Solid and Hazardous Waste Flashcards
year that the EPA was formed
1972
year that RCRA passed
1976
The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
- forbade open dumping
- introduced the sanitary landfill
- removal of solid waste is the responsibility of the government
Subtitle C waste
hazardous waste
Subtitle D waste
- non-hazardous waste
- MSW
- municipal sludge
- industrial non-hazardous wastes
- sometime construction and demolition waste
Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)
paper, paperboard, yard trimmings, food wastes, plastics, glass, metal, and wood wastes
sources of MSW
residential, institutional (schools, hospitals, prisons), commercial (restaurants, office buildings, stores), industrial packaging and administrative wastes
top landfill materials
paper, food, yard trimmings, plastics
top recycled materials
paper, cardboard, confidential documents
MSW vehicles
government owned or contractors, compacting
transfer station
- MSW is concentrated before taken to a processing facility or a landfill
bottom layer of a Subtitle D landfill
- 2 feet of compacted clay OR
- bentonite clay (expands with water contact and becomes water proof)
landfill closure
- caps or covers
- meant to be impermeable
- cannot build on top of it
methane release from closed landfills
- generated by anaerobic microbe growth
- venting required, relieves downward pressure
- can be collected and used to add power to the grid
waste reduction
reducing the amount of wastes prior to entering the waste stream
waste reduction activities
- package or product redesign that reduces material or toxicity
- reducing use by modifying practices
landfill source reduction - recycling stream
- conserve resources by reducing the need for virgin and nonrenewable materials
- reduce the amount of pollution by using secondary materials that require less energy to process
- save energy by using recycled materials, less is required for processing
Materials recycling facilities (MRF’s)
prepare recyclables for marketing
how much plastic packaging recycling is closed-loop
2%
composting
the process of degrading organic matter by microorganisms into a humus-like material
what does composted material do?
conditioning soil by improving soil porosity and aeration, and increasing water retention
uses for compost
wetlands mitigation, land reclamation, storm filtrates, soil amendments, mulches, and low-grade fertilizers
incineration
past combustion without harnessing the heat produced