2. Waste Management Hierarchy and History Flashcards
What makes up the Ideal Waste Management Hierarchy
- Source Reduction
- Waste Minimization
- Reuse
- Recycle
- Treatment and Energy Recovery (use energy from methane in landfills)
- Disposal
What are the 4 basic ways of dealing with waste over human history?
- Burning
- Dump
- Recycle
- Waste Minimzation
Waste in 1000 BC
Waste became a problem when we began to establish permanent settlements (no longer nomadic)
400BC-athens
1st municipal dump (1 mile from the city)
200 BC
First garbage collection
Jerusalem, Palestine, the Valley of Gehenna (Sheoal), New Testament
‘Though I descend into Sheoal, thou art there’
What is Sheoal?
- Sheoal was reference to hell
- actually a dump outside of the city
- Associated with Spontaneous combustion –> burning periodically
2000BC - 900 AD- Mayans, Central America
Trampled underfoot or swept into corners of home
In Europe and USA how was garbage and waste handled?
Garbage and human waste was thrown out the window and onto the street below
Dogs would eat it
1388 England
Banned dumping of waste in ditches and waterways
1657- Manhattan, New York
Could no longer throw waste into streets
1400 Paris
Piles of garbage outside city gates so high it interfered with the cities defenses
1800s USA
- Pigs running loose in the street
- Would eat garbage
- Problem is pigs make waste
1834 Charleston, West Virginia
- law protecting vultures from hunters
- birds ate garbage and would fly away
1842 Age of Sanitation, England
Report linking disease to filthy conditions
1860 Washington
- Garbage and human waste still thrown in streets
- pigs in streets making manure
- Fumes from Slaughter house
- Rats and Cockroaches infested most buildings
1866 New York
Banned throwing animal remains, garbage and ash into streets
1872 New York
Stopped dumping garbage in East River
1874- Nottingham, England
“The Destroyer”
-organized incineration of trash
1880 New York
15000 horse carcasses being removed from streets
1885- Governors Island, New York
-first north american incinerator
1900s USA
- Piggeries
- pigs no longer roamed streets
- buildings housed the pigs and fed “fresh” or cooked garbage
- Estimate 1 ton garbage/day = 75 pigs
1900
Germ Theory
-still about 3 million horses in USA each leaving behind about 20 lbs of manure and galleons of urine
1905, New York
Williamsburg bridge is lit by electricity generated by a garbage incinerator
-first waste to energy
1910
City beautification programs begin, resident driven
1915
Local Clean-up campaigns sponsored by National Clean-Up and Paint Up bureau sponsors
1917
Waste Reclamation Service is started by the USA federal government
- Motto “Don’t waste waste, save it”
- Shortages of raw materials during WW1
1920
- “Reclaiming” of wetlands near cities
- filling in wetlands with garbage and ash as disposal method
1933, New York
- forced to stop dumping waste into Atlantic Ocean
- applies to municipal waste, not Commercial waste
1959
- First Standard guide to sanitary landfills
- try to get rid of odors and rats by compaction of the waste and covering it daily with soil
1965
- First USA federal laws dealing with solid waste management
- “Solid Waste Disposal Act”
1970
First Earth Day
-EPA created
1972
US Federal Clean Waters Act
1976
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act created
- emphasized resource and conservation
- all dumps be replaced by “Sanitary Landfills”
- Toxic Substances Control Act
- Hazardous waste recognized
1989
An agenda for action- EPA
-need an integrated solid waste management plan
Today’s issues with waste (x5)
- Volume and diverse nature of the waste streams
- Funding limitations
- Growing urban populations
- Limitations on physical space
- Public Awareness, advocacy and attitude
