Chapter 18: Municipal Solid Waste: Disposal and Recovery

The Solid-Waste Problem

I. Municipal solid waste is defined as the total of all the materials thrown away
from homes and commercial establishments and collected by local
governments. MSW is different from hazardous waste and nonhazardous
industrial waste.
Disposal of Municipal Solid Waste
I. Over the years, the MSW generated in the US has grown steadily, in part
because of a growing population but also because of changing lifestyles
and the increasing use of disposable materials and excessive packaging.
A. We generate huge amounts of MSW, and it is increasingly expensive to
dispose of it in ways that are environmentally responsible and
protective of human health.
II. The refuse generated by municipalities is a mixture of materials from
households and small businesses. However, the proportions vary greatly,
depending on the generator, the neighborhood, and the time of year.
III. Customarily, local governments have had the responsibility for collecting and
disposing of MSW. Traditionally, the cost of waste pick-up is passed along
to households via taxes.
Landfills
I. In a landfill, the waste is put on or in the ground and is covered with earth.
Pollution and populations are kept to a minimum.
A. Landfills are subjected to biological and physical factors in the
environment and will undergo change over time as a consequence of
the operation of those factors on the waste that is deposited. If not
dealt with effectively, these changes can produce leachate generation
and groundwater contamination, methane production, incomplete
decomposition, and settling.
II. The most serious problem is groundwater contamination. As water percolates
through any material, various chemicals in the material may dissolve in
the water and get carried along in a process called leaching. The water
with its various pollutants is called leachate.
A. As water percolates through MSW, a noxious leachate is generated
that consists of residues of decomposing organic matter combined with
iron, mercury, lead, zinc, and other metals. These materials can be
funneled directly into groundwater aquifers.
III. Because it is about 2/3 organic material, MSW is subject to natural
decomposition. Buried wastes do not have access to oxygen, however, so
their decomposition is anaerobic. A major by-product of the process is
biogas, which is about 2/3 methane and the rest hydrogen and carbon
dioxide.
A. Biogas may seep horizontally through the soil and rock, enter
basements, and even cause explosions. Gases seeping to the surface
 kill vegetation by poisoning the roots. Without vegetation, erosion
occurs, exposing the waste.
B. Gas wells tap the landfill gas, and the methane is purified and used as
fuel. This gas can be used as energy and reduces green house gas
emissions.
IV. The commonly used plastics in MSW resist natural decomposition because of
their molecular structure.
A. Many materials formerly believed to be biodegradable are often
degraded slowly, if at all. The reason paper and other organic materials
decompose so slowly is the absence of suitable amounts of moisture.
The more water percolating through a landfill, the better paper
materials biodegrade.
V. Waste settles as it packs and decomposes. This creates shallow depressions
that can collect and hold water.
VI. Recognizing the foregoing problems, the EPA upgraded sitting and
construction requirements for new landfills. Under current regulations:
1. New landfills are sited on high ground, well above the water table, not
in a geologically unstable area, and away from airports
2. The floor is contoured so that water will drain into a tile leachate-
collection system. The floor and sides are covered with a plastic liner
and at least two feet of compacted soil. With such a design, any
leachate percolating through the fill will move into the leachate-
collection system. Collected leachate can be treated as necessary.
3. Layer upon layer of refuse is positioned such that the fill is built up in
the shape of a pyramid. It is capped with at least 18 inches of earthen
material and a layer of topsoil and then seeded. The cap and the
pyramidal shape help the landfill shed water. In this way, water
infiltration into the fill is minimized, and less leachate is formed.
4. The entire site is surrounded by a series of groundwater-monitoring
wells that are checked periodically.
A. With spreading urbanization, few suburban areas are not already
dotted with residential developments. Practically any site selected,
then, is met with protests and legal suits.
B. The siting problem has some undesirable consequences. First, it
drives up the costs of waste disposal, as alternatives to local
landfills are invariably more expensive. Second, it leads to the
inefficient and objectionable practice of the long-distance transfer
of trash, as waste generators look for private landfills whose owners
are anxious to receive trash.
1. Often, this transfer occurs across state and even national lines,
leading to resentment and opposition on the part of citizens of
the recipient state or nation.
C. One positive aspect of the citing problem is that it encourages
residents to reduce their waste and recycle as much as possible.
 Another effect is that the problem stimulates the use of combustion
as an option for waste disposal.
Combustion: Waste to Energy
I. Because it has a high organic content, refuse can be burned.
II. The combustion of MSW has some advantages:
1. Combustion can reduce the weight of trash by more than 70% and the
volume by 90%, thus greatly extending the life of a landfill.
2. Toxic or hazardous substances are concentrated into two streams of
ash, which are easier to handle and control than original MSW. The fly
ash contains most of the toxic substances and can be safely put into a
landfill. The bottom ash can be used as fill in some construction sites
and roadbeds.
3. No changes are needed in trash collection procedures or people’s
behavior.
4. 2/3 of the combustion facilities are waste-to-energy facilities equipped
with modern emission-control technology that brings the emissions
into compliance with Clean Air Act regulations.
5. When burned, unsorted MSW releases about 35% as much energy as
coal. WTE facilities produce 2,700 megawatts of electricity annually.
6. To their waste processing, many of these facilities add resource
recovery, in which many materials are separated and recovered before
combustion.
III. Combustion has some drawbacks, too:
1. Air pollution and offensive odors are two problems that the public
associates with combustion facilities. Odor pollution is best controlled
by isolating the plant from residential areas.
2. Combustion facilities are expensive to build, and their siting has the
same problem as that of landfills. Most combustion facilities are
located in industrial areas for this reason.
3. Combustion ash is often loaded with metals and other hazardous
substances and must be disposed of in secure landfills.
4. To justify the cost of its operation, the combustion facility must have a
continuing supply of MSW. For that reason, the facility enters into long-
term agreements with municipalities, and these agreements can
lessen the flexibility of the community’s solid-waste management
options.
5. Even if the combustion facility generates electricity, the process
wastes both energy and materials, unless it is augmented with
recycling and recovery.
IV. The process of combustion is as follows:
1. Incoming waste is inspected, and obvious recyclable and bulky
materials are removed
2. Waste is then pushed onto conveyers that feed shredders capable of
reducing the width of waste particles to 6 inches or less
 3. Strong magnets remove about 2/3 of ferrous metals for recycling
before combustion
4. The waste is then blown into boilers, where light materials burn in
suspension and heavier materials burn on a moving grate.
5. Water circulated through the walls of the boilers produces steam,
which drives turbines for generating electricity
6. After the waste is burned, the bottom ash is conveyed to a processing
facility, where further separation of metals may occur
7. Combustion gases are passed through a lime-based spray dryer-
absorber to neutralize sulfur dioxide and other noxious gases. Then the
gases go through electrostatic precipitators that remove particles. The
resulting air emissions are significantly lower in pollutants than an
energy-equivalent utility based on coal or oil combustion.
8. The fly ash and bottom ash residues are put into landfills.
Costs of Municipal Solid-Waste Disposal
I. The costs of disposing of MSW are escalating, and not just because of the
new design features of landfills. More and more, they reflect the expenses
of acquiring a site and providing transportation.
II. Getting rid of all trash is becoming more expensive, and one consequence of
this is increasing expense is illegal dumping.

18.2 Solutions to the Solid-Waste Problem

Source Reduction
I. Source reduction is the practice of designing, manufacturing, purchasing, or
using materials in ways that reduce the amount of toxicity of trash
created. Source reduction accomplishes two goals: it reduces the amount
of waste that must be managed, and it conserves resources.
A. Source reduction is difficult to measure because it means trying to
measure something that no longer exists. The EPA measures source
reduction by measuring consumer spending, which reflects the goods
and services that ultimately make their way to the trash bin.
II. Source reduction can involve a broad range of activities on the part of
homeowners, businesses, communities, etc.
1. Reducing the weight of many items has reduced the amount of
materials used in manufacturing
2. The Information Age may be having an impact on the use of paper.
Electronic communications, data transfer, and advertising are
increasingly performed on personal computers
3. Many durable goods are reusable
4. Lengthening a product’s life can keep that product out of the waste
stream.
5. An increasingly popular way of treating yard waste is composting
The Recycling Solution
 I. More than 75% of MSW is recyclable material. There are two levels of
recycling: primary and secondary.
A. Primary recycling is a process in which the original waste material is
made back into the same material. In secondary recycling, waste
materials are made into different products that may or may not be
recyclable.
B. Recycling saves energy and resources and decreases pollution.
II. The primary items from MSW currently being heavily recycled are cans,
bottles, plastic containers, newspapers, and yard wastes.
A. Paper and cardboard can be made into pulp and reprocessed into
recycled paper and other paper products.
B. Most glass that is recycled is crushed, remelted, and made into new
containers.
C. Some forms of plastic can be remelted and fabricated into other
materials
D. Metals can be remelted and refabricated.
E. Yard wastes can be composted to produce a humus soil conditioner
F. Textiles can be shredded and used to strengthen recycled paper
products
G. Old tires can be remelted or shredded and incorporated into highway
asphalt.
III. Recycling is both an environmental and an economic issue. Many people are
motivated to recycle because of environmental concern, but the use of
recycled materials is also driver by economic factors.
Municipal Recycling
Most successful municipal recycling programs have the following characteristics:
1. There is a strong incentive to recycle
2. Recycling is not optional
3. Residential recycling is curbside
4. Drop-off sites are provided for bulky goods
5. Recycling goals are ambitious, yet clear and feasible. Some percent of the
waste stream is targeted, and progress is followed and communicated.
6. A concerted effort is made to involve local industries in recycling
7. The municipality employs an experienced and committed recycling
coordinator