Solid Waste Disposal

Solid Waste Laws and Regulations

• Solid Waste Disposal Act of 1965
  • Promote better management of solid wastes
  • Support resource recovery
  • Directed that the US Public Health Service (PHS) promulgate and enforce regulations for solid waste collection, transportation, recycling, and disposal. (The US EPA was not formed until 1970.)
  • Provided financial assistance for states to study and develop solid waste management plans
  • Provided support for research and development of improved methods of solid waste management
• Resource Recovery Act of 1970
  • Directed that the nation would change its emphasis from solid waste disposal to recycling and energy recovery
  • Required the US PHS to investigate and report on the disposal of hazardous waste in the nation
  • The US EPA was formed in the interim
    • In 1973 the US EPA issued the final Report to Congress: Disposal of Hazardous Wastes.
    • This was an important guidance document for the early stages of solid and hazardous waste management.
• Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA)
  • Significant requirements for the control of hazardous waste storage, treatment and disposal
  • RCRA also included directives that the US EPA establish regulations to control solid waste disposal
• The Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984 (HSWA)
  • Direct the US EPA to revise criteria for landfills which receive hazardous household waste or small quantities of industrial hazardous waste
  • Require treatment of all contaminated surface water running off of landfills
  • Methods of disposing of wastewater sewage sludge at landfills are included in the Clean Water Act as amended.
  • In October 1991, the US EPA promulgated regulations for municipal solid waste landfills. These regulations:
    • required groundwater protection -- a bottom liner and leachate collection system
    • Leachate is liquid wastes that seep through the landfill and any precipitation or other water that comes in contact with the waste becoming contaminated.Without a landfill bottom liner this water would seep or leach into the groundwater.
    • After collection the leachate must be treated prior to discharge into a waterway
    • Place restrictions on landfill locations. Landfills cannot be located:
      • near airports--danger to aircraft from scavenging birds
      • in a wetland
      • in a floodplain--water contamination
      • on an earthquake fault
  • Require minimum operating procedures
  • Minimum standards for landfill design
    • These minimum standards include monitoring the quality of the groundwater to insure that it is not polluted, or if it is, that corrective action is taken.

Sources And Characteristics of Municipal Solid Waste

Compare the 1994 solid waste stream

with that of 1960.

What are the differences?

• Paper wastes
• Yard wastes
• Glass wastes
• Metal wastes
• Plastic wastes
• Food wastes
• Other

• Industrial
  • Similar to above, plus
  • Varied specialized wastes
• Generation Rates
  • Municipal solid waste
  • 4 lb./person-day

Residents of Jackson County Illinois currently generate about 4.3 pounds of solid waste per person per day. Of this, about 11 percent is recycled leaving 3.75 lb./person-day going to the landfill. Yard wastes, which make up about 15 percent of the solid waste stream, are prohibited from landfills in Illinois.

• Industrial solid waste
  • 5 lb./person-day

• Agricultural
• Mining

Recycling Reduces Landfilling

Drop-off Centers

• Residents must separate and collect their recyclables and then take them to a collection location. This form of recycling results in lower participation than curbside collection.

Curbside Collection

• Residents must separate their recyclables and place them at curbside on collection day.
• Voluntary or Mandatory Recycling?
  • Yard wastes -- 15% of total municipal solid waste. Many states are prohibiting yard wastes from landfills. Carbondale collects yard wastes separately. Residents pay $0.75 per bag for collection. After collection, grass and leaves are composted. Limbs are ground for bedding material.
  • Composting is the controlled aerobic partial degradation of organic wastes. It has the potential to greatly reduce the yard waste problem.
  • Because grass clippings are difficult to compost we may soon be required to leave these on our lawns.

Landfilling

Landfilling is the placement of wastes into the land under controlled conditions to minimize their migration or effect on the surrounding environment.

• A dump is an illegal and uncontrolled area where wastes have been placed on or in the ground.

Current landfill requirements are very restrictive compared to only a few years ago. Landfills are required to have a liner and leachate collection system. This is intended to prevent the contaminated water (leachate) from entering the groundwater and polluting it. After the landfill is full, or the owners stop accepting waste, a clay or plastic cap must be placed over the wastes to prevent water entry. Three feet of soil cover must be placed over the top. The landfill must be monitored for at least 20 years after it is closed. This includes maintaining the cover and monitoring the groundwater quality. Owners must show financial responsibility through the posting of a surety bond.

Leachate generated at landfills must be collected and treated before discharge. Some facilities treat their own leachate, but most make arrangements with municipal wastewater treatment plants for treatment.

The new landfill requirements have resulted in the closure of many small landfills. The current cost of construction and compliance, plus the surety bond requirements have increased landfill costs beyond many small operations. Liability concerns have resulted in other closures. The graph below shows the number of landfills in the US over the past decade.

Incineration

• Incineration is the controlled combustion of materials.
  • Older incinerators had poor combustion and no air pollution controls. These incinerators caused a great deal of pollution. The newer Clean Air Act requirements have resulted in these older incinerators being either closed or improved to meet the standards.
  • Newer incinerators have much better combustion and have air pollution controls.
    • The result is a drastic reduction in the amount of material landfilled.
    • The ash and air pollution control sludges must still be landfilled.
• Most newer incinerators and many older ones used the heat from the incineration process to produce electric power.
• The northeast US incinerates over 50% of their solid wastes. Most other regions incinerate about 5 to 10%.
• Because we are rapidly running out of land to use for landfilling, incineration will become much more desirable in the future.

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