Chapter 17 Flashcards
Managing Our Waste
Waste
unwanted material/substance resulting from human activity
Municipal solid waste
non-liquid waste from homes/institutions/small businesses
Industrial solid waste
non-liquid waste from production of consumer goods/mining/agriculture/petroleum extraction/refining
Hazardous waste
solid or liquid waste that is toxic/chemically reactive/flammable/corrosive
Three components of waste management
minimizing generation, recovering and recycling discarded materials, disposing safely and effectively
Waste stream
flow of waste from sources to disposal destinations
Source reduction
minimizing waste at its source (best way of handling the waste stream)
Cradle-to-grave
linear movement of products from manufacture to disposal
Cradle-to-cradle
materials from products are recovered and reused in new products
Composting
detritivores/decomposers like bacteria or earthworms convert organic waste into mulch/humus
Recycling
collect and process used materials, manufacture new goods with them, sell them
Materials recovery facilities (MRFs)
magnetic pulleys/optical sensors/water currents/air classifiers and workers separate items by weight and size
Trash audits
trashcans are emptied and recyclables are removed
Pay-as-you-throw
garbage collection program where municipalities charge residents for amount of trash at pickup
Bottle bills
5-10 cent deposit on recyclable containers that is refunded when containers are returned to the store
Sanitary landfills
waste is buried or piled to prevent it contaminating the environment
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
1976, set of standards municipal landfills must adhere to
Leachate
liquid from substances in trash that dissolve in rainwater; liners/collection systems prevent it from reaching nearby groundwater
Incineration/combustion
controlled process that burns garbage at high temperatures, reducing waste weight up to 75% and volume up to 95%
Baghouse
system of filters that passes incinerator emissions through scrubbers/spray liquid to neutralize acidic gases
Fly ash
particulate matter with some of the worst dioxin and heavy metal pollutants in incinerator emissions
Industrial ecology
maximizes physical/economic efficiency by integrating principles of engineering, chemistry, ecology, and economics (to function like ecological systems)
Life-cycle analysis
looks for ways to make parts of generating products more efficient
What are the four possible EPA characteristics for hazardous waste?
ignitable, corrosive, reactive, toxic
Ignitable
likely to catch fire
Corrosive
can corrode metals in storage tanks/equipment
Reactive
chemically unstable/readily able to react with other substances
Toxic
harmful to human health with exposure
Electronic waste/e-waste
discarded electronic devices, most of which end up in landfills/incinerators
Surface impoundments
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
Deep-well injections
drill deep beneath the water table into porous rock and inject wastes into it
Superfund
hazardous waste site cleanup program created by the U.S. 1980 Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA)
Brownfields
lands containing hazardous materials
Waste-to-energy (WTE) facilities
incinerators that use heat from waste combustion to boil water, creating steam that dries electricity generation/fuels heating systems
Landfill gas
mix of gases from anaerobic decomposition of waste, which can be collected, processed, and used like natural gas
