% recycled in US– Waste avoidance is top priority, then recycled,

then disposed of in environmental safe way– Polluter pays principle – those who create it deal

with it vs. US – consumer pays• Packaging Ordinance: requires all manufacturers to

collect and then recycle or reuse their packaging after it is disposed of by consumers

German recycling

• Trash bins found on street corners, in public parks and other spaces, in the courtyards of apartment buildings, and in all single family homes – Yellow bin – packaging – Blue bin – paper and cardboard – White bin – white or clear glass – Brown bin – brown glass – Green bin – green glass – “Bio” bin – leftover food and plant waste

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Sanitary Landfills• Replaced the “dump”, • In US: EPA regulates under the RCRA• Policy:

– Have 2 to 4 ft of impermeable clay layer– Heavy-duty clay liner– 20 ft above the water table– Series of pipes to collect leachate (liquid that

results from substances dissolving in landfill)– Wells to vent/collect landfill gas

Landfill diagram

http://www.re3.org/docs/LandfillDiagram.jpg

A landfill• “Designed to protect the environment from

contaminants which may be present in the solid waste stream”, EPA 2010

• Must be located away from wetlands and earthquake-prone faults

• Waste partially decomposed by bacteria– Compressed under own weight– Soil layered to speed decomposition, reduce

odor, and lessen infestation by pests– Need some rainwater to encourage

biodegradation by aerobic and anaerobic bacteria

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Landfills• Decomposition in anaerobic environment

produces landfill gas (approx. ½ is methane gas)– Landfills vented to reduce the buildup of gases– Can be collected and used like natural gas

• Estimate at Fresh Kills is that it will provide energy for 25,000 homes

Landfills• All landfills eventually close:

– 1988: ~8,000 landfills– Today: ~1,900– Consolidated landfills

• When closed: landfill “capped” with plastic, gravel, and soil

• Required leachate to be monitored for 30 years after closing

• Closed landfills make good recreation facilities

Problems with landfills

• NIMBY– Smelly and unsightly– Noisy too – trucks bringing trash– In some 3rd world countries, landfills are

scavenged by the poor – items resold• In Philippines, a dump was closed in 2000 after an

avalanche of trash killed 330 people at site.

• Old landfills: regulations not in place; may have groundwater contamination

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Other ways to get rid of trash• Incineration: burned at high temperature

– Waste sorted (metals removed) and chopped– Weight reduced by 75%, volume by 90%– Resulting ash is toxic – must be placed in

hazardous waste landfills– Airborne particles also toxic

• Developed nations now regulate emissions• Scrubbers treat gases• Baghouse: filters to remove particulates

Incinerator diagram

Essential Environment, chapter 17

Incinerators as power generators• In developed nations, waste-to-energy facilities

(WTE): burn waste and produce electricity– Produces about 35% of energy generated if

burned coal– Takes a long time to recoup costs

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• Data as of 2008– 54% MSW in landfills– 13% incinerators– 33% composting and recycling

Waste hierarchy

• Waste hierarchy in US– 3R – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle– 4R – Same as above, add Recover

• Different from European waste hierarchy– Prevention– Reuse– Recycle– Recovery– Disposal

Reducing trash

• Stop material from becoming trash

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Recycling• Consists of collecting materials that can be

broken down and reprocessed to manufacture new items

• Rates of recycling are increasing

Recycling• Rates vary for products and states• Economy and municipalities behind increase in

recycling– Generally not a money-maker but does help the

environment and prevention contributions to landfill

Recycling• Generally a city-level

endeavor • 9,000 curbside

programs exists in all 50 states (approx. ½ US population)

• Recycling is a loop –must complete the loop for it to work– Part 3: consumer

purchase

Pop (in 1000s)

#Region

147,9989,006TotalTotal US pop

1,0043,2861,1573,619

27,610West

309,051

37,844Midwest27,127South55,417Northeast

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Plastic bags and wrappings• Most plastic bags can be recycled

– Estimated 15% bags and wrappings recycled• Includes grocery bags, retail bags, paper towel

& toilet paper plastic wrap, plastic newspaper bags, plastic dry cleaning bags, and all clean, clear bags labeled with #2 or #4

• Recycled into composite lumber, small pellets, or post consumer resin, which can become feed stock for a variety of products such as new bags, pallets, containers, crates, and pipe

Plastic shopping bags

• Costs ~ 1¢ to make plastic bag to 4¢ to make a paper bag– ½ billion to 1 trillion plastic bags used each year– ~380 billion of that number in US, 100 billion of

those thrown away each year• = 12 million barrels of oil

• Taxed and/or banned in many countries and US cities