WASTE DISPOSAL
by Luke Bassis
The disposal of garbage in the world is a problem
that continues to grow with the development of industrialized nations and
the growth of population. Since the beginning of time people have needed
to find a way of disposing of their trash. In 18th century England and
France, carters were paid by individuals to carry trash and discard it
on the outskirts of town. Disposal in open pits became routine and Benjamin
Franklin initiated the first municipal cleaning program in Philadelphia
in 1757. Since then we have come a long way and have developed types of
waste that cannot simply be dumped into a hole.
THE
PROBLEM
As Americans, we generate almost 208 million tons
of solid waste each year. By the year 2000, that number is expected to
increase 20%. Today, each one of us generates about 4.3 pounds of waste
per day. As a country we generate more garbage than any other country by
far. Although we have come up with many different methods of disposing
of this garbage, there really is no absolutely safe way to do the job.
TYPES OF WASTE
Waste can be divided into many different types.
The most common methods of classification is by their physical, chemical
and biological characteristics. One important classification is by their
consistency. Solid wastes are waste materials that contain less than 70%
water. This class includes such materials as household garbage, some industrial
wastes, some mining wastes, and oilfield wastes such as drill cuttings.
Liquid wastes are usually wastewater's that contain less than 1% solids.
Such wastes may contain high concentrations of dissolved salts and metals.
Sludge is a class of waste between liquid and solid. They usually contain
between 3% and 25% solids, while the rest of the material is water dissolved
materials.
HAZARDOUS VS. NON-HAZARDOUS
Federal regulations classify wastes into three
different categories. Non-hazardous are those that pose no immediate threat
to human health and the environment. Household garbage is included into
this category. Hazardous wastes are of two types: those that have common
hazardous properties such as ignitability or reactivity and those that
contain leachable toxic components. The last type of waste is entitled
Special Wastes and is very specific in nature. They are regulated with
specific guidelines. Some examples would be radioactive wastes and medical
wastes.
METHODS OF DISPOSAL
There are many different methods of disposing
of waste. Landfill is the most common and probably accounts for more than
90 percent of the nation's municipal refuse even though Landfills have
been proven contaminates of drinking water in certain areas. It is the
most cost affective method of disposal, with collection and transportation
accounting for 75 percent of the total cost. In a modern landfill, refuse
is spread thin, compacted layers covered by a layer of clean earth. Pollution
of surface water and groundwater is minimized by lining and contouring
the fill, compacting and planting the uppermost cover layer, diverting
drainage, and selecting proper soil in sites not subject to flooding or
high groundwater levels. The best soil for a landfill is clay because clay
is less permeable than other types of soil. Materials disposed of in a
landfill can be further secured from leakage by solidifying them in materials
such as cement, fly ash from power plants, asphalt, or organic polymers.
Refuse is also burned in incinerators. It is
more expensive but a safer method of disposal than landfills. Modern incinerators
are designed to destroy at least 99.9% of the organic waste material they
handle. Numerous thermal processes recover energy from solid waste. Companies
burn in-plant wastes in conventional incinerators to produce steam. Pyrolysis,
a process of chemical decomposition, produces a variety of gases and inert
ash. Garbage burned in incinerators has poisoned air, soil, and water.
Communities near incinerators have objected to them because of fears about
possible emissions.
Yet another method is the pumping of hazardous
wastes into deep wells. There is a strong opposition to this method because
of the apparent explosions and even earthquakes that have resulted from
waste injection techniques.
Organic materials that have little or no heavy
metals can be detoxified biologically. Composting and land farming, in
which materials are spread out over a large land area so that microbes
can decompose them, are examples of biological treatment of hazardous waste.
If the materials are not detoxified before they percolate into groundwater
than obvious repercussions may occur. The practice of recycling solid waste
is an old one. Metal implements were melted down and recast in prehistoric
times. Today, recyclable materials are recovered from municipal refuse
by a number of methods, including shredding, magnetic separation of metals,
screening, and washing. Composting includes preparing refuse and breakdown
of organic matter by aerobic microorganisms. Increasingly, municipalities
and private refuse collection organizations are requiring those who generate
solid waste to keep recyclable items separate from other waste.
Livestock waste created by large livestock
operations generate more than 30 times more waste than humans. Yearly,
the industry produces a total over 1.375 billion tons of waste. Environmental
products and technologies corporation, a company focused on solving environmental
problems while enhancing the productivity of farming operations in the
United States, has come up with a system to remedy the amount of livestock
waste. Their Closed Loop Waste Management System converts animal wastes
into commercial quantities of a pathogen free, nutrient rich, soil building
material. Systems like this one are a good example of the direction our
country should be moving in when dealing with the waste we generate.
Hazardous wastes pose a danger to humans or
other living organisms. Management of radioactive and other hazardous wastes
is subject to federal and state regulation. No satisfactory method has
yet been demonstrated for disposing permanently of radioactive wastes.
THE EPA
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is a
government agency established to enforce the proper disposal of wastes
and conduct research in related areas. They reported that 208 million tons
of municipal solid waste were generated in the United States. Of the municipal
solid waste generated, 56 million tons (27 percent) were recovered by recycling
or composting, 33.5 million tons (16 percent) were combusted at high temperatures,
and 118.5 million tons (57 percent) were landfilled.
In addition 279 million tons of hazardous waste
was generated in the United States. Wastewater accounted for 267 million
tons (96 percent) of the generated hazardous waste. The majority (146 million
tons, 53 percent) of the hazardous waste was managed in waste water treatment
units. Deepwell/underground injection accounted for 21 million tons (7.5
percent) of the generated hazardous waste, landfills accounted for 1 million
tons (less than 0.5 percent), and combustion at high temperatures accounted
for 5 million tons (2 percent). The majority of the remaining 104 million
tons (37 percent) of hazardous waste underwent some type of treatment.
FRESH KILLS
One example of waste affecting people is the Fresh
Kills Landfill. The landfill on Staten Island in New York City is one of
the most amazing products of waste in the world. It is undoubtedly the
largest man-made object in the world and can be seen from space. New Yorkers
generate 26,000 tons, or 6.2 pounds per household of waste every single
day. About half of that is commercial waste picked up and transported out
of the City by private carting companies. The remainder is residential
waste that the Department of Sanitation collects. The only home for the
residential waste that is collected, 13,000 tons per day, is the Fresh
Kills Landfill on the western shore of Staten Island. The amount of waste
landfilled at Fresh Kills each day has been reduced, through the City's
ambitious solid waste management strategy and its recycling program, from
21,200 tons per day in 1986 to the current 13,000 tons per day. Since the
Landfill was erected nearly fifty years ago there has been a constant level
of complaint from the residents of Staten Island. They see and smell the
garbage on a daily basis should they happen to live in the area of the
landfill. Finally, the city has made plans to phase out the dumping of
all of the cities garbage onto Staten Island. Eventually, they plan to
cover the landfill with a clay cover and then layers with dirt and grass.
Landscapers will be hired to plant plants that need little care or maintenance,
and wildlife will once again roam the western banks of Staten Island.
RECYCLING
It takes time, energy, labor, and money to make
new products from recycled ones. Right now it's often easier or cheaper
for manufacturers to use virgin rather than recycled materials to make
things. For recycling to be worthwhile, manufacturers need the technology
to make new products from recycled materials, high quality recovered materials
that meet manufacturers' specifications, a steady supply of recovered materials,
affordable materials, and customers to buy products that contain recycled
materials. Separating glass jars, aluminum cans, and newspapers and setting
them by the curb or taking them to a recycling center is only part of the
recycling process. To complete the recycling loop, those cans, papers,
and bottles must be remade into new products that you buy and use.
WHATS NEXT
The best method of reducing waste disposals negative
effect on society is simply to prevent its generation. If the consumers
of our country were to make a firm stand against the production of useless
waste and the furtherance of recycled products, the producers would have
no choice but to conform to our wishes. If it means a price increase, so
what? Any price increase we pay now will be worth the extra healthy years
we will be able to inhabit this planet, it will be worth it for our children
and their children. In a capitalistic society where politicians see no
further than their next election and everything that's produced is for
a profit, we are almost surely doomed to make decisions that will hurt
us in the future. It is obvious we have to be our own leaders in the battle
versus waste disposal, because we are the only ones who care about our
future on this earth.
Bibliography
Baum, Bernard and Parker, Charles H. Solid
Waste Disposal. Ann Arbor, 1974.
Daniel, David E. Geotechnical Practice for
Waste Disposal. London, 1993. Figures1-5
Pepper, Ian L. and Gerba, Charles P and Brusseau,
Mark L. Pollution Science. San Diego: Academic Press, 1996. Figures 8-12
Revelle, Penelope and Charles. The Environment:
Issues and Choices for Society. Boston, 1984. Figures 6-7
Websites
Turning Garbage into Gold
http://www.solidwastemag.com/library/garbage.htm
Reassessing the History of U.S. Hazardous Waste
Disposal Policy
http://www.fplc.edu/risk/Vol8/summer/Brown+.htm
Environmental Protection Agency
http://www.epa.gov