Chapter 12 Waste NotesGuiding

Questions
p. 303-309

(1) What is solid waste? How much of it do we

produce in the U.S. each year?
Solid waste is any discarded material that is
not a liquid or a gas. We produce about 10 billion
tons a year.
(2) Why has the amount of waste produced
doubled in the U.S. since the 1960s?
Most products are now designed to be used
once and be thrown away.
(3) Compare and contrast biodegradable versus
non-biodegradable materials. Provide an example
of each as well.
Biodegradable can be broken down
(newspapers) and nonbiodegradable cannot be
broken down (water bottles).
(4) Where does most of our solid waste come from
(about 70%)?
Manufacturing and mining.

(5) What is municipal solid waste? What makes up

the largest portion of this waste (Figure 12-8)?
The trash produced by households and
businesses; paper makes up the largest portion of
this.
(6) What percentage of our trash is recycled?
Over 25%
(7) Where does our trash that is not recycled go
(you can use Figure 12-9)?
It goes to landfills or its incinerated.
(8) Describe three problems with storing waste in
landfills.
Leachate, methane, and they can they need
safeguards or else there will be large amounts of
pollution.
(9) When is NC estimated to run out of landfill
space (use Figure 12-12)?
5-10 years
(10) Describe two problems with incinerating
waste.

Waste that is burned does not disappear and is

toxic and polluting to the environment. They also
need a certain amount of waste to keep operating,
causing problems.