Kenny Truong 2/11/14 Ogo P.

Solid and Hazardous Waste Notes

New Yorks Fresh Kills Landfill was the largest landfill in the world until it closed in 2001. NY plans to transform it into a world-class public park. Between 1842-1953, Hooker Chemical sealed multiple chemical wastes into steel drums, which was dumped into an old canal (Love Canal) Love Canal sparked the creation of the Superfund Law which forced polluters to pay for cleaning up abandoned toxic waste dumps Waste is any discarded material for which no further sale or use is intended. o Ex: residue, spill absorbent material Solid waste- any unwanted material we produce that isnt liquid or gas o Municipal Solid Waste: Produced directly from homes o Industrial Solid Waste: Produced indirectly by industries that supply people with goods and services. Solid Waste Exclusions: Solid or dissolved materials in domestic sewage or irrigation return flows. Industrial discharges subject to CWA regulations including POTW Ways to reduce waste that enters waste stream o Waste stream: flow of waste as it moves from its sources toward disposal destinations More efficient use of materials, consumes less, buy goods with less packaging, reusing goods. o Recovery (recycling, composting): next best strategy in waste management Recycling: sends used goods to manufacture new goods Composting: recovery of organic waste All materials in nature are recycled. Of the 251 million tons of waste, 81.8 million tons were recycled or composted by the U.S in 2006 E-Waste consists of toxic and hazardous waste such as PVC, lead, mercury and cadmium. The U.S produces almost half of the worlds e-waste, but only recycles about 10% of it. The United States sell their trash to China for recycling o The turn in the economy has devalued the recycling industry. We can manage the solid wastes we produce and reduce or prevent their production The U.S produces about 1/3 or worlds solid waste and buries more than half of it in landfills. o 98.5% is industrial solid waste o 1.5% is MSW Most of the MSW buried in landfills are expected to leak toxic liquids into soil o Open dumps: are fields in the ground where garbage is deposited and covered with soil. Mostly used in developing countries o Sanitary landfills: solid wastes are spread out in thin layers covered daily with fresh layers of clay or plastic foam Sanitary landfills must meet national standards set by EPA under the RCRA of 1976.

 RCRA o

Kenny Truong 2/11/14 Ogo P.1 Waste is decomposed by bacteria and compresses under its own weight to create space. It is layered with soil to reduce odor, speed decomposition and reduces infestation by pests. When a landfill is closed, it must be maintained.

40 CFR Parts 239-259 is to establish minimum national criteria under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act for all municipal waste landfills and the Clean Water Act for municipal solid waste landfills that are used to dispose of sewage sludge. These minimum national criteria ensure protection of health and environment o Subtitle D regulates non-hazardous waste We have landfills to protect groundwater, surface water, air quality and control pathogenic migration Design of landfills o Underlying soils, depth to groundwater, landfill linter, leachate collection system, leachate prevention through infiltration and drainage control, cover soil and final landfill cap Line: acts like a giant garbage bag-clay/synthetic/additional Surface water infiltration is drained from the landfill Leachate: liquid that migrates from within a land disposal site which has come in contact with solid waste Monitoring: Groundwater monitoring wells are installed to monitor pollution migration. Gas collection wells are installed to remove methane o Limit of Refuse filling determines volume of waste that can be properly stored at the site Determined by site characterization, proximity to surface and groundwater Procedures: Waste is broken down and moved into the landfill. A layer of dirt is used to cover the waste. It is also capped off MSW is burned in over 1000 large waste-to-energy incinerators, which boil water to make steam for heating water, or space or for production of electricity. Bacteria can decompose waste in oxygen-deficient environment Landfill gas: a mix of gases that consists of roughly half methane o Can be collected, processed and used like natural gas o Landfill gas is burned off in flares to reduce odors and greenhouse emissions Solutions: Reducing Solid Waste o Refuse: to buy items that we dont need o Reduce: consume less and live a simpler life o Reuse: Rely on more items that can be used over and over Reusing products is an important way to reduce resource use, waste and pollution

Kenny Truong 2/11/14 Ogo P.1 o Repurpose: use something for another purpose o Recycle: Paper, glass, cans, and plasticand buy items made from recycled materials. Refilling and reusing containers use fewer resources and less energy. It creates jobs and produces less waste and saves money. Primary Recycling: materials turned into new products of the same type Secondary recycling: materials converted into different products To promote separation of wastes, 4,000 communities have implemented pay-as-you-throw or fee-per-bag waste collection systems Composting biodegradable organic waste mimics nature by recycling plant nutrients to the soil. Recycling plastics is chemically and economically difficult Alternatives to landfill: compost piles and biodegradable Compost: pile of organic debris Since hazardous waste disposal is costly, it causes illegal and anonymous dumping. o Creates health risks High costs of disposal encourage companies to invest in reducing their hazardous waste. Superfund: o Spurred by Love Canal, Niagara Falls, New York- families evacuated after buried toxic chemicals rose to surface. o Brownfields- lands whose reuse or developments are complicated by the presence of hazardous materials. o Harmful sites are placed in EPAs National Priority List o Ranked according to level of risk to human health CERCLA operates under polluter pays principle: polluting parties charged for cleanup Two major laws regulate management and disposal of hazardous waste in the U.S o RCRA Cradle-to-grave system to keep track of waste o Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA)/Superfund Superfund-Designed to have polluters pay for cleaning up abandoned hazardous waste sites Determining hazardous waste o Define it as waste o Define waste as solid waste o Determine any solid waste exclusions o Define solid waste as hazardous o Determine any hazardous waste exclusions Hazardous Characteristics o Ignitibility: flashpoint of less than 140 degrees Fahrenheit o Corrosivity: pH less than 2.0 or greater than 12.5 o Reactivity: combination of greater than 250mg/kg of HCN and greater than 500mg/kg of H2S Hazardous Waste treatment

Kenny Truong 2/11/14 Ogo P.1 EPA decides appropriate method of disposal Landfill Incineration Heating hazardous waste to temperature up to 2000 degrees Celsius Plasma Torch: passing electrical current through gas to generate electric arc and very high temperatures can create plasma Fuel Blending Neutralization Biological Treatment o Deep well disposal: liquid hazardous waste are pumped under pressure in dry porous rock beneath aquifiers o Surface impoundments: excavated depressions such as ponds, pits or lagoons o Long-Term Retrievable Storage: Highly toxic materials cannot be destroyed, metal drums are used to store them o Secure landfills: Hazardous waste put into drums and buried in carefully designed and monitored sites Brownfield: Abandoned property that is potentially contaminated Phytoremediation: use of living green plants for in risk reduction and/or removal of contaminants from soil, water, sediment, air o Phytoextraction or inorganics and metals o Rhizofiltration for metals o Phytostabilization to stabilize soil o Phyodegradation for organic compounds o Rhizodegradation for organics o Phytovolatization o Advantages: economically viable, less disruptive, no disposal site needed, more likely to be accepted by the public o Disadvantages: dependent on growing conditions required by plant, success dependent on tolerance of plant to the pollutant Environmental Justice: everyone is entitled to protection from environmental hazards without discrimination International treaty calls for phasing out the use of harmful persistent organic pollutants (POPs) o Insoluble in water and soluble in fat o Every person on earth has detectable levels of POPs o U.S has not ratified treaty. Making the transition to a Low-Waste Society o Everything is connected o No away for waste we produce o Dilution is not the solution to pollution o Best and cheapest way to deal with waste are reduction and pollution prevention. o

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