Solid Waste Composition

Objectives:

• Develop an understanding of the composition of MSW is characterized
• Characterize the composition of MSW produced in the U.S. and Florida (waste composition information was not available for Georgia).
• Identify factors affecting the composition of the MSW waste stream

Goals:

• Explain why it is important to characterize MSW.
• Become familiar with MSW descriptors.
• Explain the methods used to characterize MSW
• Perform calculations on waste compositions.

Assignments:

• Read: Textbook: Worrell & Vesilind, Solid Waste Engineering, 2^nd edition, Chapter 2, Section 2-3-1 (pp. 38-44)
  • Compare data presented in text to data from the current US EPA report and that presented in the lesson below
• CANVAS Quiz: Waste Generation
• CANVAS Assignment: Load waste composition, gross national product ($), and population information for country assigned in class. Be sure to have citations for your data sources

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)

RCRA-C vs. RCRA-D

Both RCRA-C and RCRA-D regulate only solid wastes (SW).

What is a solid waste? (PDF flowchart)

RCRA-C regulates only HAZARDOUS solid wastes while RCRA-D regulates only non-hazardous solid wastes.

Municipal (non-hazardous) solid waste is effectively any solid waste that is not a hazardous solid waste so, it is important to know a little bit about hazardous waste.

Review: The USEPA's Hazardous Waste Page

• Surf a few links of down on a few topics and make notes on topics/information that sparks your interest.

Skim: EPA's Learn the Basics of Hazardous Waste Page

Skim: EPA's Hazardous Waste Generators Page

Skim: EPA's Hazardous Waste Transporters Page

Skim: EPA's Hazardous Waste Manifest System Page

Skim: EPA's Introduction to (Hazardous Waste) Treatment, Storage, and Disposal Facilities Document

Review: Chapter III of RCRA Orientation Manual 2014 (EPA530-F-11-003 October 2014) (PDF Document)

Review: US EPA's Cradle-to-Grave Hazardous Waste Management Program Page

 

Hazardous wastes are

1. Materials specifically LISTED by EPA
   • F-List, K-List, P-List, and U-List
2. Material that meet hazardous waste physical properties CHARACTERISTICs
   • Toxicity, Reactivity, Ignitability, and Corrosivity
3. Materials DECLARED hazardous by the generator

What types of materials are RCRA-D wastes (non-hazardous solid wastes)?

• Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)
• Household hazardous wastes
• Municipal sludge - accumulated solids, residues, and precipitates generated as a result of waste treatment or processing
  • Waste water treatment, potable water treatment, air pollution control, mixed liquor from septic tanks, grease traps, privies, etc.
• Non-hazardous industrial wastes - solid wastes generated by manufacturing. or industrial processes that is not a hazardous waste regulated under subtitle C.
• Municipal combustion ash
• Small quantity generator's hazardous waste
• Construction and Demolition debris (C&D) - building materials, packaging, and rubble from construction, remodeling, repair, and demolition operations on pavements, houses, commercial buildings, bricks, concrete, soil , rock, lumber, road spoils, rebar, etc.
  • Hurricane Andrew - 42 million yd³
  • Hurricane Katrina - over 100 million yd³ includes debris from Alabama, Mississipi, and Louisiana (Data from CRS Report# RL33477)
• Agricultural wastes - wastes resulting from activities such as planting and harvesting crops, prod of milk, slaughter of animals, and feedlot operations
• Oil and gas wastes
• Mining wastes

What is Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)?

• Durable goods - life > 3 yr., appliances, furniture, tires, electronics, oversize, bulky
  • AKA - white goods, inoperative and discarded refrigerators, ranges, water heaters, freezers, and other similar large appliances
  • Florida Defⁿ - special wastes - SW that can require special handling and management, white goods, whole tires, used oil, mattresses, furniture, biol. wastes, lead acid batteries, car parts
• Non-durable goods - newspaper, clothing, paper towels, cups
• Containers/Packaging
• Food wastes
• Yard wastes - vegetative matter resulting from landscaping, maintenance and land clearing operations
• Misc. inorganics - stones, concrete, soil, ashes, residues.  Clean debris virtually inert and not a pollution threat or fire hazard

What are the sources of RCRA subtitle-D Wastes?

• Residential
• Commercial
• Institutional
• Industrial
• Agricultural
• Treatment Plants
• Open Areas (streets, parks, etc.)

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What is the physical nature of RCRA-D wastes?

• Organic
• Inorganic
• Putrescible
• Combustible
• Recyclable
• Hazardous - regulated under 40 CFR 261 Subtitle C
  • Regulatory Defⁿ: SW which because of its quantity, concentration, physical, chemical, or infectious character, may cause or significantly contribute to an increase in mortality or an increase in serious, irreversible or incapacitating reversible illness or may pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health or the environment when improperly transported, disposed of, stored, treated, or otherwise managed.
• Infectious
  • Disposable equipment, instruments, utensils, or fomites from rooms of patients who have been diagnosed or are suspected of having a communicable disease, laboratory wastes laboratory wastes such as tissues , blood specimens, excreta, and secretions from patients or lab animals, disposable fomites, and surgical op room pathological specimens, fomites and other materials from outpatient areas and emergency rooms
  • Federal mandates required the States to develop and enforce acceptable regulations

COMPOSITION STUDIES

• Manual sorting of waste components into predefined categories
• Knowledge of individual components important for
  • Recycling impact,
  • Calculation of physical properties,
  • Combustion characteristics, and
  • Landfill requirements
• Need to be performed seasonally to define
  • Equipment needs,
  • Management programs, and
  • Trends for future planning
• Examples of seasonal variations in composition include
  • Yard wastes increase in the summer
  • Gift wrap/packaging increase during Christmas and other holidays
• Known trends:
  • Food % increases w/ decreasing income
  • Paper % increases w/ increasing income, but
  • Paper % decreases with increased recycling

What is waste composition like in other Countries?

What is waste composition like in the U.S.?

Source Data: US EPA Municipal Solid Waste Generation, Recycling, and Disposal in the United States: Facts and Figures for 2014

Composition of Waste Generated (before recycling) in the U.S. in 2014

2014 U.S. Total Waste Generation – 258.5 million tons

Composition of Waste Disposed (after recycling) in the U.S. in 2014

2014 U.S. Total Waste Disposal – 169.1 million tons

Composition of Recyling Stream in the U.S. in 2014

2014 U.S. Total Waste Recycled– 89.4 million tons

Think: Based on the data in the three pie-chart figures above, what was the overall recycling rate in the U.S. in 2014?

Think: The three pie chart figures above were created using the data presented below.  How was this done?

US EPA MSW Generation, Recycling, and Disposal in the United States: Facts and Figures for 2006 Table 1. Generation and Recovery of Materials in MSW, 2006
Material	Weight Generated (tons/1000)	Weight Recovered (millions of tons)	Recovery (% of Generation)
Paper and paperboard	68,610	44,400	64.7
Glass	11,480	2,990	26.0
Metals
Ferrous	17,690	5,840	33.0
Aluminum	3.530	700	19.8
Other nonferrous metals*	2,040	1,360	66.7
Total metals	23,260	7,900	34.0
Plastics	33,250	3,170	9.5
Rubber and leather	8,210	1,440	17.5
Textiles	16,220	2,620	16.2
Wood	16,120	2,570	15.9
Other materials	4,440	1,290	29.1
Total materials in above categories	181,590	66,380	36.6
Other wastes
Food, other**	38,400	1,940	5.1
Yard trimmings	34,500	21,080	61.1
Misc. inorganic wastes	3,970	negligible	negligible
Total other wastes	76,870	23,020	29.9
TOTAL MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE	258,460	89,400	34.6
Includes waste from residential, commercial, and institutional sources. Details may not add to totals due to rounding. Negligible = Less than 5,000 tons or 0.05 percent. * Includes lead from lead-acid batteries. ** Includes recovery of other MSW organics for composting.

What is waste composition like in Georgia?

Composition of Waste Disposed in Georgia in 2004

2004 Georgia Total Waste Disposal – 15.8 million tons

Source Data: Georgia Department of Community Affairs - Final Report - Georgia Statewide Waste Characterization Study; June 22, 2005

Think:  How could the data in the USEPA Table on U.S. Waste Composition be used with the Georgia Disposed Waste Compostion Pie-Chart to predict the composition of the waste generated in Georgia?  What assumptions would be necessary?

TERMINOLOGY:

• Generated Waste = all solid waste materials generated
• Disposed Waste = solid waste materials taken to ultimate disposal (landfill or WTE)
• Recycled Waste = solid waste materials separated for recycling
• Diverted Waste = solid waste materials not processed through the normal waste management channels.

Important

EXAMPLE PROBLEM:

WORK THIS PROBLEM

(Here is a solution to this problem)

THINK:

Rework the above problem using the following information: 80% of the homes have food grinders in which they grind 40% of their food waste.  The overall recycling efficiency is 20% (not 11%). The composition of the disposed and recycled waste streams remains the same. Here is the answer.