Solid Waste Management

What you will learn:

- How much municipal waste do we produce?

- What is the composition of this waste?
- What do we do with the waste? (landfill, burn, recycle, compost). Can we capture some
of this energy again?
- What other waste streams exist? What are some solutions to these waste streams?

Reading from text:

9.1- 9.4, 9.8 -9.14
Figures and tables in this module come primarily from 2 sources
Science: Working with Waste. 10 August 2012 Vol 337
EPA: http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/nonhaz/municipal/msw99.htm

Equations, units and conversion:

Prediction of methane formation:

4𝑎−𝑏−2𝑐+3𝑑 4𝑎+𝑏−2𝑐−3𝑑 4𝑎−𝑏+2𝑐+3𝑑

CaHbOcNd +� � 𝐻2 𝑂 → � � 𝐶𝐻4 + � � 𝐶𝑂2 + d NH3
4 8 8

Typically rapidly biodegradable material (food wastes, paper, cardboard and yard wastes that do
not include wood) has a composition: C70H110O50N

Other biodegradable matter: C20H30O10N

Energy content of waste (incineration)

- typically 5000 Btu/lb

- If inorganic is removed can rise to 8000 – 9000 Btu/lb

Municipal Waste Facts:

On average, how much waste each person produces 4 lbs of trash per day.

Municipal waste in the US is primarily made up of paper

56 – 62% of our municipal waste can be composted & 26% can be recycled, 12.4% is plastic

The majority of our waste is landfilled

1
Show great plastic sea in Pacific Ocean
http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/22431379#22431379
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nh6lkv1udb0

1. On average, how much waste do we produce per person in the US per day?
a. 1 lb
b. 4 lbs
c. 10 lbs
d. 50 lbs
2. Municipal waste in the US is primarily made up of:
a. Paper
b. Food scraps
c. Plastics
d. Yard trimmings
e. Rubber, leather and textiles
3. Of all the municipal waste we generate, what percent of it is organic and can be
composted?
a. 9% - 12%
b. 27% - 33%
c. 56% - 62%
d. 75% - 80%
4. Of all the municipal waste we generate, what percent of it can be recycled?
a. 10%
b. 15%
c. 26%
d. 55%
5. What percent of the waste is plastic?
a. 5.2%
b. 10.6%
c. 12.4%
d. 34.5%
6. The majority of our municipal waste is:
a. Incinerated
b. Landfilled
c. Recycled
d. Composted

2
On average, how much waste do we produce per person per day?
In the US the per capita generation has decreased slightly since 2005 and is at around 4 lbs/day

The waste generation depends heavily on your income level… (2.1 kg = 4.6 lbs)

In Europe the amount of waste per GDP has decreased.

3
What is in our Municipal Waste Stream?
Our trash, or municipal solid waste (MSW), is made up of the things we commonly use and
then throw away. These materials include packaging, food scraps, glass clippings, sofas,
computers, tires and refrigerators. MSW does not include industrial, hazardous, or
construction waste.

FE question: The percentage of municipal solid wastes that are derived from wood and wood by-products and
plant matter is most nearly

a. 70%
b. 60%
c. 50%
d. 40%

How does the composition change with location?

4
What do we do with our municipal waste?

The following was created in 2011 in Montgomery County, MD. Their waste totaled 1.34
million tons. They are required to recycle and the haulers submit reports on what they pick
up and where they take it.

In the US waste is mostly discarded in landfills, in Japan the majority is incinerated and more is
recycled in Switzerland

5
Landfilling: A landfill (not a dump) is an engineered control of waste to minimize the
potential negative impact on the environment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DxXm19qQvg&feature=related

Landfill Goals:

- promote decomposition (allow water to penetrate through)

- protect the local groundwater (liners and leachate collection systems)

Liners: Constructed with 2 types of material:

- clay compacted to a thickness of 2 -4 feet

- high density polyethylene (HDPE) and polypropylene (PP) plastic material with thickness
of 40 – 80 mils (1 mil = 0.001 inch).

After landfill is completed you must include a final cover with gas collection.

6
Decomposition in Landfills

Just like in wastewater, microbial decomposition occurs in the landfill. To prevent global
climate change (due to methane), most landfills are collecting the gas and burning it.

Decomposition is a 4-stage process:

1. Aerobic phase: aerobic decomposition occurs at first due to the initial oxygen
levels present.
2. Acid phase: Once the oxygen levels have dropped, anaerobic conditions prevail.
a. CO2 is produced with a little bit of H2.
b. Acid is produced (mostly acetic acid) and the pH of the leachate drops –
increases solubility of metals
3. Methane fermenation phase:
a. Methanogens produce methane from acetic acid and hydrogen
b. pH rises and CH4 is produced
4. Maturation phase (after ~ 1 year)
a. Equal % of CH4 and CO2
b. Eventually CH4 decreases

Prediction of methane formation:

4𝑎−𝑏−2𝑐+3𝑑 4𝑎+𝑏−2𝑐−3𝑑 4𝑎−𝑏+2𝑐+3𝑑

CaHbOcNd +� � 𝐻2 𝑂 → � � 𝐶𝐻4 + � � 𝐶𝑂2 + d NH3
4 8 8

Typically rapidly biodegradable material (food wastes, paper, cardboard and yard wastes that do not
include wood) has a composition: C70H110O50N

Other biodegradable matter: C20H30O10N

FE Exam Example #1: Waste with a composition of C60H95O40N is placed in a landfill. Assuming
complete decomposition of the biodegradable fraction, what would be the percentage of landfill gas, by
volume, that is methane?

7
Recycling:

What materials are most readily recycled?

Table: EPA Waste Management and Energy Savings: Benefits by the Numbers

8
Recycling Example #2: Find the energy savings associated with the 0.69 million tons of
aluminum recycled every year. Assume that producing aluminum from recycled cans saves
206.9 million Btu per ton of recycled cans. (3400 Btu = 1 kWh) If you assume every car drives
12,000 miles a year and that the energy creates 2 lbs CO2 per kWh, how many equivalent cars
is this per year?

9
Composting: Aerobic degradation of organic materials under controlled conditions, yielding
a marketable soil amendment or mulch.

Composting piles, called windows, at Penn State’s composting facility

Windows are 2 m high by 3 or 4 m wide and tens of meters long.

What makes good compost?

- Temperature (T rises to ~65 C and then falls)

- pH stability (initial drop to 5, then back up)
- Nutrients
o C for energy, N for protein synthesis, P and K for cells, trace elements)
o C:N = 25 – 35:1
o High C/N = leaves, paper, dry leaves
o Low C/N = grass, sludge, food, fresh leaves
- Oxygen
o Forced ventilation
o Turning piles
- Moisture

10
Combustion with Energy Recovery

Energy content:

- typically 5000 Btu/lb

- If inorganic is removed can rise to 8000 – 9000 Btu/lb

Reduces mass by 80% and volume by 90%

Combustion Example #3: The US discards roughly 167 million tons of MSW. A mass-burn
waste-to-energy facility can convert those wastes to electricity with a heat rate of 17,000 Btu
of thermal energy per kWh of electrical output (20% efficient). Estimate the electrical energy
that could be produced per year if all of our discards were used in this type of WTE system.
Compare it with our total energy use of 4000 x 109 kWh/yr.

Concerns with incineration

Dioxins and furans: Chlorinated compounds created by incineration, chemical

processing, chlorine bleaching, burning of diesel fuel and the use of some herbicides.
Prevented by heating beyond 900 C for a few seconds

Metals – problem from batteries – need to be removed before.

11
What about other kinds of waste?

Estimates vary but municipal solid waste may represent as little as 3 – 5% of the world’s waste
stream by weight.

12
What can we do with all this waste? Here are some exciting things happening…

Turning Landfills into energy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1RKMMpRRHY&feature=related

Bruce Logan’s research turning wastewater into energy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBmyG7XDl8w

Making toothbrushes out of yogurt containers…

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2012/03/24/business/energy-environment/24RECYCLE-
slideshow.html

Zero waste at Honda:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7_hnjr0RGw

13