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17.9 Understanding The Issue

CHECK YOUR UNDERSTANDING

All of the following are consistent with the law of conservation of matter EXCEPT:

there is no such thing as waste.

matter is neither created nor destroyed, but it can change form.

any matter that is dangerous to living things is quickly biodegraded into a harmless form.

one organism’s waste matter is taken up by another organism and reused.

Garbage that you generate in your home, at work, or at school would be called:

municipal solid waste.

hazardous waste.

industrial waste.

nonbiodegradable waste.

In sanitary landfills, the primary safeguard against groundwater contamination is to:

do nothing, as groundwater contamination is not a problem with landfills.

line the landfill with impermeable clay and plastic.

design the landfill to use the natural slope of the land so water runs downhill without being contaminated.

locate landfills on industrial sites where groundwater is not used for drinking.

Which of the following statements about incinerators is FALSE?

Incinerators reduce the volume of material that needs to be landfilled.

Incinerators are expensive to build and operate.

The burning of waste reduces the toxic and hazardous materials in the waste stream, as the heat neutralizes the toxic substances.

Burning solid waste in incinerators can be used to produce energy.

The best solutions to managing waste would include:

source reduction and application of natural decomposition processes.

supporting the siting of a landfill in your community to reduce waste transportation costs.

disposing of hazardous waste in oceans, as the water dilutes the waste.

shipping electronic waste to developing countries to provide jobs there in extracting precious metals from the electronic devices.

An industrial ecologist’s goals would NOT include:

increasing resource-use efficiency by altering manufacturing processes.

designing products that are durable and can be de-manufactured.

identifying points in the product life cycle at which waste products can be used in other processes.

identifying points in the product life cycle at which waste products can be landfilled.

WORK WITH IDEAS

Why is waste considered to be a human invention? Furthermore, why do we distinguish between different types of waste?

Compare and contrast landfilling and incineration. What are the trade-offs for each option?

What is biomimicry? Describe two ways this concept can be applied to reducing and managing waste.

What is industrial ecology? How can it be applied in managing waste? What is the consumer role in this process?