Chapter 23 Guided Reading
- Electronic waste is not recycled very often because there is no viable way to do it en masse.
- Renewable resources are those that are replenished over a time frame that is reasonable for human consumption. Nonrenewable resources are replenished over a much longer time frame that is useless to humans.
- The typical American will use about 10 tons of non fuel minerals every year.
- Materials management is the idea of regulating renewable and nonrenewable resources so that they are used in a sustainable manner.
- Materials management can be persued in many ways. Five ideas are as follows:
- Cut public funding for extracting raw materials
- Use incentives to encourage the use of recycled materials and products
- Financially punish those who follow poor materials-management practices
- Provide incentives for the development of industrial processes that promote sustainability
- Provide incentives for people, industry, and agriculture to develop effective materials-management programs
- Materials management is starting to change where paper mills are located. Before, paper mills would be built next to forests where timber is logged. Now, some paper mills are being built near cities, close to a source of recycled paper.
- When metals are concentrated in high amounts by geologic processes, ore deposits are formed.
- The element that makes up most of the Earth's crust by weight is oxygen, followed by silicon.
- Sedimentary processes and weathering play a role in mineral deposition through the seperation and sorting of minerals through mechanical and chemical means.
- Mineral resources are all the known concentrations of compounds, whereas mineral reserves are concentrations that can be extracted for a profit.
- Earth's mineral resources can be divided into four broad categories: elements for metal production and technology, building materials, minerals for the chemical industry, and minerals for agriculture.
- When the availability of a particular resource becomes limited, there are four possible courses of action:
- Find more sources
- Recycle and reuse what has already been obtained
- Reduce consumption
- Pursue an alternative
- Some of the environmental impacts of surface mining include topographical degredation and the release of trace elements into local environments.
- Many things can be done to minimize the environmental impacts of mining, including:
- Reclaiming areas disturbed by mining
- Stabilizing soils to minimize the release of metals into the environment
- Controlling air emissions from mining areas
- Treating contaminated water before it leaves the mining site
- Treating waste both onsite and offsite
- Practicing the three "R"s of waste management
- The three "R"s of waste management are: reduce the amount of waste that is produced, reuse waste as much as possible, and recycle whenever possible.
- "Dilute and disperse" aims to control waste by spreading it over a large area, lowering concentrations. However, the contemporary method of "concentrate and contain" attempts to control waste by only dumping it in a small area. Although the concentration of waste will increase, less area will be affected.
- In the next few years, half the cities in the United States may run out of landfill space.
- NIMBY stands for "not in my backyard".
- Industrial ecology focuses on the relationships between industrial and natural processes. Industrial ecology will be essential in the future because industrial processes play a large role in our lives. Without an understanding of how these systems interact with nature, a sustainable planet will be unattainable.
- In my opinion, "pay as you throw" is a good idea for controlling waste. Although there would be some initial controversy, the tax would seem normal eventually as everyone reduces their household waste.
- Integrated waste management (IWM) is a set of alternatives that includes the three "R"s, composting, landfills, and incineration.
- The waste stream includes all of the waste that is produced in a given area.
- Single-stream recycling does not require homeowners to seperate their recyclable waste. Instead, it all goes in the same bin and is sorted later in the disposal process.
- Industries are using creative ways to encourage recycling, including: designing products to be easily recyclable, offering inexpensive reusable bags, and marking parts so that they can be disassembled efficiently.
- Human waste can be used as fertilizer, but may spread disease and carry harmful chemicals.
- Paper comprises the largest percentage of solid waste generated in the United States. This is not surprising, considering how much of the disposable products we use everyday are made out of paper.
- Composting is a process where organic waste (such as lawn clippings or food scraps) is turned into a soil-like material through the process of decomposition. Although this is a creative waste-management solution, it is sometimes not practical to seperate compostable waste from other materials.
- Incineration is the process of burning solid waste at very high temperatures. This reduces the volume of the waste greatly, and can be used to generate electricity. However, incineration releases many toxins into the air, and filtering emissions is expensive.
- A sanitary landfill concentrates and contains waste so that it does not pose a risk to the public. Sanitary landfills compact waste into the smallest possible chunks, and then cover the waste with compacted soil to reduce interaction with the environment.
- Environmental justice is the study of social issues regarding waste facilites.
- Leachate is noxious, mineralized liquid capable of transporting bacterial pollutants.
- Pollutants can enter the environment from sanitary landfills in many ways. Some examples of these pathways are as follows:
- Gases, produced from compounds in the waste and soil, can be released into the atmosphere
- Heavy metals can be retained in the soil
- Soluble materials (such as chloride, nitrate, and sulfate) can pass through the waste and soil into the groundwater table
- Surface runoff can transport leachate into streams and rivers
- Plants can take up toxic materials and pass them up the food chain
- Residue from plants can return toxic materials to the soil
- Streams and rivers can become contaminated after polluted groundwater seeps into the channel, or from surface runoff
- Wind can transport toxins to other areas
- Federal mandates for sanitary landfills include:
- Landfills cannot be sited on floodplains, wetlands, earthquake zones, unstable land, or near airports (because birds pose a threat to aircraft)
- Landfills must be lined
- Landfills must have a leachate collection system in place
- Landfill operators must monitor groundwater for contamination
- Landfill operators must be able to monitor the landfill for 30 years after it closes
- One can reduce the waste that he/she generates by: keeping track of generated waste, recycling as much as possible, buying products that have less packaging, buying products that are recycled, and using products that will last.
- 70% of the hazardous waste generated in the United States is produced east of the Mississippi River. Most of this waste is produced by chemical-products industries. Electronics manufacturers, petroleum-products industries, and coal-products industries are also major contributors.
- The Love Canal is an infamous hazardous waste site. The Hooker Chemical Company used the canal to dump waste from 1920 to 1952. In 1953, the company sold the Love Canal to the city of Niagra Falls for $1.00. The site was used for residential development, and the public's health suffered greatly as a result.
- E-waste is a growing problem in the United States. Millions of electronics are thrown away by Americans every year. Although most of these products contain toxins, there is no definite protocol to dispose of them. Much of our e-waste is shipped to other countries, where workers expose themselves to toxins for little pay.
- The purpose of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) is to set standards and assign responsibilities to those who produce, transprt, or dispose of hazardous waste.
- The purpose of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) is to set standards for the disposal of hazardous substances, as well as hold companies responsible for cleaning up hazardous waste sites.
- Some hazard reduction technologies include:
- Landfills and impoundments: cheap but ineffective for soluble solids.
- Injection wells: cheap and very effective if placed properly. No potential for resource recovery.
- Incineration: expensive but efficient. Generates electricity but severely pollutes the air.
- High-temperature decomposition: expensive but effective for many chemicals. Not suitable for some inorganics.
- Chemical stabilization: efficient for most metals but not viable for organics. Byproducts can be used as building material.
- Microbial breakdown: effective when dealing with organic wastes. Persistent chemicals are not recommended for this process.
- Ocean pollution has affected aquatic life by killing organisms, inhibiting the development of organisms, reducing the amount of dissolved oxygen that is available, and destroying marine habitats.
- The marine waters of Europe are in trouble mainly because urban and agricultural runoff have led to toxic algal blooms.
- The microlayer of the ocean is considered to be very important because it is the home of planktonic organisms that make up the base of the marine food chain.
- The steps to preventing pollution are:
- Purchasing the proper amount of materials so that there won't be any excess
- Controling the materials used in manufacturing so that less waste is produced
- Replacing toxic materials that are used in the process with nontoxic alternatives
- Refine manufacturing processes so that less waste is produced
- The R-to-C ratio is a measure of how much time we have for finding solutions to the depletion of nonrenewable resources, where R is the known reserves and C is the rate of consumption.
- Regulation can be implemented to help with the problem of electronic waste. Ideally, these laws would hold electronics manufacturers accountable so that they would be pressured into making their products more recyclable. An "e-waste tax" could provide a financial motive for electronics companies to recycle electronic waste themselves. More electronic waste could certainly be recycled. However, the procedures that have been currently put into place (i.e.: shipping it to developing nations) do not maximize the potential of e-waste.
- Tax breaks and regulations that encourage the use of recycled material would assist recycling industries to become more cost-effective.
- Asthetic appeal is a benefit that would indirectly result from recycling. With less demand for mining new materials, less area would be disturbed. These preserved landscapes would definitely be pleasing to look at.
- I disagree with the contention that "if we really want to do something to improve the environment through reduction of waste, we have to move beyond evaluating benefits of recycling based simply on the fact that it may cost more than dumping waste in a landfill". Although it would be nice to "move on", the reality is that financial motives drive the world. However, we can use this fact to our advantage: if we make recycling a financially lucrative option, industries will eagerly make the switch.
- As far as I can tell, there are no unique recycling efforts in my community. There are recycling bins for residential waste, but not much else. One improvement would be the placement of recycling bins throughout the neighborhood. There are already trash bins, but no recycling bins. After all, I could imagine that most of the waste that is produced in public is recyclable (wrappers, paper packaging, etc).
- If I were to find out that the home I have been living in is located over a buried waste disposal site, I would try to determine what type of waste was buried. Although samples of the soil could be analyzed to detect any toxins, public records may also reveal what was disposed of.