Managing Our Waste: Powerpoint Slides Prepared by Stephen Turnbull

18
Managing Our Waste
PowerPoint Slides prepared by Stephen Turnbull

Copyright 2013 Pearson Canada Inc.
2010 Pearson Education Canada
18-1
Upon successfully completing this

chapter, you will be able to
Summarize and compare the types of waste we generate
List the major approaches to managing waste
Delineate the scale of the waste dilemma
Describe conventional waste disposal methods: landfills and
incineration
Evaluate approaches for reducing waste: source reduction,
reuse, composting, and recycling
Discuss industrial solid waste management and principles of
industrial ecology
Assess issues in managing hazardous waste
18-2
Central Case:
The Beare Road Landfill: Making Good Use
of Old Garbage
We cant have an economy that uses our air, water, and soil
as a garbage can.
David Suzuki
1968 - 1983: The Beare Road pit received municipal
garbage for Torontos ever-increasing garbage
1983: landscape restoration was undertaken
1996: began to collect the methane-rich gas being
generated by the decomposting garbage (LFGTE, landfill
gas-to-electricity)
18-3
Approaches to Waste Managment

18-4
Approaches to waste management

Municipal solid waste = non-liquid waste that comes from
homes, institutions, and small businesses
Industrial solid waste = waste from production of consumer
goods, mining, agriculture, and petroleum extraction and
refining
Hazardous waste = solid or liquid waste that is toxic,
chemically reactive, flammable, or corrosive
Wastewater = water used in a household, business, or
industry, as well as polluted runoff from our streets and storm
drains
18-5
We have several aims in managing waste

Three main components of waste
management
Minimizing the amount of waste we generate
(source reduction)
Recovering waste materials and finding ways to
recycle them
Disposing of waste safely and effectively

18-6

18-7
We have several aims in managing waste (contd)

Waste stream = flow of waste as it moves from its
sources toward disposal destinations
More efficient use of materials, consume less, buy
goods with less packaging, reusing goods
Recovery (recycling, composting) = next best strategy
in waste management
Recycling = sends used goods to manufacture new
goods
Composting = recovery of organic waste

18-8
Municipal Solid Waste

18-9
Patterns in the municipal solid waste

stream vary from place to place
Municipal solid waste is also referred to as trash or
garbage
In Canada, paper, organics, and plastics are the principal
components of municipal solid waste
Even after recycling, paper is the largest component of
solid waste
In 2008, 2.2 kg per person per day
In developing countries, food scraps are the primary
contributor to solid waste
Wealthy nations invest more in waste collection and
disposal
18-10

18-11

18-12
Waste generation is rising in all nations

Since 1960, waste generation has increased in
North America by 300%
Plastic has accounted for greatest relative
increase
Waste generation in Canada has kept pace with
population growth
In many industrialized nations, per capita waste
generation rates have leveled off or decreased in
recent years
Increase popularity of recycling
18-13
Open dumping in the past has given way to

improved disposal methods
Historically people dumped their garbage wherever
it suited them
Most industrialized nations now bury waste in lined
and covered landfills or burn it in incineration
facilities
Diversion rates are increasing in Canada
Recycling or composting increased from 21% to
27% in 2008

18-14
Waste disposal is regulated by three levels

of government
Municipal:
Collection, diversion, and disposal of solid waste
Drop-off facilities for hazardous waste
Provincial and territorial:
Movement of waste materials within the jurisdiction
Licensing of treatment facilities
Legislation and guidelines for landfill sites
Federal government:
International agreements about waste
Transboundary movements of waste materials
18-15
Sanitary landfills are engineered to minimize

leakage of contaminants
Sanitary landfills = waste buried in the ground or piled in
large, engineered mounds
Leachate = liquid that results when trash dissolves in water as
rainwater percolates downward

18-16
Landfills can be transformed after closure

Many landfills lie abandoned
Managers closed smaller landfills and made fewer
larger landfills
Decommissioning = shutting down an industrial site
and getting it ready for cleanup and repurposing
Growing cities converted closed landfills into public
parks
Rouge Park in Toronto
Fresh Kills in New York
18-17
Landfills have drawbacks

Experts believe that leachate (toxic fluid) will eventually
escape
The liner will become punctured
Leachate collection systems eventually arent maintained
It is hard to find places suitable for landfills
The Not-In-My-Backyard (NIMBY) syndrome
The garbage barge case
1987: Islip, New Yorks landfills were full, and a barge
traveled to empty the waste in North Carolina, which
rejected the load, as did Louisiana and Mexico
It returned to Queens to incinerate the waste, after a 9,700
km journey
18-18
Incinerating trash reduces pressure on landfills

Incineration = a controlled process in which mixed
garbage is burned at very high temperatures; often used in
Europe to also generate energy; proposed for Duke Point.
Incineration in specially constructed faculties can be an
improvement over open-air burning of trash
But, the remaining ash must be disposed of in a
hazardous waste landfill
Hazardous chemicals are created and released during
burning
Scrubbers = chemically treat the gases produced in
combustion to remove hazardous components and
neutralize acidic gases
18-19

18-20
Many incinerators burn waste to create energy

Waste-to-energy facilities (WTE) = use the heat
produced by waste combustion to create
electricity
Waste generates about 35% of the energy
generated by burning coal
Companies contract with communities to
guarantee a minimum amount of garbage
Long-term commitments interfere with the
communities later efforts to reduce waste
18-21
Landfills can produce gas for energy

Bacteria can decompose waste in an oxygen-deficient
environment
Landfill gas = a mix of gases that consists of roughly
half methane
Can be collected, processed, and used like natural gas
When not used commercially, landfill gas is burned off
in flares to reduce odors and greenhouse emissions
More than 40 operational projects in Canada collect
landfill gas and convert it into energy

18-22
weighing
the issues
Garbage justice?
Do you know where your trash goes?

Where is your landfill or incinerator located?
Are the people who live closest to the facility wealthy,
poor, or middle class?
What race or ethnicity are they?
Do you know whether the people of this
neighbourhood protested against the introduction of the
landfill or incinerator?

18-23
Reducing waste is a better option

Source reduction = preventing waste generation in
the first place
- Avoids costs of disposal and recycling
- Helps conserve resources
- Minimizes pollution
- Can save consumers and businesses money
Strategies
Reduce packaging
Ban or per-bag charges for plastic grocery bags
Increase the longevity of goods
18-24
Reuse is one main strategy for waste

reduction
Donate used items to charity
Reuse boxes, paper, plastic, wrapping paper, and so on
Buy groceries in bulk
Decline bags at stores and bring cloth bags shopping
Bring your own cup to coffee shops
Buy rechargeable batteries
Select goods with less packaging
Compost kitchen and yard wastes
Rent or borrow items instead of buying them
18-25
weighing
the issues
Reducing Packaging: Is It A Wrap?

Reducing packaging cuts down on the waste stream, but
how, when, and how much should we reduce? Packaging
can serve very worthwhile purposes, such as safeguarding
consumer health and safety.
Can you think of three products for which you would not
want to see less packaging?
Can you name three products for which packaging could
easily be reduced without ill effects to the consumer?
Would you be any more or less likely to buy these products
if they had less packaging?
18-26
Composting recovers organic waste

Composting = the conversion of organic waste into
mulch or humus through natural biological processes
of decomposition
There are now more than 350 centralized composting
programs in Canada
28% of the Canadian solid waste stream is made up
of materials that can easily be composted
57% of Canadian households do some form of
composting
18-27
Recycling consists of three steps

18-28
Recycling has grown rapidly and can

expand further
95% of Canadian households have access to recycling
programs
Recycling rates vary from one product or material type to
another and from one location to antoher
Increase has been driven by
Economic forces
Desire to reduce waste

18-29
weighing
the issues
Costs of Recycling and

Not Recycling
Should recycling programs be subsidized by

governments even if they are run at an economic loss?
What types of external costscosts not reflected in
market prices do you think would be involved in
not recycling, say, aluminum cans?
Do you feel these costs justify sponsoring recycling
programs even when they are not financially selfsupporting? Why or why not?
18-30
Financial incentives can help address waste

Pay-as-you-throw = uses financial incentives to
influence consumer behavior
The less waste a house generates the less it is
charged for trash collection
Return-for-refund = consumers pay a deposit, and
receive a refund for returning used bottles
Greatly reduced beverage container litter
All provinces and territories in Canada except for
Nunavut

18-31
Edmonton showcases reduction and recycling

Edmonton, Alberta, has
created one of the worlds
most advanced waste
management programs
Waste: 35% sanitary
landfilled, 15% is
recycled, 50% is
composted
88% of the people
participate in curbside
recycling
18-32
Industrial Solid Waste

18-33
Industrial solid waste

Industrial waste =
waste from factories,
mining, agriculture,
petroleum extraction,
etc.

18-34
Regulation and economics each influence

industrial waste generation
Most methods and strategies of waste disposal, reduction,
and recycling are similar to municipal solid waste
The amount of waste generated by a manufacturing
process is one measure of its efficiency
Physical efficiency is not equal to economic efficiency
It can be cheaper to generate waste than to avoid waste
The rising cost of waste disposal encourage industries to
decrease waste and increase physical efficiency

18-35
Industrial ecology seeks to make industry

more sustainable
Industrial ecology = redesigning industrial systems to
reduce resource inputs and to minimize physical
inefficiency while maximizing economic efficiency
Life cycle analysis = examine the life cycle of a product
and look for ways to make the process more ecologically
efficient
Pollution prevention (P2) strategies = aimed at reducing
waste and preventing pollution at its source

18-36
Businesses are adopting industrial ecology

Interface
Modified tile design and production methods to reduce
waste
Cut waste generation by 80%, fossil fuel use by 45%,
and water use by 70%, while raising profits by 49%
Canadian Tire
Auto parts return initiatives
Xerox
Take-back/lease programs
ENVIRx program
Return unused medications to pharmacies for disposal
18-37
Waste exchanges are an offshoot of

industrial ecology
Concept of industrial ecology is based on a closed
loop
Wastes are recycled back through the system
Waste exchange = a network service with the goal
of linking producers of waste with industries or
individuals that can make use of the waste as raw
materials
The Waste Exchange of Canada
www.recyclexchange.net
18-38
Hazardous Waste

18-39
Hazardous waste
1999: Canadian Environmental Protection Act:
Flammable = substances that easily catch fire
Corrosive = substances that corrode metals in
storage tanks or equipment
Reactive = substances that are chemically unstable
and readily react with other compounds, often
explosively or by producing noxious fumes
Toxic = substances that harm human health when
they are inhaled, are ingested, or contact human
skin
18-40
Hazardous wastes have diverse sources

Households currently are the largest source of
unregulated hazardous waste
Household hazardous waste (HHW)
Paints, batteries, oils, solvents, cleaning agents,
pesticides
Canadians improperly dispose of 27 000 tonnes of HHW
each year
Average home has close to 45 kg of hazard wastes
Two classes are particularly hazardous
- Organic compounds
- Heavy metals
18-41
Organic compounds and heavy metals can

be hazardous
Organic compounds
are particularly hazardous because their toxicity persists over
time and synthetic organic compounds resist decomposition
- Keep buildings from decaying, kill pests, and keep stored
goods intact
- Their resistance to decay causes them to be persistent
pollutants
- They are toxic because they are readily absorbed through the
skin
- They can act as mutagens, carcinogens, teratogens, and
endocrine disruptors
18-42
Organic compounds and heavy metals can

be hazardous (contd)
Heavy metals
Lead, chromium, mercury, arsenic, cadmium, tin, and
copper
Used widely in industry for wiring, electronics, metal
plating, pigments, and dyes
They enter the environment when they are disposed of
improperly
Heavy metals that are fat soluble and break down
slowly are prone to bioaccumulation
18-43
E-waste is a new and growing problem

Electronic waste (e-waste) = waste involving electronic
devices
Computers, printers, VCRs, fax machines, cell phones
Disposed of in landfills, but should be treated as
hazardous waste (6% of a typical computer is
composed of lead)
Some people and businesses are trying to use and
reuse electronics to reduce waste
Serious concerns about health risks to workers

18-44
Several steps precede the disposal of

hazardous waste
For many years, hazardous waste
was discarded without special
treatment
Public did not know it was
harmful to human health
Assumed the substances would
disappear or be diluted in the
environment
Since the 1980s, cities designate
sites or special collection days to
gather household hazardous
waste
18-45
There are three disposal methods for

hazardous waste
Secure landfills
Surface impoundments
Deep-well injection
These methods do nothing to lessen the hazards of the
substances but do keep the waste isolated

18-46
Secure landfills
Must have several impervious liners and leachate
removal systems
Design and construction standards are stricter
than for ordinary sanitary landfills
Must be located far from aquifers

18-47
Surface impoundments
Surface impoundments =
store liquid hazardous waste
Shallow depressions are lined
with plastic and clay
Residue of solid hazardous
waste is transported elsewhere
The underlying clay layer can
crack and leak waste
Rainstorms cause overflow,
contaminating nearby areas

18-48
Deep-well injection
Deep-well injection = a
well is drilled deep beneath
the water table and waste is
injected into it
Long-term disposal
The well is intended to
be isolated from
groundwater and human
contact
Wells become corroded
and leak waste into soil
18-49
Radioactive waste is especially hazardous

Radioactive waste is particularly dangerous and
persistent
Geologic isolation = using the absorptive capacity
and impermeability of naturally occurring rock to
block contaminants
Multiple-barrier approach = engineering the facility
to place as many barriers as possible, both physical
and chemical, in the pathway of any escaping
contaminants

18-50
Contaminated sites are being cleaned up,

slowly
18,000 Canadian contaminated sites, including priority
sites for cleanup activities:
Faro Mine, Yukon ($14.6 million)
Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt, British Columbia
($4.56 million)
Port Radium Mine, Northwest Territories ($7.1
million)
Belleville Small Craft Harbour, Ontario ($6.8 million)
Brownfields = sites that have been contaminated but
have the potential to be cleaned up and remediated
18-51
Conclusion
Modern methods of waste management are far safer
for people and gentler on the environment
Recycling and composting are making rapid progress
Canada has changed from virtually no recycling to
diverting nearly 25% of all solid waste
Our prodigious consumption habits have created
more waste than ever before
Finding ways to reduce, reuse and efficiently recycle
the materials and goods that we use stands as a key
challenge for this century
18-52
QUESTION: Review
All of the following are three main components of waste
management except:
a) Minimizing the amount of waste we generate
b) Recovering waste materials and finding ways to recycle
them
c) Disposing of waste safely and effectively
d) All of these are components of waste management

18-53
QUESTION: Review
Within a sanitary landfill, waste is
a) Poured into deep wells
b) Stored in large piles and then burned
c) Buried in the ground or piled up in large, carefully
engineered mounds
d) Put onto barges and shipped overseas

18-54
QUESTION: Review
What are some ways we can reduce the amount of items
entering the waste stream?
a) Donate used items to charity
b) Buy groceries in bulk
c) Buy rechargeable batteries
d) All of the above are ways to reduce the waste stream

18-55
QUESTION: Review
Industrial ecology is defined by all of the following
EXCEPT:
a) Redesigning industrial systems to reduce resource inputs
b) Examining the entire life cycle of a given product
c) Minimizing physical inefficiency
d) Maximizing economic efficiency

18-56
QUESTION: Review
Which of the following are disposal methods for hazardous
waste?
a) Landfills
b) Surface impoundments
c) Injection wells
d) All of the above are disposal methods

18-57
QUESTION: Review
Radioactive waste .
a) Is dangerous, but is not persistent in the environment
b) Is not harmful to the environment, but is persistent
c) Is dangerous to human health and is persistent
d) Is not dangerous to human health, but is dangerous to
the environment

18-58
QUESTION: Interpreting Graphs and Data

Which statement is false for this figure?
a) Paper makes up most of the solid waste
b) Compostable material is a significant part of solid waste
c) Glass recycling would have the greatest impact on solid
waste
d) Metals are part of solid waste

18-59

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18

Managing Our Waste

PowerPoint Slides prepared by Stephen Turnbull

Upon successfully completing this

Approaches to Waste Managment

Copyright 2013 Pearson Canada Inc.

Approaches to waste management

We have several aims in managing waste

Copyright 2013 Pearson Canada Inc.

Copyright 2013 Pearson Canada Inc.

We have several aims in managing waste (contd)

Copyright 2013 Pearson Canada Inc.

Municipal Solid Waste

Copyright 2013 Pearson Canada Inc.

Patterns in the municipal solid waste

Copyright 2013 Pearson Canada Inc.

Copyright 2013 Pearson Canada Inc.

Waste generation is rising in all nations

Open dumping in the past has given way to

Copyright 2013 Pearson Canada Inc.

Waste disposal is regulated by three levels

Copyright 2013 Pearson Canada Inc.

Sanitary landfills are engineered to minimize

Copyright 2013 Pearson Canada Inc.

Landfills can be transformed after closure

Landfills have drawbacks

Incinerating trash reduces pressure on landfills

Copyright 2013 Pearson Canada Inc.

Many incinerators burn waste to create energy

Landfills can produce gas for energy

Copyright 2013 Pearson Canada Inc.

Do you know where your trash goes?

Copyright 2013 Pearson Canada Inc.

Reducing waste is a better option

Copyright 2013 Pearson Canada Inc.

Reuse is one main strategy for waste

Reducing Packaging: Is It A Wrap?

Composting recovers organic waste

Recycling consists of three steps

Copyright 2013 Pearson Canada Inc.

Recycling has grown rapidly and can

Copyright 2013 Pearson Canada Inc.

Costs of Recycling and

Should recycling programs be subsidized by

Financial incentives can help address waste

Copyright 2013 Pearson Canada Inc.

Edmonton showcases reduction and recycling

Industrial Solid Waste

Copyright 2013 Pearson Canada Inc.

Industrial solid waste

Copyright 2013 Pearson Canada Inc.

Regulation and economics each influence

Copyright 2013 Pearson Canada Inc.

Industrial ecology seeks to make industry

Copyright 2013 Pearson Canada Inc.

Businesses are adopting industrial ecology

Waste exchanges are an offshoot of

Copyright 2013 Pearson Canada Inc.

Hazardous wastes have diverse sources

Organic compounds and heavy metals can

Organic compounds and heavy metals can

E-waste is a new and growing problem

Copyright 2013 Pearson Canada Inc.