Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Solid wastes are only raw materials we're too stupid to use.
A RTHUR C. C LARKE
17-1
WASTING RESOURCES
Science: Solid Waste
Most solid waste is a symptom of unnecessary waste
of resources whose production causes pollution and
environmental degradation.
Solid waste is any unwanted or discarded material
that is not a liquid or a gas. In nature, there is essen-
tially no solid waste because the wastes of one organ-
ism become nutrients for other organisms.
We will always produce some solid waste directly
and indirectly in creating the goods and services we
use. The solid waste we produce directly is called
garbage. For most people in developed countries,
garbage trucks arrive and whisk away this waste out
of sight, out of mind. But most people do not realize
that mines, factories, food growers, and businesses
that supply people with goods and services produce
about 98% of the world's solid waste as they provide
us with an incredible array of goods and services.
Why should we care about the amount of solid
waste we produce directly and indirectly? First, be-
cause much of it represents an unnecessary waste
of the earth's precious resources. Second, because pro-
ducing the solid products we use and often
discard leads to huge amounts of air pollution (in-
cluding greenhouse gases), water pollution, and land
degradation.
Good news. We could reduce our direct and indi-
rect production of solid waste by 75 - 90%, as you will
learn in this chapter.
This chapter examines what types of solid and haz-
ardous wastes we produce, how we can deal with
such wastes, and how we can reduce our output of
such wastes. It addresses the following questions:
What is solid waste, and how much do we produce?
How can we produce less solid waste?
What is the ecoindustrial revolution, and how can
we shift from selling things to selling services?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of
reusing and recycling materials?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of
burning or burying solid waste?
What is hazardous waste, and how can we deal
with it?
What can we do to reduce exposure to lead and
mercury?
How can we make the transition to a more sustain-
able, low-waste society?
KEY IDEAS
Most solid waste is a symptom of unnecessary
waste of resources whose production causes pollution
and environmental degradation.
Scientists urge us to put much more emphasis on
producing less solid waste (waste prevention) through
reduced resource use, reuse, recycling, and compost-
ing than on burning or burying the solid wastes we
produce.
To make industrial manufacturing processes more
sustainable, we can redesign them to mimic how na-
ture deals with wastes—a process known as the
ecoindustrial revolution.
Business can greatly decrease their pollution and
waste by shifting from selling goods to leasing the ser-
vices that those goods provide.
Developed countries produce 80-90% of the
world's hazardous wastes, and most such wastes are
not regulated.
Chemical and biological methods can be used to re-
move hazardous wastes or to reduce their toxicity, and
are preferred for most such wastes over burning or
burying them.
Toxic lead and mercury threaten the health of many
children, but methods for reducing these hazards are
available.
We need to focus on preventing waste production
by shifting from unsustainable, high-waste societies to
more sustainable, low-waste societies over the next 50
years.
Solid Waste in the United States
The United States produces one-third of the world's
solid waste and buries more than half of that waste in
landfills.
The United States, with only 4.6% of the world's popu-
lation, produces about one-third of the world's solid
waste—a glaring symptom of affluenza (p. 14).
About 98.5% of the solid waste in the United
States (and in most developed countries) comes from
mining, oil and natural gas production, agriculture,
sewage sludge, and industrial activities (Figure 17-2,
p. 390). This solid waste is produced indirectly to pro-
vide goods and services to meet the needs and grow-
ing wants of consumers.
The remaining 1.5% of solid waste is municipal
solid waste (MSW) —often called garbage or trash
generated mostly by homes and workplaces. This
small part of the overall solid waste problem is still
huge. Each year, the United States generates enough
MSW to fill a bumper-to-bumper convoy of garbage
trucks encircling the globe almost eight times! Between
1960 and 1990, the amount of MSW produced per per-
son in the United States increased by 70%.
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