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FACTS PAGES:
HISTORY & STATISTICS OF U.S. WASTE PRODUCTION & RECYCLING
Since the beginning of time
humans have had to deal with the problem of trash. The means of dealing with
trash have stayed essentially the same over the centuries. These methods are
dumping, burning, recycling, and minimization of waste. Excessive trash has
had many serious effects in history such as the bubonic plague, cholera, and
typhoid fever to name a few. Garbage production truly cannot be overlooked
and must be dealt with in a responsible fashion. Over the last century waste
production in the US has reached startling numbers, however the percent that
is recycled is also growing rapidly. Historic Waste Facts in the United
States
| 1690 |
In Philadelphia the Rittenhouse Mill
recycles the first paper using fibers from wastepaper and rags. |
| 1842 |
A report is made linking disease to
dirty conditions and sanitation becomes a major issue. |
| 1885 |
On Governor’s Island in New York the
first garbage incinerator was built in the U.S. |
| 1896 |
Waste reduction plants are created to
compress organic waste but are soon closed because of toxic emissions. |
| 1898 |
New York opens the first official
recycling plant in the U.S. where it sorts trash. |
| 1900 |
“Piggeries” were created and garbage
was fed to pigs. However this led to an outbreak of vesicular
exanthema and the pigs had to be killed. |
| 1914 |
There were 300 incinerators in the
U.S. |
| 1920’s |
Landfills were established in swamps,
filling them and creating more usable land. |
| 1948 |
Fresh Kills landfill is opened on
Staten Island, New York. It becomes the world’s largest city dump.
Along with the Great Wall of China it is the only man-made thing
visible from space. |
| 1954 |
Olympia, Washington is the first place
to offer a deposit on aluminum cans. |
| 1965 |
The first federal solid waste
management laws are enacted. |
| 1968 |
The U.S. aluminum industry begins
recycling. |
| 1970 |
The EPA creates the first Earth Day
and the Resource Recovery Act is enacted. |
| 1974 |
The first citywide curbside recycling
starts in University City, Missouri (for newspapers). |
| 1976 |
The Resource Conservation and Recovery
Act is created, which focuses on recycling. |
| 1980 |
The Comprehensive Environmental
Response Compensation and Liability Act (Superfund) was passed. |
| 1984 |
Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments
passed. |
| 1986 |
Superfund Amendments and
Reauthorization Act passed. Rhode Island is the first state to pass
mandatory recycling laws for cans, glass, newspapers and plastic. |
| 1988 |
Ocean Dumping Ban passed. The Plastic
Bottle Institute develops a material identification code system for
plastic bottle manufacturers (#1-6). |
| 1990 |
McDonalds stops using Styrofoam
packaging due to protests. Coca-Cola and Pepsi announce they will use
recycled PET bottles made of about 25% recycled plastic resin. |
| 1991 |
The federal recycling order is signed. |
| 1992 |
U.N. Earth Summit promotes sustainable
development. |
Data Source:
http://www.environmentalchemistry.com/yogi/environmental/wastehistory.html
http://www.epa.gov/history/timeline/index.htm
Statistics on Waste Production
Graph taken from:
http://www.epa.gov
Table taken from:
http://www.zerowasteamerica.org/
Waste Disposal
There are four methods for the disposing of Municipal Solid Waste:
landfilling, incinerating, and recycling and composting.
Landfills
 A secure
landfill is a carefully engineered depression in the ground (or built on top
of the ground, resembling a football stadium) into which wastes are put. The
aim is to avoid any hydraulic [water-related] connection between the wastes
and the surrounding environment, particularly groundwater. Basically, a
landfill is a bathtub in the ground; a double-lined landfill is one bathtub
inside another. Bathtubs leak two ways: out the bottom or over the top.
There are four critical elements in a secure
landfill: a bottom liner, a leachate collection system, a cover, and the
natural hydrogeologic setting. The natural setting can be selected to
minimize the possibility of wastes escaping to groundwater beneath a
landfill. The three other elements must be engineered. Each of these
elements is critical to success.
(this section was taken from:
http://www.zerowasteamerica.org/BasicsOfLandfills.htm you can
find a lot more interesting information there)
Incineration
Incineration is a method for disposing of waste in which it is burned.
Combustion has some favorable attributes such as volume reduction, immediate
disposal, less land area requirements, destruction of some hazardous
materials, and energy recovery. It is more widely used where the population
density is high and there may not be enough room for landfills. However,
incineration also has down-sides: it is much more expensive than landfilling
and it can release toxic substances (e.g. dioxins or mercury) into the air.
Recycling
Recycling is when materials are collected and used again as raw materials
for new products. The cycle includes collecting the recyclables, separating
them, processing them, manufacturing, and purchasing items made from
reprocessed materials.
Recycling prevents the emission of many greenhouse gases
and water pollutants, saves energy, supplies valuable raw materials to
industry, creates jobs, stimulates the development of greener technologies,
conserves resources for our children's future, and reduces the need for new
landfills and combustors.
Recycling also helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions that
affect global climate. In 1996, recycling of solid waste in the United
States prevented the release of 33 million tons of carbon into the
air-roughly the amount emitted annually by 25 million cars.
Composting
Composting is the aerobic degradation of organic materials under controlled
conditions, making a marketable soil or mulch. It is a natural process which
needs almost no human intervention. Households can have their own backyard
composting in which they can put their food waste and yard trimmings so as
to reduce the amount of waste that has to be collected.
Graph taken from:
http://www.epa.gov
In 2005, the total MSW generated was 246
million tons. Of these 246 million tons 32% was recovered for recycling. 54%
was disposed in landfills and 13% was combusted.
In this next graph we can see that landfill
is still the number one disposal solution, although it has decreased since
1995. Combustion has increased slightly over the decades. Recovery for
recycling has seen the biggest increase along with composting.
Graph taken from:
http://www.zerowasteamerica.org/
In the graph below we can see a
dramatic increase in the amount of waste being recovered for recycling since
1960. The percent recycled has gone up but not as drastically because the
overall amount of waste produced has increased. Graph taken from:
http://www.zerowasteamerica.org/
Hazardous Waste
Hazardous Waste is waste that presents immediate or long-term risks to
humans, animals, plants, or the environment. It requires special handling
for detoxification or safe disposal. Industry is largely where hazardous
waste is produced. Some examples of businesses where hazardous waste is
produced are photo developers, metal finishers, gas stations, auto
mechanics, hospitals, and paint manufacturers. Class I landfills, or secure
landfills, are designed for hazardous wastes. Class II landfills, or
monofills, are for designated specific wastes that are require special
handling. Because of new requirements hazardous waste landfills have become
much more sophisticated. They are now designed as a modular series of
three-dimensional control cells. This means that it is possible to segregate
waste so that only compatible wastes are disposed of together. Below the
hazardous wastes there is a double-liner system called a leachate which
stops the liquids from seeping into the soil and groundwater below. The
leachate is collected and treated. A special cap is placed over completed
cells to help reduce the amount of leachate formed.
Waste water
Wastewater can consist of industrial waste, human waste (sewage), or runoff
from rainwater. Wastewater also needs to be managed in order to lessen
threats to public health and the environment. All of the wastewater produced
by a city eventually ends up in a river, lake, or ocean. In most major
cities in the US before this happens the wastewater goes through a sewage
treatment plant where bacteria remove almost 90% of biodegradable organic
wastes. Unfortunately, that is not true for many of the world's largest
cities, where raw sewage is just pumped into rivers and the ocean. Next the
wastewater goes to a sedimentation tank where the solid parts settle to
become sludge. Then the sludge is either incinerated, landfill, used as
fertilizer or composted. If the sludge does not contain any hazardous waste
such as heavy metals, it is a valuable fertilizer.
Dear Island Waste Water treatment Plant
Sources
Barbalace, Roberat Crowell, “The History of Municipal Waste,”
http://www.environmentalchemistry.com/yogi/environmental/wastehistory.html
Masters, Gilbert M. Introduction to Environmental Engineering and Science,
Prentice-Hall 1998.
“History: EPA Timeline,”
http://www.epa.gov/history/timeline/index.htm
“Waste & Recycling: Data, Maps, & Graphs,”
http://www.zerowasteamerica.org/
“Hazardous Waste,”
http://www.learner.org/exhibits/garbage/hazardous.html
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