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Municipal Waste
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development also known as OECD defines municipal solid waste (MSW) as “waste collected and treated by or for municipalities”. Typically this type of waste includes household waste, commercial waste, and demolition or construction waste. In 2018, the Environmental Protection Agency concluded that 292.4 tons of municipal waste was generated which equated to about 4.9 pounds per day per person. Out of the 292.4 tons, approximately 69 million tons were recycled, and 25 million tons were composted.

Household Waste and Commercial Waste
Household waste more commonly known as trash or garbage are items that are typically thrown away daily from ordinary households. Items often included in this category include product packaging, yard waste, clothing, food scraps, appliance, paints, and batteries. Most of the items that are collected by municipalities end up in landfills across the world. In the United States, it is estimated that 11.3 million tons of textile waste is generated. On an individual level, it is estimated that the average American throws away 81.5 pounds of clothes each year. As online shopping becomes more prevalent, items such as cardboard, bubble wrap, shipping envelopes are ending up in landfills across the United States. The EPA has estimated that approximately 10.1 million tons of plastic containers and packaging ended up landfills in 2018. The EPA noted that only 30.5% of plastic containers and packaging was recycled or combusted as an energy source. Additionally, approximately 940,000 pounds of cardboard ends up in the landfill each year.

Commercial waste is very similar to household waste. To be considered as commercial waste, it must come from a business or commercial occupancy. This can be restaurants, retail occupants, manufacturing occupants or similar businesses. Typically, commercial waste contains similar items such as food scraps, cardboard, paper, and shipping materials. Generally speaking, commercial waste creates more waste than household waste on a per location basis.

Construction and Demolition Waste
The EPA defines this type of waste as “Construction and Demolition (C&D) debris is a type of waste that is not included in municipal solid waste (MSW).” Items typically found in C&D include but are not limited to steel, wood products, drywall and plaster, brick and clay tile, asphalt shingles, concrete, and asphalt. Generally speaking, construction and demolition waste can be categorized as any components needed to build infrastructures. In 2018, the EPA estimated that the US generated approximately 600 million tons of C&D waste. The waste generated by construction and demolition is often intended to be reused or is sent to the landfill. Examples of reused waste is milled asphalt can be used again for the asphalt mixture or fill dirt can be used to level grade.

Hazardous Waste
The EPA defines hazardous waste as “a waste with properties that make it dangerous or capable of having a harmful effect on human health or the environment.”  Hazardous Waste falls under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Under the RCRA, the EPA has the authority to control hazardous waste during its entire lifecycle. This means from the point of creation to the point where it has been properly disposed of. The life cycle of hazardous waste includes generation, transportation, treatment, and storage and disposal. All of which are included in the RCR. Some forms of hazardous waste include radioactive waste, explosive waste, and electronic waste.

Radioactive Waste
Radioactive waste often referred to as nuclear waste is produced by various industries such as nuclear power plants, nuclear reactors, hospitals, research centers and mining facilities. Any activity that involves radioactive material can generate radioactive waste. Radioactive waste generates radioactive particles which if not handled correctly can be both an environmental hazard as well as a human health hazard. When dealing with radioactive waste, it is extremely important that you are aware of the materials you are dealing with and follow the correct precautions to keep yourself safe. Failure to handle and recycle these types of materials can have catastrophic consequences and could potentially damage the sites ecosystems for years to come.

Radioactive waste is monitored and regulated by multiple governmental agencies such as Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Department of Energy (DOE), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Transportation (DOT), and Department of the Interior (DOI). Each agency plays an important role in the creation, handling, and proper disposal of radioactive waste. A brief description of each agency’s role can be found below.

NRC: “Licenses and regulates the receipt and possession of high-level waste at privately owned facilities and at certain DOE facilities.”

DOE: “Plans and carries out programs for sand handling of DOE-generated radioactive wastes, develops waste disposal technologies, and will design, construct and operate disposal facilities for DOE-generated and commercial high-level wastes.”

EPA: “Develops environmental standards and federal radiation protection guidance for offsite radiation due to the disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level and transuranic radioactive wastes.”

DOT: “Regulates both the packaging and carriage of all hazardous materials including radioactive waste.”

DOI: “Through the U.S. Geological Survey, conducts laboratory and field geologic investigations in support of DOE’s waste disposal programs and collaborates with DOE on earth science technical activities.”

The US currently defines 5 types of radioactive waste as shown below.

High-level Waste: This type of radioactive waste is generated from nuclear reactors or reprocessing spent nuclear fuel.

Transuranic Waste: This is a type of radioactive waste which is man-made and has an atomic number of 92 or higher.

Uranium or thorium mill tailings: This type of radioactive waste is a result after the mining or milling or uranium or thorium ore.

Low-level waste: This type of radioactive waste is radioactively contaminated waste. It is typically generated from industrial processes or research. Examples of these items include paper, protective clothing, bags, and cardboard.

Technologically enhanced naturally-occurring radioactive material (TENORM): This type of radioactive waste is created through human activity such as mining, oil and gas drilling, and water treatment where naturally-occurring radiological material (NORM) becomes concentrated.

For more information, you can visit the EPA website or the NRC website.

Energetic Hazardous Waste
The EPA defines energetic hazardous waste as “wastes that have the potential to detonate and bulk military propellants which cannot safely be disposed of through other modes of treatments.” The items which typically fall under this category include munitions, fireworks, flares, hobby rockets, and automobile propellants.

Munitions
Munitions were added to hazardous waste in 1997 when the EPA finalized RCRA. A special rule was added to address munitions in waste. This new rule is commonly referred to as the Military Munitions Rule. The EPA defines military munitions as “all types of both conventional and chemical ammunition products and their components, produced by or for the military for national defense and security (including munitions produced by other parties under contract to or acting as an agent for DOD—in the case of Government Owned/Contractor Operated [GOCO] operations).”  The entire rule can be found here. While a large percentage of munitions waste is generated by the government or governmental contractors, residents also throw away expired or faulty ammunition inside their household waste.

Fireworks, Flares, and Hobby Rockets
Every year, the US generates this type of waste from both the commercial aspect and the consumer aspect. This waste is often generated from fireworks, signal flares and hobby rockets which have been damaged, failed to operate or for other reasons. Due to their chemical properties, these types of devices are extremely dangerous.

Automobile Airbag Propellants
While automobile airbag propellants are not as common as munitions and fireworks, they share similar properties which makes them extremely hazardous. Airbag propellants characteristics of reactivity and ignitability are the characteristics which qualify for hazardous waste. When disposed undeployed, leaves these two hazardous characteristics intact. To properly dispose of these items, they must be safely deployed which removes these hazardous characteristics.

The EPA includes the waste of automobile airbag propellants under the RCRA. In 2018, the EPA issued a final rule on handling of automobile airbag propellants. The “iinterim final rule”provides an exemption of entities which install and remove airbags. This includes automobile dealerships, salvage yards, automobile repair facilities and collision centers. The handler and transporter are exempt from RCRA, but the airbag waste collection facility is not exempt. Once the airbags have met the collection center, it will then be classified as RCRA hazardous waste and must be disposed or recycled at a RCRA disposal facility.

Electronic Waste
Electronic waste often referred to as “E-Waste” or “E-Scrap” are often thrown away or sent to a recycler. E-Waste continues to end up in landfills across the world. The EPA estimates that in 2009, 2.37 million tons of televisions, computers, cell phones, printers, scanners, and fax machines were discarded by US consumers. Only 25% of these devices were recycled, the remainder ended up in landfills across the US.

E-Waste contains many elements that can be recycled or re-used. Typically speaking, electronics are encased in a plastic or light metal enclosure. Inside of the enclosure, you will find computer boards, wiring, capacitors, small engines, and other similar items. Many of the internal components include oil, iron, gold, palladium, platinum, and copper. All of which are mined from the earth’s core. For these items to be mined, it requires massive amounts of energy to operate the equipment which emits greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. By donating e-waste to recycling centers or refurbishing this equipment can reduce the greenhouse gases emitted through the mining process. It will also lower the usage of our naturally formed products to ensure future generations will have sufficient natural resources.

As this issue continued to grow, President Obama established the Interagency Task Force on Electronics Stewardship in November 2010. The overall goal for this task for was to develop a national strategy for handling and proper disposal of electronic waste. The task force would work with the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), EPA, and the US General Services Administration (GSA). The task force released the final product called the National Strategy for Electronics Stewardship report. The report focuses on 4 goals of the federal government’s plan to enhance the management of electronics as shown as below.

1.     Incentivizing greener design of electronics

2.     Leading by example

3.     Increasing domestic recycling

4.     Reducing harmful exports of e-waste and building capacity in developing countries.

E-Waste is not only a problem in the US, but also a global issue. To tackle this issue, it requires collaboration from multiple agencies across the world. Some agencies include U.S. EPA, Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration (Taiwan EPA), International E-Waste Management Network (IEMN), and environmental offices from Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, and North America.

Mixed Waste
Mixed waste is a term that has different definitions based its context. Most commonly, Mixed Waste refers to hazardous waste which contains radioactive material. In this context, the management of mixed waste is regulated by the EPA and RCRA and Atomic Energy Act. The Hazardous materials content is regulated by RCRA while the radiological component is regulated by the Department of Energy (DOE) and Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

Mixed waste can also be defined as a type of waste which includes recyclable materials and organic materials. Some examples of mixed waste in this context include a combination of broken glassware, floor sweepings, non-repairable household goods, non-recyclable plastic and metal, and clothing and furnishings. Additionally, ashes and soot, residential renovation waste materials are also included under this definition.

Medical Waste
This type of waste is typically generated from hospitals, physicians' offices, dental practices, blood banks, veterinary offices, and research facilities. This waste has often been contaminated with bodily fluids from humans or animals. Examples of this type of contamination can include blood, vomit, urine, and other bodily fluids. Concerns started to generate when medical waste was appearing on east coast beaches in the 1980’s. This forced congress to pass the Medical Waste Tracking Act. This act was only in effect for approximately 3 years after the EPA concluded the “disease-causing medical waste was greatest at the point of generation and naturally tapers off after that point.”

Prior to the Hospital Medical Infectious Waste Incinerator (HMIWI) standard, approximately 90% of the infectious waste was incinerated before 1997. Due to the potential of negatively affect air quality, alternative treatment and disposal technologies for medical waste was developed. These new alternatives include:

·      Thermal Treatment, such as microwave technologies

·      Steam sterilization, such as autoclaving

·      Electropyrolysis

·      Chemical mechanical systems