Samer Metri

Period 2

Chapter 30
1. The United States gets rid of its e-waste by shipping it to Nigeria or China as recyclable material.
2. Dilute and disperse, a method used during the industrial revolution, is a method that works fine
on small scale waste. Concentrate and Contain is used because industrial and urban areas have
expanded and the trash became a lot more. Containment, however, is not always effective
3. Zero waste is the essence of what is known as industrial ecology (the study of relationships
among industrial systems and their links to natural systems). Waste from one part of the system
can be used as a resource of another and therefore emitting zero waste.
4. Three things that can reduce waste between 50% and 90% are to reduce, reuse, and recycle.
5. Types of disposals and their negatives.
a. Composting a biochemical process in which organic materials decompose to a rich,
soil-like material. During this process, we much separate out organic waste and avoid
debris previously treated with herbicides.
b. Incineration a process in which combustible waste is burned leaving only ash and
noncombustible to dispose of in landfill. This is expensive, but may reduce waste
volume by 75% to 90%. This process is bad because it generates air pollution, toxic ash,
and electricity.
c. Open Dumps banned in the US but still a problem in other countries. This is unsightly,
a good breeding ground for pests, pollute air, groundwater, and surface water
d. Sanitary Landfills concentrate and confine waste to smallest practical area in volume.
After each day, a layer of soil is put over the top to limit access by insects, rodents, and
other animals, as well as minimizes the exchange of surface water and gas escape.
6. Leachate is noxious, mineralized liquid capable of transporting bacterial pollutants. Most
significant hazard of sanitary landfill is pollution of groundwater or surface water by leachate.
The nature and strength of leachate depends on composition of water and the amount of water
that infiltrates the water.
7. Monitoring wells are placed on either side of the solid waste facility in order to test the
groundwater pollution levels before and after they pass under the waste facility in order to
compare and figure out if there is any leakage from the facility. Clay is used on the bottom
above the plastic lining because water takes a long time to go through clay and is therefore
mostly filtered. Leachate collection pipes are in place in order to pump out any leachate in order
to keep it from leaking down towards the water table.
8. Ways in which uncontrolled dumping of hazardous chemical waste has polluted soil and ground
water
a. Chemical waste may be stored in barrels which are either stacked on the ground or
burned. The barrels eventually leak. This pollutes the surface water, soil, and ground
water
b. When liquid chemical waste is dumped into an unlined lagoon, contaminated water may
percolate through the soil and rocks, eventually making its way down to the
groundwater
c. Liquid chemical waste may be illegally dumped in deserted fields or even along roads.
Samer Metri
Period 2

9. The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act was signed in 1976 to regulate hazardous solid,
semisolid, liquid, and gaseous waste. It was signed because hazardous waste was a danger to
people and the environment.
10. Superfund is a revolving fund used to clean up the worst abandoned hazardous waste sites.
Superfund has experienced significant management problems, and cleanup efforts are far
behind schedule. The funds available are not sufficient to pay for decontamination of all
targeted sites.
11. Some methods of waste disposal are
a. recycling
b. on-site processing to recover by-products with commercial value
c. microbial break
d. disposal in secure landfill
e. deep-well disposal
f. surface impoundment
g. Open dumps
12. Useful chemicals can be reclaimed and reused. Treatment of waste may make them less toxic
and therefore less likely to cause problems in landfills. The total amount of waste that needs to
be disposed decreases to a much smaller volume, and therefore landfills do not fill up too
quickly
13. Effects of marine pollution of oceanic life
a. Death or retarded growth, vitality, and reproductivity of marine organisms
b. Reduction in the dissolved oxygen content necessary for marine life because of
increased BOD
c. Eutrophication caused by nutrient-rich waste in shallow waters of estuaries, bays, and
parts of the continental shelf.
14. Approaches to pollution prevention
a. Purchasing the proper amount of raw materials so that no excess remains to be
disposed of.
b. Exercising better control of materials used in manufacturing processes so that less
waste is produced.
c. Substituting nontoxic chemicals for hazardous or toxic materials currently in use.
d. Improving engineering and design of manufacturing processes so that less waste is
produced.