The Waste Crisis: Landfills, Incinerators, and the Search for a Sustainable Future

Contents......Page 12
1 Waste......Page 18
Magnitude of the Problem......Page 20
Life Inside a Landfill......Page 22
Looking for Solutions......Page 23
Discussion Topics and Assignments......Page 24
Sustainable Development......Page 26
General Principles......Page 29
Public Involvement......Page 30
Discussion Topics and Assignments......Page 32
Garbage through the Ages......Page 34
America After the Turn of the Century......Page 37
The Age of Consumerism and the Waste Explosion......Page 40
The Crisis......Page 43
Summary of Landfill Evolution......Page 45
Discussion Topics and Assignments......Page 47
What Is Integrated Waste Management?......Page 48
Comparative Cost Analysis—Apples and Oranges?......Page 51
How Much Recycling Is Achievable? Exploding the Myth......Page 53
The Bottom Line......Page 58
Discussion Topics and Assignments......Page 74
Recycling......Page 60
Composting......Page 66
Classifying Wastes by Generator......Page 76
Classifying Waste by Chemical Composition......Page 85
Waste Characteristics......Page 91
Discussion Topics and Assignments......Page 101
Siting......Page 104
Landfill Design: Anatomy of a Landfill......Page 108
Operation......Page 115
Landfill Dynamics: Decomposition......Page 118
Leachate......Page 122
Landfill Gas: An Exploitable Resource......Page 126
Environmental Monitoring......Page 132
Closure and Post-Closure Care......Page 135
Future Developments......Page 137
Discussion Topics and Assignments......Page 138
Existing and Abandoned Mines: The Hole Is Already There......Page 140
Landfill Mining: "Play it Again, Sam"......Page 145
Ocean Dumping: "Out of Sight, Out of Mind"......Page 149
Deep-Well Injection......Page 154
Injection with Hydrofracturing......Page 155
Exotic Solutions......Page 156
Summary......Page 158
Discussion Topics and Assignments......Page 159
9 Incineration: The Burning Issue......Page 160
Types of Incinerators......Page 162
Air Emissions......Page 168
What to Do with the Ash?......Page 174
The Case Against Incineration......Page 176
Discussion Topics and Assignments......Page 179
Plastics and Polymers......Page 182
Clay Materials......Page 186
Waste Treatment......Page 188
Containing Wastes......Page 190
Discussion Topics and Assignments......Page 193
State-of-the-Art Recycling: The Guelph Wet-Dry Recycling Centre......Page 194
A Monster: The Fresh Kills Landfill......Page 207
A Modern Nonhazardous Landfill: East Carbon......Page 212
An Open Pit Megaproject: Eagle Mountain Landfill......Page 216
An Integrated Hazardous Waste Facility: Swan Hills......Page 220
Nuclear Waste Disposal: The High-Tech Approach......Page 226
Burn Baby Burn: The Lancaster County Incinerator......Page 232
Conclusion......Page 237
Discussion Topics and Assignments......Page 238
12 The All-Powerful NIMBY......Page 240
The Causes of NIMBY......Page 241
Radioactive Waste: NIMBY on the Grandest Scale......Page 243
A Rare Success Story: Swan Hills, Alberta......Page 250
Building an Equitable Siting Process......Page 252
Discussion Topics and Assignments......Page 259
Starting from Basics......Page 260
Guidelines......Page 262
Breaking Dependence on Near-Surface Landfills......Page 264
Change in Emphasis—A New Waste Management Hierarchy......Page 266
Non-Technical Issues......Page 267
Discussion Topics and Assignments......Page 269
14 Futuristic Garbology: A Vision......Page 272
B......Page 280
G......Page 281
M......Page 282
S......Page 283
W......Page 284
References......Page 286
F......Page 292
O......Page 293
W......Page 294