Chapter 17

Question 1

Waste

Answer 1

unwanted material/substance resulting from human activity

Question 2

Municipal solid waste

Answer 2

non-liquid waste from homes/institutions/small businesses

Question 3

Industrial solid waste

Answer 3

non-liquid waste from production of consumer goods/mining/agriculture/petroleum extraction/refining

Question 4

Hazardous waste

Answer 4

solid or liquid waste that is toxic/chemically reactive/flammable/corrosive

Question 5

Three components of waste management

Answer 5

minimizing generation, recovering and recycling discarded materials, disposing safely and effectively

Question 6

Waste stream

Answer 6

flow of waste from sources to disposal destinations

Question 7

Source reduction

Answer 7

minimizing waste at its source (best way of handling the waste stream)

Question 8

Cradle-to-grave

Answer 8

linear movement of products from manufacture to disposal

Question 9

Cradle-to-cradle

Answer 9

materials from products are recovered and reused in new products

Question 10

Composting

Answer 10

detritivores/decomposers like bacteria or earthworms convert organic waste into mulch/humus

Question 11

Recycling

Answer 11

collect and process used materials, manufacture new goods with them, sell them

Question 12

Materials recovery facilities (MRFs)

Answer 12

magnetic pulleys/optical sensors/water currents/air classifiers and workers separate items by weight and size

Question 13

Trash audits

Answer 13

trashcans are emptied and recyclables are removed

Question 14

Pay-as-you-throw

Answer 14

garbage collection program where municipalities charge residents for amount of trash at pickup

Question 15

Bottle bills

Answer 15

5-10 cent deposit on recyclable containers that is refunded when containers are returned to the store

Question 16

Sanitary landfills

Answer 16

waste is buried or piled to prevent it contaminating the environment

Question 17

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act

Answer 17

1976, set of standards municipal landfills must adhere to

Question 18

Leachate

Answer 18

liquid from substances in trash that dissolve in rainwater; liners/collection systems prevent it from reaching nearby groundwater

Question 19

Incineration/combustion

Answer 19

controlled process that burns garbage at high temperatures, reducing waste weight up to 75% and volume up to 95%

Question 20

Baghouse

Answer 20

system of filters that passes incinerator emissions through scrubbers/spray liquid to neutralize acidic gases

Question 21

Fly ash

Answer 21

particulate matter with some of the worst dioxin and heavy metal pollutants in incinerator emissions

Question 22

Industrial ecology

Answer 22

maximizes physical/economic efficiency by integrating principles of engineering, chemistry, ecology, and economics (to function like ecological systems)

Question 23

Life-cycle analysis

Answer 23

looks for ways to make parts of generating products more efficient

Question 24

What are the four possible EPA characteristics for hazardous waste?

Answer 24

ignitable, corrosive, reactive, toxic

Question 25

Ignitable

Answer 25

likely to catch fire

Question 26

Corrosive

Answer 26

can corrode metals in storage tanks/equipment

Question 27

Reactive

Answer 27

chemically unstable/readily able to react with other substances

Question 28

Toxic

Answer 28

harmful to human health with exposure

Question 29

Electronic waste/e-waste

Answer 29

discarded electronic devices, most of which end up in landfills/incinerators

Question 30

Surface impoundments

Answer 30

shallow depressions lined with plastic and an impervious material in which liquid hazardous waste is stored until the water evaporates, then the solid residue is permanently disposed of

Question 31

Deep-well injections

Answer 31

drill deep beneath the water table into porous rock and inject wastes into it

Question 32

Superfund

Answer 32

hazardous waste site cleanup program created by the U.S. 1980 Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA)

Question 33

Brownfields

Answer 33

lands containing hazardous materials

Question 34

Waste-to-energy (WTE) facilities

Answer 34

incinerators that use heat from waste combustion to boil water, creating steam that dries electricity generation/fuels heating systems

Question 35

Landfill gas

Answer 35

mix of gases from anaerobic decomposition of waste, which can be collected, processed, and used like natural gas