Chapter 17 Flashcards
(106 cards)
1
Q
Waste
A
Any unwanted material or substance that results from a human activity or process
2
Q
Municipal Solid Waste
A
Nonliquid waste from homes, institutions, and small businesses
3
Q
Industrial Solid Waste
A
From production of goods, mining, agriculture, petroleum extraction, and refining
4
Q
Hazardous waste
A
solid or liquid waste that is toxic, chemically reactive, flammable, or corrosive.
5
Q
What is Source Reduction and is it preferred?
A
Minimize the amount of waste generated; it is preferred.
6
Q
Waste stream
A
The flow of waste as it moves from its sources to its disposal destination
7
Q
Ways to reduce/manage waste
A
Source reduction, recover waste materials and recycle them, dispose of waste safely and effectively, waste stream
8
Q
Most US municipal solid waste consists of
A
paper, yard debris, food scraps, and plastics
9
Q
What are the largest municipal solid waste components
A
Food scraps and plastics
10
Q
Most of municipal solid waste comes from what and how long after they are used are they discarded?
A
packaging and nondurable goods; discarded after short time
11
Q
As we get more goods, we generate more
A
waste
12
Q
US citizens generate ___ lb/person/day
A
7.1
13
Q
Critics label the US as the
A
“throwaway society”
14
Q
US waste decreased slightly from ___ to ___
A
2005 to 2012
15
Q
Consumption is greatly increasing in _____ nations because of ____
A
developing; rising standards of living, more packaging, poor-quality goods
16
Q
____ consumers discard items that can still be used
A
Wealthy
17
Q
Poor people support themselves by
A
selling items they scavenge at dumps
18
Q
Composting
A
The conversion of organic waste into mulch or humus through natural decomposition; can be used to enrich soil
19
Q
Home composting
A
Householders place solid waste into composting piles, underground pits, or specially constructed containers
20
Q
Ways of home composting
A
microbial action builds up and spurs decomposition; earthworms, bacteria, and other organisms convert waste into high-quality compost
21
Q
Leachate
A
liquid from trash dissolved by rainwater; collected and treated in landfills; collection systems must be maintained for 30 years after a landfill is closed
22
Q
In 1988, the US had __ landfills, but today, there are fewer than ___, but they are large
A
8000; 2000
23
Q
Cities convert closed landfills into
A
Public parks, stadiums, gardens, wetlands, and festival events
24
Q
In 2012 in the US__% of waste was recycled or composted
A
35%
25
Effects of ___ nations invest in waste collection and disposal
wealthier; efforts minimize impacts on health and the environment; recycling and composting are decreasing pressure on landfills
26
Sanitary landfills
waste buried in the ground or piled in large mounds to prevent contamination and health threats
27
US landfills must meet ___ standards under ____ Act
EPA's national standards; Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
28
Waste is partly _____ and compresses under its own weight to make more space
decomposed by bacteria
29
What reduces odor of landfills
soil layers reduce odor, speed decomposition, reduce infestation by pests; closed landfills must be capped
30
Despite improved technology blank can be punctured
Liners
31
Will leachate collection systems be kept up
No
32
How long does it take for waste to decay
Decades
33
Not in my backyard (NIMBY) syndrome
Residence don’t want landfills in their areas; Wealthy educated people have the political clout to prevent landfills from being cited in their neighborhoods
34
landfills are disproportionately cited in _ _communities
poor and minority
35
Wave to energy facility (WTE)
Use the heat produced by waste combustion to create electricity
36
What does Source reduction
Prevents waste in the first place; avoids cost of disposal and recycling; helps conserve resources and minimize pollution ; saves consumers and businesses money
37
Most waste consists of
Materials used to package goods
38
Fly ash
Particulate matter that can be very toxic
39
Scrubbers
Chemically treat emissions to remove hazardous chemicals and neutralize acidic gases
40
Incineration
A controlled process that burns garbage at very high temperatures
41
Are metals removed in the furnace
Yes
42
Hazardous waste
A liquid, solid, or gas that is either ignitable, corosive, reactive, or toxic
43
Ignitable hazardous waste
easily catches fire ( natural gas, alcohol)
44
Corrosive Hazardous Waste
corrodes metal in storage tanks or equipment
45
Reactive Hazardous Waste
chemically unstable and readily reacts with other compounds (often explosively or by producing noxious fumes)
46
Toxic Hazardous Waste
Harms human health when inhaled, ingested, or touched
47
Recycling and composting is growing slowly or rapidly
rapidly
48
Some local governments are trying to reduce ________________.
Plastic bags
49
What are 3 ways that plastic bags are harmful to the environment?
- Grocery bags can take centuries to decompose
- They choke and entangle wildlife and cause litter
- 100 billion of them are discarded each year in the US
50
Many governments have banned _______________________ bags.
Non-biodegradable
51
Tax on bags gives financial incentive to use other bags such as:
Consumers bring their own bags
52
Recycling consists of 3 steps, what are those steps?
Step 1: collection and processing of recyclable materials through curbside recycling or designated locations.(MRF’s= Materials recovery facilities Where workers and machines sort, clean, shredded, and repair items)
Step 2: using recyclables to produce new goods (such as glass, metal, paper, plastics use recycled materials)
Step 3: Consumers buy goods made from recycled materials
53
One financial incentive to help address waste is the “pay as you throw approach”. What does this mean?
Residents are charged according to how much trash they put out.
(The less waste, the less a person has to pay)
54
One financial incentive to help address waste is “bottle bills”, what is this?
Consumers receive a refund for returning used bottles and cans to stores
These bills are effective and popular
Container of litter is reduced 69-84%
Total litter is reduced by 30-64%
States are beginning or expanding their programs
55
By using “bottle bills”, container litter is reduced ___________ and total litter is reduced by ____________.
Container litter= 69-84%
Total litter= 30-64%
56
States are beginning or expanding their programs for _________________
“ bottle bills”
57
What are MRF’s and what does it stand for?
Materials recovery facilities-Workers and machines sort, clean, shred, and prepare items
58
Deep-well injection process
A well is drilled deep beneath the water table; Waste is injected into it; A long-term disposal method
The well is isolated from groundwater and humans
but the wells can corrode and leak waste
59
Surface Impoundments process
Store liquid hazardous waste; Shallow depressions are lined with plastic and clay; The liquid or slurry evaporates; The residue of solid hazardous waste is transported elsewhere for disposal
60
Are surface impoundments temporary? why?
Yes; The clay layer can crack and leak waste; Rainstorms cause overflow, contaminating nearby areas
61
Thousands of former military and industrial sites are contaminated with
Hazardous waste
62
Dealing with ___ messes is hard, time-consuming, and expensive
Hazardous waste
63
Superfund is administered by ___ and it is a federal program to
the EPA; to clean up U.S. sites polluted with hazardous waste
64
U.S. industries generate __ billion tons of waste per year; __% is wastewater
7.6; 97%
65
Brownfields
Lands whose reuse or development is complicated by the presence of hazardous materials
66
Polluter Pays Principle (but)
charge polluting parties for cleanup, but the responsible parties often can’t be found
67
Are more cleanups are being completed?
No; fewer
68
E-waste is growing.
What is electronic waste?
Waste involving electronic devices Such as: computers, printers, cell phones, TVs, MP3 players
69
Americans discard __________ million devices per year and _____ still work
300 million
3/4
70
________________ are put in landfills but should be treated as hazardous waste
Electronics
71
Valuable trace minerals can be recovered. The 2010 Olympic medals were made from _________________.
E waste
72
Heavy metals can be hazardous. What are some heavy metal names?
Lead, chromium, Mercury, arsenic, cadmium, tin, and copper
73
Where do the hazardous heavy metals come from?
They are used widely in industry for wiring, electronics, metal plating and fabrication, pigments, and dyes
They enter the environment when they are disposed of improperly
74
Heavy metals that are ________________________ and break down slowly can bioaccumulate and biomagnify.
Fat soluble
75
Hazardous waste disposal is costly and often results in ______________________.
Illegal dumping
76
________________________ creates health risks along with financial headaches for dealing with it.
Illegal dumping
77
Industrial nations illegally dump in ___________________________.
Developing nations
78
______________________ do not lessen the hazards of the substances but they help keep the substance isolated from people, wildlife, and ecosystems.
Landfills
79
- Their design and construction standards are stricter than those for ordinary sanitary landfills
- Must have several in pervious liners and leachate removal systems
- Must be located far from aquifers
Hazardous waste landfills
80
under the ________________________: The EPA set standards, but the states manage hazardous waste.
RCRA-Resource conservation and recovery act
81
Large generators of hazardous waste must obtain _______________.
Permits
82
Under the resource conservation and recovery act(RCRA) materials must be tracked from:
“Cradle to grave”
83
The resource conservation and recovery act (RCRA) is intended to prevent what?
Illegal dumping
84
Most methods and strategies of waste disposal, reduction, and recycling are similar to those for:
Municipal solid waste
85
Industrial waste generation:
Industries may not be required to have permits or install liners or __________________ collection systems.
Leachate
86
Industries may not even be required to monitor _______________________ for contamination.
Groundwater
87
It may be __________________ to generate waste then to avoid it... Industries are awarded for economic, not physical, efficiency.
Cheaper
88
___ sites remain, and only ___ have been cleaned up
1326; 375
89
A ___ was established by a federal tax on the petroleum and chemical industries for PPP but
trust fund; the fund is bankrupt, and Congress has not restored it; taxpayers now pay all costs of cleanup
90
Once a Superfund site is identified, EPA scientists note:
How close the site is to human habitation
Whether wastes are currently confined or likely to spread
Whether the site threatens drinking water supplies
91
Harmful sites that are placed on the National Priority List are
Ranked by their level of risk to human health
| Cleanup occurs as funds are available
92
The EPA must hold ____ to inform area residents of its findings and to receive feedback
public hearings
93
Industrial solid waste
Is not municipal or hazardous waste
| Comes from factories, mining, agriculture, petroleum extraction, etc.
94
U.S. industries generate __ billion tons of waste per year
7.6
95
The federal government regulates _____; Examples:
municipal solid waste; States and local governments regulate industrial solid waste (with federal guidance); State and local rules are less strict than federal rules
96
Businesses are saving or losing money while reducing waste
saving
97
Reduced waste and adapted its ___ to use landfill gas for energy; Cut waste generation by __%, fossil fuel use by __%, and water use by __%; Saved $__ million/year, held prices steady, and raised profits by __%
Boilers; 80%; 45%; 70%; 30; 49%
98
___ produces the largest amount of hazardous waste but waste generation and disposal are highly regulated
Industry
99
___ are the largest source of unregulated hazardous waste
households; Paint, batteries, solvents, cleaners, pesticides, etc.
100
Many hazardous substances become less or more hazardous over time but others may be especially persistent (e.g.,
less; radioactive waste, organic compounds, heavy metals
101
Do synthetic organic compounds resist bacterial, fungal, and insect activity (example)
Plastics, tires, pesticides, solvents, wood preservatives
Keep buildings from decaying, kill pests, and keep stored goods intact
yes; plastics, tires, pesticides, solvents, wood preservatives
Keep buildings from decaying, kill pests, and keep stored goods intact
102
Synthetic organic compounds resist (examples)
bacterial, fungal, and insect activity (ex: plastics, tires, pesticides, solvents, wood preservatives)
103
Synthetic organic compounds
keeps buildings from decaying, kill pests, and keep stored goods intact
104
Are synthetic organic compounds persistent pollutants
Yes, their resistance to decay makes them persistent pollutants;
105
Why are synthetic organic compounds toxic
They are toxic because they are readily absorbed through the skin
106
What can synthetic organic material act as
They act as mutagens, carcinogens, teratogens, or endocrine disruptors
