Unit 9- Waste Management

Landfill Discussion

Now that we have seen a landfill in person (you did if you went on the field trip), discuss at least 3 types of materials that should not be placed in a landfill and explain the potential environmental and public health consequences of disposing of such things in a landfill.  Outline two methods for reducing the amount of these substances that enter MSW input.

A hazardous material is toxic and/or corrodes metal, is flammable, or volatile. Methane is also extremely dangerous it happens to be released in a landfill because it decomposes into energy and if that energy isn't used then it can explode

Batteries- Batteries sometimes have lead, cadmium, or mercury which can make it highly toxic. Sometimes car batteries can combust because the batteries produce hydrogen and if it becomes overcharged it can explode. Batteries can also leak and are considered e-waste. 

Varnishes- These liquids are highly flammable because of the resin and drying oils. As the varnish cures the wood it gives off heat as well. Even rags with varnish can combust if they are not allowed to give off heat. Like a huge pile of rags stacked together. 

Fluorescent bulbs- Bulbs contain mercury that can be extremely hazardous if it is leaked. 

How to reduce the amount that enters the MSW- Recycle correctly and don't throw these away in a container that leads to a landfill. Also instead of buying the cheap batteries or lightbulbs' buy the more pricey once that last longer. That way there is less waste that goes to the landfill if it does end up going there. 

Recycling Discussion

Three common examples of items that can be recycled are paper, aluminum, and plastics.  Discuss at least one environmental and economic benefit and cost of recycling each of these items.  If your city only had the funding to set up a recycling center for one of these materials, which would you choose and why?  Finally, how would you persuade the members of your community that recycling is ultimately good for the community?

Paper

• Environmental
• Benefit- Can be used as compost. 
• Cost- Recycling paper requires toxic chemicals that can be harmful for the environment
• Economic
• Benefit- Creates jobs for people to pick up the recycling in neighborhood and cities. 
• Cost- It actually is cheaper to throw away trash into a landfill then burning it than to recycle.

Plastic

• Environmental
• Benefit- Don't fill up landfills because they get recycled. 
• Cost- Water bottles contain chemicals that can lead to health problems and recycling only increases the risk. 
• Economic
• Benefit- Can give bottles a second life by reusing them. 
• Cost- It is expensive to continually buy water bottles. 

Aluminum

• Environmental
• Benefit- The average recycling rate of aluminum cans 68%, the highest rate of recycling of any resource.
• Cost- The aluminum industry was responsible for 140 million tons of CO2 production in 2005 alone.
• Economic
• Benefit- Creates jobs all the way from mining to picking the aluminum up to selling it. 
• Cost- There is so much aluminum in landfills that it is easier to pick it out from landfills than to mine it from bauxite ores. 

Aluminum. I would choose aluminum because it is a closed loop process. That means that no new materials are introduced throughout the recycling process and it is infinitely recyclable, unlike paper or plastic. The energy required to recycle aluminum is also less than to mine and create new aluminum. 

I would persuade the members of my society to recycle by proving to them that it creates jobs, is good for the environment because many things that are recycled come from non renewable resources. 

Superfund/Brownfields Discussion

We watched a news clip about the industrial waste buried under the Love Canal near Niagara Falls.  This area was a Superfund site but has been deemed safe enough for people to now live there and has since been redeveloped.  Explain the difference between a Superfund site and a Brownfield and give another example of each in the US.  There are two primary ways for turning these sites back into usable land by either removing the contaminated soil or by planting vegetation that would decontaminate the soil.  Explain two potential problems with each of these methods of reclamation. Reclaiming these sites is a debatable hot topic these days.  Explain one societal and one environmental for reclaiming and using the land.

Brownfield- contaminated areas that may require cleanup before being used to develop businesses or homes or to expand another area. An example is Homestead, Pennsylvania where the Carnegie steel factory was located and it is now a commercial center. 

A superfund site is a site that the USA government funds the cleaning of the site under CERCLA regulations. The Madison County mines were a superfund site. 

Clearing out soil- It is massively expensive to clear out the soil and put new soil in. It can also expose workers to airborne contaminants. 

Planting vegetation- The newly introduced vegetation may harm the insects and bugs that feed on the plants. Whenever the vegetation is removed the land is still hazardous. 

The question does not clearly specify if I should state a benefit or problem with reclaiming and using the land so I wll do both. 

Societal- It makes the surrounding area look better, but it can also go awry and cause problems if it is not done 100% correctly and can lead to deaths and problems, similar to the Love Canal except the LC was not even reclaimed properly and lead to CERCLA.

Environmental- Reduce hazardous runoffs into streams is good, but it can also be bad for the animals that feed off the vegetation in the area. 

BIG PICTURE DISCUSSION

Environmental Impact- Waste management has a huge impact on the environment. We saw in the video that Lovefield was deemed to be a national disaster because of the impact it had on the land and the people who moved into the houses on the land. Landfills can contaminate the environment with their trash releasing methane and other gases that be volatile or highly toxic. Furthermore, recycling impacts the environment in both negative and positive ways. When the recycling process occurs it can be done in an unhygienic and unsafe manner. It can lead to widespread pollution, but on the bright side it is good to recycle plastic, paper, aluminum, etc. because that way money and energy don't have to be spent to make new paper, plastic, aluminum, etc. 

Human Impact- Waste management is also impacted by humans and it impacts humans as well. Humans are the reason for why the landfills exist, for why global warming occurs, for why pollution is so widespread, for why the earth is so damaged. And in the end it will end up costing us our home(earth) and our lives. E-waste is a huge impact that humans have placed upon the world. It is highly toxic and hard to get rid off. Sometimes it is sent into outerspace, but that simply corrodes the Galaxy as well. Incineration can lead to pollution as well. Disposing of trash is a lose-lose situation for the environment. Good things about waste management though is that it creates thousands of jobs for humans. 

Economic Impact- Waste management creates a plethora of jobs that range from minimum wage to extremely well paying. But stopping the harm we inflict upon the environment with our waste is costly. The reclaiming of Brownfield's is ludicrously exorbitant and sometimes stops the harm but harms the animals that eat the vegetation. The clearing of soil is perhaps even more expensive financially speaking. In the water treatment facility we learned just how much energy is required to keep the facility running and that energy costs money to the people and to the city. When curing diseases such as malaria, HIV, H1N1 and mad cow disease it cost money to develop cures and to educate the people on the dangers of the diseases. 

Government Legislation- 

RCRA- The resource conservation and recovery act was designed to regulate and eliminate hazardous waste. It ensures that hazardous waste is disposed of properly from the moment it becomes waste until it reaches its end in the cycle. 

CERCLA- the Comprehensive environmental response compensation and liability act is also known as the superfund. It taxes chemical and oil industries and makes sure that brownfields are disposed of properly. It is enforced by the federal government as is the RCRA. 

The Stockholm convention came together to ban 12 chemicals or to reduce their use. These 12 chemicals include PCBs and DDTs