Chapter 22 - Managing Our Waste

Question 1

Waste management

Answer 1

Strategic decision making to minimize the amount of waste generated and to dispose of the waste safely and effectively

Question 2

Waste

Answer 2

Any unwanted product that results from a human activity or process

Question 3

municiple solid waste

Answer 3

non-liquid waste that is not especially hazardous and that comes from homes, institutions, and small buisnesses

Question 4

industrial solid waste

Answer 4

non-liquid waste that is not especially hazardous and that comes from production of consumer goods

Question 5

hazardous waste

Answer 5

liquid or solid waste that is toxic, chemically reactive, flammable or corrosive

Question 6

waste stream

Answer 6

the flow of waste as it moves from its sources forward disposal destinations

Question 7

waste-to-energy (WTE) facility

Answer 7

An incinerator that uses heat from its furnace to boil water to create steam that drives electricity generation or that fuels heating systems

Question 8

sources reduction

Answer 8

the reduction of the amount of the material that enters the waste stream to avoid the costs of disposal and recycling, help conserve resources, minimize pollution, and save consumers and businesses money

Question 9

recovery

Answer 9

waste management strategy composed of recycling and composting

Question 10

recycling

Answer 10

the collection of materials that can be broken down and reprocessed to manufacture new items

Question 11

composting

Answer 11

the conversion of organic waste into mulch or humus by encouraging, in a controlled manner, the natural biological processes of decomposition

Question 12

sanitary landfill

Answer 12

a site of which solid waste is buried in the ground or poled up in large mounds for disposal, designed to prevent the waste from contaminating the environment

Question 13

resource conservation and recovery act (RCRA)

Answer 13

congressional legislation (enacted in 1976 and amended in 1984) that specifies, among other things, how to manage sanitary landfills for protect against environmental contamination

Question 14

incineration

Answer 14

a controlled process of burning solid waste for disposal in which mixed garbage is combusted at very high temperatures

Question 15

landfill gas

Answer 15

a mix of gases that consists roughly half methane produced by anaerobic decomposition deep inside landfills

Question 16

industrial ecology

Answer 16

a holistic approach to industry that integrates principles from engineering, chemistry, ecology, economics, and other disciplines and seeks to redesign industrial systems in order to reduce resources inputs and minimize inefficiency

Question 17

materials recovery facility (MRF)

Answer 17

a recycling facility where items are sorted, cleaned, shredded, and prepared for reprocessing into new iteams

Question 18

life-cycle analysis

Answer 18

a quantitative analysis of inputs and outputs across the entire life cycle of a product – from its origins, through its production, transport, sale, and use, and finally its disposal – in an attempt to judge its sustainability of the process and make it more economically efficent

Question 19

electronic waste (e-waste)

Answer 19

discarded electronic products such as computers, monitors, printers, televisions, DVD players, cell phones, and other devices. Heavy metals in these products means that this waste may be judged hazaardous

Question 20

surface impoundments

Answer 20

(1) a disposal method for hazardous waste or mining waste in which waste in liquid or slurry form is placed into a shallow depression lined with impervious material such as clay and allowed to evaporate, leaving a solid residue on the bottom. (2) the site of such disposal

Question 21

deep-well injection

Answer 21

a hazardous waste disposal method in which a well is drilled deep beneath an area’s water table into porous rock below an impervious soil layer. wastes are then injected into the well, so that they will be absorbed into the porous rock and remain deep underground, isolated from ground water and human contact

Question 22

super-fund

Answer 22

a program administered by the EPA in which experts identify sites polluted with hazardous chemicals, protect ground water neat these sites, and clean up the pollution. Established by the comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability act (CERCLA) in 1980

Question 23

Brownfield

Answer 23

an area of land whose redevelopment or reuse is complicated by the presence or potential presence of hazardous waste