63: Waste

Question 1

What occurred with The Khian Sea?

Answer 1

1986, the Khian Sea ship, went to the Bahamas to dispose of 15,000 tons of municipal ash (containing toxic waste) belonging to Philadelphia which was rejected. When the Bahamas rejected the waste, the ship visited the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Panama, Bermuda, Haiti, Senegal, Morocco, Yugoslavia, Sri Lanka, and Singapore until all the ash disappeared somewhere
- As it wandered the oceans looking for a port, the ship changed its name from Khian Sea to Felicia to Pelicano

Question 2

What happened to the ash on the Khian Sea?

Answer 2

two years, 3 names, 4 continents, and 11 countries later, the troublesome cargo was still on board. Then, somewhere in the Indian Ocean between Singapore and Sri Lanka, all the ash disappeared

Question 3

Which countries produce waste?

Answer 3

rich countries: produce a lot of waste
less developed countries: produce less waste

Question 4

What is solid waste?

Answer 4

garbage or refuse, sludge, and other discarded material

Question 5

Where does solid waste come from?

Answer 5

• sludge from a wastewater treatment plant
• water supply treatment plant
• air pollution control facility
• industrial, commercial, mining, and agricultural operations
• from community activities

Question 6

What are the percentages of the locations where solid waste comes from?

Answer 6

1.5% comes from Municipal Solid Waste (trash or garbage)

98.5% comes from Industrial Waste (mostly from mining, and then agriculture, refineries, and industry)

Question 7

What are the two types of waste?

Answer 7

1. solid waste
2. hazardous waste

Question 8

What is municipal solid waste?

Answer 8

composed of solid materials discarded by homes, offices, stores, etc. (mainly paper, yard waste, food waste, and plastics)

Question 9

What is happening to municipal solid waste?

Answer 9

1. plastic waste goes up 10% every year for last 20 years
2. despite recycling, 200 billion metal glass and plastic containers end up in garbage
3. unfortunately, everything mixed together (batteries, spray cans, cleaning solvents together with paper, food, etc.)

Question 10

What are the 3 components to waste management?

Answer 10

1. minimizing the amount of waste generated
2. recovering and recycling discarded materials
3. disposing of waste safely and effectively

Question 11

How is waste disposed of?

Answer 11

1. dumping it
2. burying it
3. burning it
4. composting it

Question 12

What has occurred to the amount of waste that we generate?

Answer 12

more or less leveled off in the last 30 years; amount of waste per capita is remaining more or less constant

Question 13

What has happened to solid waste since recycling?

Answer 13

amount of waste is shrinking after recycling (more recycling)
- the type of waste is also changing
- MN is not doing that well, the standard is California