by Trevor Cornish
Origin of Waste in Seneca Meadows Landfill
Municipal solid waste is brought from New York City to Seneca Meadows Landfill at a rate of 2,495 tons
per day. Trucks carry this waste on the 273 mile journey. In order to reduce
truck traffic and increase the amount of waste that could be brought to Seneca
Meadows, a plan
to build a train was proposed, and then rejected.
Understanding Landfills
The United States
Environmental Protection Agency is the main regulator for landfills in the
United States of America. Our project focuses on municipal solid waste
landfills, which take in waste from residential and commercial sources. None of
the waste in municipal solid waste landfills (MSWLFs) is hazardous. Hazardous
wastes include materials including paints, cleaners, oil, batteries, and
pesticides. These can have negative impacts on human and environmental health
if not treated properly. There are close to 2,000 municipal solid waste landfills
in the United States.
The Resource Conservation
and Recovery Act (RCRA) has several requirements for MSWLFs. They must be
located away from critical habitats such as wetlands, and away from geological
faults. Then, there must be a liner that goes above clay soil at the sides and
bottom of the landfill to protect groundwater from leachate, which is a
solution of rainwater and chemicals drawn out from buried waste that can move
out of the landfill. Under RCRA, a system must be in place to ensure this
leachate is collected, and treated to ensure it is safe. A groundwater
monitoring system must be in place to test for landfill leachate in local groundwater.
While a MSWLF is open, the waste needs to be compacted and covered frequently
to ensure public health and quality of life by reducing odor. When the landfill
closes, the operator is responsible for covering the landfill, and managing it
for the long term to ensure environmental health, and take corrective actions
if required.
Municipal solid waste landfills are not the only type of
landfill that exists to store waste. Other types of landfills include bioreactors,
which are more environmentally friendly MSWLFs, industrial and combustion waste
landfills, which hold old construction goods such as wood, glass plastic,
concrete, and bricks from old buildings, renovations, and other similar
materials. Other types of landfills are coal combustion residue landfill
polychlorinated biphenyl landfill and hazardous waste landfills. Stricter
environmental standards on these landfills require more liners to reduce risk
of leakage, and more thorough leachate treatment systems.
Incineration: An Alternative Method for Solid Waste Management
Incineration,
or more correctly referred to as Waste to Energy, is another method to manage
solid waste. Incineration, like landfills, is managed by RCRA. Municipal solid
waste incineration involves waste entering an incinerator where it is burned at
extremely high temperatures. In addition to municipal solid wastes, medical
waste in safe containers can also be incinerated. The goal is for the furnace
to reach high enough of a temperature to completely combust waste. To control
air pollution, particulate matter, dioxin, acid rain causing gases, and mercury
are removed. Fabric filters are used most recently to remove particulate matter
and keep them as a dry waste that can easily be disposed of rather than wet
electrostatic precipitators (scrubbers) that generate wastewater. To remove
acid gases, the gas travels through a matrix at the same time as scrubbing
liquid, to neutralize the acid gas, moving the acid to wastewater. Ash remains
inside the incinerator, but is significantly smaller in volume than the waste.
The major benefit of Waste to Energy is that the heat from burning waste boils
water, which turns a steam turbine to generate renewable electricity. Another
benefit is that large volumes of metal can
be easily recovered for recycling.
Temporary incineration can be used for environmental cleanup
projects. For example, waste can be excavated and incinerated. The temperatures
in the incinerator are high enough to destroy chemicals that could be harmful
to the environment.
There are some risks associated with
incineration. If air in the furnace does not mix well, particulate matter
is produced in the form of fly ash. A second problem is that the ash produced
in the incinerator as well as use filter cartridges have to be managed as
hazardous solid waste. Lastly, a wastewater stream is generated from parts of
the air pollution control system. Because of the risks, many governments, such
as New
York City, have transitioned away form incineration.
Additional Challenges with Municipal Solid Waste Management
Transportation of waste from its source to landfill or
incinerator causes
problems for people living in local communities. As waste is transported by
truck or train to the landfill, incinerator, or transfer station, heavy truck
traffic creates noise, damages roads, and lowers property values and the
overall quality of life for residents. Further, there are increased emissions
from this traffic that pollute the air.
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