ENV200H1 Chapter Notes - Chapter 14: Landfill Gas, Basel Action Network, Polyethylene Terephthalate
Document Summary
Washes into sewers and then into the ocean. Pollutes large quantities of drinking or irrigation water. Impermeable clay layer and/or plastic liner prevent leakage to groundwater and streams chemicals that leak out: must manage methane. Methane = a greenhouse gas produced when organic material decomposes in the anaerobic conditions deep inside a landfill. More potent at absorbing heat than co2. Landfills are the single largest anthropogenic source of methane. E-waste = discarded electronics: one of the greatest sources of toxic material currently going to developing countries. Enriched burnable fraction has a higher energy content than raw trash: mass burn = dump everything into a giant furnace, unsorted, and burn as much as possible. Avoids the expensive and unpleasant job of sorting. Fly ash is more concentrated with toxic materials than heavy bottom ash: fly ash = lighter, airborne particles, which can penetrate deep into the lungs, heavy bottom ash = collects inside the burner system.
