module 7

Question 1

What is the fate of most waste in the United States?

Answer 1

landfill

Question 2

What are the largest components of the U.S. waste stream?

Answer 2

paper and food

Question 3

Explain the different ways in which electricity can be generated from landfills and incineration facilities.

Answer 3

methane can be captured from landfills and used (natural gas)
heat created from incinerated warms water and creates steam which turns turbine and generates electricity

Question 4

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of landfill vs. incineration

Answer 4

landfills:
-disadvantages: potential groundwater contamination, smells, pollution from truck traffic, large land footprint
-advantages: cheap, can harvest methane, can repurpose land

incineration:
-disadvantages: expensive construction, energy intensive, potential air pollution, toxic ash, high carbon emissions
-advantages: small land use, can generate electricity, no risk to groundwater

Question 5

What characteristics of a material make it a bad candidate for recycling? Explain.

Answer 5

made of complex materials, low value to make new ones, rare

Question 6

Explain why post-consumer recycling is better than pre-consumer recycling

Answer 6

pre-consumer recycling was probably gonna happen anyway whereas post-consumer diverges waste and creates a demand for recycled products

Question 7

Explain what contamination (of the recycling waste stream) is and how it can cause problems.

Answer 7

any wrong waste that goes into recycling bins
if there’s more than 10% of contamination in a specific bin, the whole thing may just be thrown out because contamination can cause jams in the system and slow down the sorting process causing an increase in costs

Question 8

What are barriers to highers recycling rates across the U.S.? What do you see as barriers in your own life to reducing how much you put in a trash can?

Answer 8

-when oil is cheap, why recycle?
-china cut back on purchasing our recycled materials
-corona and medical waste
-contamination
misconceptions

Question 9

Describe the examples shown in the video you watched for April 7 and how they address waste stream issues.

Answer 9

-collecting rare glass and turning back into sand or creating decorations
-collecting damaged pvc pipes and weaving into baskets
-collecting old skateboards and creating bowls/decor
-collecting plastic and turning into building bricks
-collecting coconut shells and creating fuel
-collecting plastic bags and creating shoes

Question 10

Explain three different ways in which the COVID-19 pandemic led to an increase in waste disposal.

Answer 10

-more medical/biohazardous waste
-disposable dining ware
-stockpiling groceries and bottled water

Question 11

Define “resource recovery” and explain why it is important for managing e-waste.
Give specific examples.

Answer 11

resource recovery: extracted useful materials from pre-existing objects to be used in new objects
-it’s important for e-waste so less hazardous material is going into landfills and to reduce the demand for mining of those materials

Question 12

Discuss why it is worse to export e-waste to another country rather than managing
it domestically.

Answer 12

-disproportionately affects the countries it’s going to
-less motivation if you don’t see the waste nearby -> out of sight, out of mind
-more energy to send elsewhere
-expensive to send
-safety of it -> hazardous things escaping in transport

Question 13

What are example rules or policy strategies to encourage better e-waste management?

Answer 13

-making it illegal to send e-waste to landfills
-having free e-waste recycling
-promote circular economy
-encourage easier dismantling of e-waste
-setting targets

Question 14

Explain why the results of the light-bulb comparison changed when the analysis went from considering one life-cycle stage to multiple.

Answer 14

more mercury in incandescent bulbs over life than fluorescents which they did not know when they only looked at the waste disposal part of life-cycle

Question 15

Describe an example of a decision that a company might need to make where it would be helpful for them to conduct a life-cycle analysis. What type of metrics might they consider, at what different life-cycle stages?

Answer 15

car companies considering different parts so they can have the least labor intensive vehicles
-affordability
-energy use
-labor intensity
-air emissions
-water emissions

Question 16

Explain what Extended Producer Responsibility laws do and how they try to incentivize circular design.

Answer 16

a producer’s responsibility for a product is extended to the post-consumer stage of a product’s life cycle.
-encourage easier dismantling of devices, set targets for collection, recycling, and recovery, better for repair and durability, reintegration of manufacturing scraps