Chapter 22: Waste Management
I. Central Case: Transforming New York’s Fresh Kills Landfill
A. In 2001:
B. The plan was:
C. With its only landfill closed:
D. Opposition, economic misjudgment, and accusations of favoritism and influence caused problems, and New York City ended up:
E. The sanitation department’s budget:
F. After the September 11, 2001:
G. Today:
II. Approaches to Waste Management
A. Waste refers:
1. Municipal solid waste is:
2. Industrial solid waste includes:
3. Hazardous waste refers to:
4. Another major type of waste is wastewater:
B. We have several aims in managing waste.
1. The component aims of waste management are:
a .
b.
c .
2. There are several ways to reduce the amount of waste that enters the waste stream as it moves from its sources toward disposal destinations.
3. Manufacturers:
4. Consumers:
5. Recovery:
Material that is left is:
III. Municipal Solid Waste
1. Municipal solid waste is:
A. Patterns in the municipal solid waste:
1. In the United States:
2. Most municipal solid waste comes from:
3. In 2003 the average U.S. citizen generated:
4. Following the United States in per capita solid waste production are Canada with _________________per day and the Netherlands with roughly ________________ per day.
5. Of the developed nations, Germany and Sweden produce the least waste per capita, generating just ________________ per day.
6. The cost of waste disposal accounts for:
7. People in developing nations:
8. Wealthier nations tend to invest:
B. Waste generation is rising in all nations.
1. To some extent this reflects _________________________.
2. The increase also reflects an increase in:
C. The open dumping of the past has given way to improved disposal methods.
1. Historically:
2. As population and consumption have risen, however, amounts of waste have ______________ and municipalities have begun ______________trash at specified locations, burning it from time to time.
3. In the 1980s in the United States, waste generation increased while incineration:
D. Sanitary landfills are regulated by health and environmental guidelines.
1. In modern sanitary landfills, waste is:
2. Guidelines set forth by the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) specify:
3. Following regulations to ensure public health and safety is not cheap, and in developing countries, landfill operators ____________________. In the U.S., a variety of layers are required to:
4. Landfills produce leachate:
E. Landfills can be transformed after closure.
1. A number of cities have converted:
F. Landfills have drawbacks.
1. Despite improvements in liner technology and landfill siting, many experts believe that leachate will:
2. Another problem is finding suitable areas to locate landfills, because:
3. One famed case of long-distance waste transport involved:
G. Incinerating trash reduces pressure on landfills.
1. Incineration is:
2. Simply reducing:
3. As a result of real and perceived health threats:
H. Many incinerators burn waste to create energy.
1. Most North American incinerators today use:
2. There are over 100:
3. Although burning waste is an effective means of reducing its volume, the considerable financial:
4. Contracts between cities and private contractors:
I. Landfills can produce gas for energy.
1. Landfill gas:
2. Today, more than 330:
J. Reducing waste is a better option than disposal.
1. Source reduction:
2. A number of strategies:
3. Producers prefer:
K. Reuse is one main strategy for waste reduction.
1. Consumers can save ___________________, or choose _______________ goods instead of disposable ones.
2. Using already-used goods and ________________ unwanted items are major ways to reduce waste.
3. Used items can be:
L. Composting recovers organic waste.
1. Composting is the conversion of:
2. Many municipalities are reducing waste through:
3. Nearly half of U.S. states now ban:
M. Recycling consists of three steps.
1. Recycling consists of:
2. Curbside recycling:
3. Collected items are taken to materials recovery facilities (MRFs), where they are:
4. Consumers and businesses complete the third step by:
N. Recycling has grown rapidly and can expand further.
1. According to the EPA:
2. Recycling reduces waste and:
3. Recycling advocates:
O. Financial incentives can help address waste.
1. Waste managers use economic incentives to:
2. Some states have “bottle bills”:
3. It is a testament to the __________ power of the beverage industries, which have traditionally _______________the passage of bottle bills, that more states do not have such legislation.
4. One consideration is whether to:
P. One Canadian city showcases the shift from disposal to reduction and recycling.
1. Edmonton, Alberta:
2. When Edmonton’s residents put out their trash:
3. Besides the co-composting facility and a sanitary landfill, Edmonton’s waste program also includes:
IV. Industrial Solid Waste
1. According to the EPA, each year U.S. industrial facilities generate about ____________ tons of waste, about 97% of which is ______________
A. Regulation and economics both influence industrial waste generation.
1. Businesses that manage their own waste on-site:
2. Regulation:
3. It is often cheaper:
B. Industrial ecology seeks to:
1. Industrial ecology redesigns:
2. Industrial ecologists examine:
3. Industrial ecologists also try to identify:
V. Hazardous Waste
A. Hazardous waste is:
2. Public awareness:
3. By EPA definition, hazardous waste is waste that meets one of the following four criteria:
a. Ignitability:
b . Corrosivity
c. Reactivity:
d . Toxicity:
B. Organic compounds and heavy metals can be hazardous.
1. In our day-to-day lives:
2. Heavy metals such as:
3. Computers, televisions, VCRs, cell phones, and other electronic devices represent major new sources ________________________________
4. Research indicates that this e-waste should be:
C. Several steps precede the disposal of hazardous waste.
1. For many years:
2. Today:
3. U.S. law mandates:
4. Because current U.S. laws make disposing of hazardous waste quite costly, irresponsible companies have:
5. Many biologically hazardous materials can be treated by _______________, bacterial ______________, or ____________________ with plants that either take up specific contaminants and break them down or concentrate ________________ in their tissues.
D. We have three main disposal methods for hazardous waste.
1. Hazardous waste landfills have:
2. A method of storing liquid hazardous waste is through surface impoundments:
3. In deep-well injection:
E. Radioactive waste is a special type of hazardous waste.
1. The dilemma of safe disposal has dogged the industry and the U.S. military for _________________.
2. Yucca Mountain in Nevada:
3. Currently, a site in the Chihuahuan Desert:
F. Contaminated sites are being cleaned up, slowly.
1. Many thousands of former military and industrial sites:
2. For most nations, dealing with these messes is simply too:
3. Under the Superfund program:
4. One objective is:
5. Once a Superfund site has been identified, the EPA determines:
6. Sites are ranked:
7. Many sites are contaminated with chemicals:
VI. Conclusion
A. Our societies have made _______________ in addressing our waste problems.
B. The United States now diverts ____________ of all solid waste from disposal into recycling.
C. Our consumption habits:
D. Our waste management efforts are still marked by: