EVR 1001 Chap 17 – Flashcards
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__________ is the process of recovering organic waste through decomposition.
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composting
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The year ________ demonstrated the greatest volume of recycling.
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2008
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The amount of waste sent to landfills leveled off around ________.
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1985
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What is the difference between the amount of paper within the waste stream before and after recycling/composting?
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11.2%
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How can consumers decrease waste generation?
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by choosing minimally packaged goods
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What is the largest component of the U.S. municipal solid waste stream?
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paper and paper products
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As recycling and composting efforts have grown, what has occurred with the annual amount of waste sent to landfills?
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it has proportionally decreased
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The average American produces how much trash per day?
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4.4 pounds
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Which of the following conditions results from the operation and subsequent use of old landfills built before 1976?
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Leachate from old landfills can contaminate groundwater.
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How can solid waste incineration be of benefit?
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the heat from waste combustion can be used to generate energy
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Which of the following actions is required for the recycling loop to be successful?
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Consumers and businesses must purchase products made from recycled materials.
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What sort of waste is predominantly generated by U.S. industrial facilities?
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wastewater
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Which of the following statements about current U.S. waste disposal is true?
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We landfill half of our trash and recycle a third of it.
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Which of the following statements about U.S. landfills is true?
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More than three-fourths of the landfills in the United States have been closed since 1988.
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Why do industries tend to produce so much waste even though it is not the most efficient way to do business?
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In most cases, there is no financial incentive for becoming efficient.
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Of the following, ________ produce(s) the largest amount of hazardous waste.
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industry
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To safeguard against groundwater contamination, sanitary landfills are ________.
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lined with plastic and clay
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The best solution to the solid waste problem is to ________.
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reduce the amount of material that enters the waste stream
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The second step in the recycling loop is ________.
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the use of recyclables by industry to manufacture new products
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________ is the conversion of organic waste into mulch or humus.
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Composting
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RCRA is a U.S. law enacted in the 1970s to ________.
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regulate how hazardous waste is handled
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Approximately ________% of all U.S. residents are served by curbside recycling programs, and the part of the U.S. waste stream that is recycled is currently about ________%.
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50; 25
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In Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, glass is ________.
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recycled into reflective paint and signs
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Life-cycle analysis ________.
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examines the life cycle of products for ecological efficiency
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Of the following, ________ represent criteria for classifying hazardous waste.
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ignitable, corrosive, reactive, toxic
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________ represent(s) the largest source of unregulated hazardous waste.
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Households
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E-wastes are a source of ________.
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heavy and precious metals
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As of 2014, under the jurisdiction of the EPA, approximately ________% of hazardous sites identified under CERCLA as a national priority have been cleaned up.
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30
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The EPA is charged with cleaning up brownfields, which are ________.
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lands whose reuse or development is complicated by the presence of hazardous materials
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The current state of e-wastes is that ________.
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although recycling is improved, the rate of e-wastes going into landfills and incinerators is rising
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Closing the recycling loop refers to ________.
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purchasing items made from recycled materials
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________ are wastepaper contaminants that cannot effectively be recycled.
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Cereal boxes
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LDPE is ________.
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the plastic used to make grocery bags
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While we rely on synthetic __________ compounds to resist bacterial, fungal, and insect activity, these compounds also resist decomposition.
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organic
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Which of the following choices best describes a surface impoundment used for hazardous waste disposal?
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used to store and concentrate dilute liquid hazardous waste before it is moved to a permanent disposal option
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What is an abandoned waste site that poses a direct threat to health and the environment, designated to have U.S. government funds applied to its cleanup?
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Superfund site
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For the low-income nation category, calculate pounds of municipal solid waste (MSW) per day.
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about 3.6 billion pounds MSW per day
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For the low-income category, calculate pounds of municipal solid waste per capita per day.
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1.17 pounds MSW per capita per day
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For the high-income nation category, calculate pounds MSW per capita per day.
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2.64 pounds MSW per capita per day
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Describe the relationship between per capita MSW generation in the high-income nations versus the low-income nations.
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The daily per capita MSW in high-income countries is 2.25 times greater than daily per capita MSW in low-income countries.
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If citizens of low-income countries produced MSW at the same rate as those in high-income countries, what would be the combined total MSW in millions of tons per year for the two categories of countries?
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1,880 million tons MSW per year
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The following answers for the Causes and Consequences features are examples and are not intended to represent a comprehensive list. In addition, the sequence of items is not meant to connote relative importance.
Sort the examples below into the appropriate bin.
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Causes:
-rising consumption of material
-material goods that are not durable
-a shift to single-use products
Consequences:
-groundwater contamination from landfills
-air pollution from waste incineration
-depletion of raw materials
Solutions:
-reuse of items whenever possible instead of
-purchase of fewer nonessential
-requirement for manufacturers
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Katherine Probst discusses the benefits of the Superfund program's all-encompassing liability scheme. Which of the following does she list as one benefit?
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The Superfund liability scheme is efficient because the government does not have to pay for cleanup and then try to recover those costs later.
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Michael Steinberg focuses on problems with the Superfund program. Identify the statement below that matches one of his criticisms.
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Many more contaminated sites exist than originally predicted when the Superfund program was enacted in 1980.
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Although Probst sees the Superfund program as an overall success and Steinberg finds several faults with the program, both authors agree that
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Cleaning contaminated groundwater is often not technologically feasible.
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One of Steinberg's primary criticisms of the Superfund program is the rigid cleanup standards that require expensive cleanups but lack real-world benefits. Select Probst's most likely response to the criticism.
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The future benefits of the rigid cleanup standards outweigh the current costs because organizations now try to avoid initial liability.
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You are a congressperson on a Superfund review panel. Which of the following recommendations for congressional action would both authors endorse?
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Keep strict liability standards, but revise the risk assessment process to better identify and prioritize the most hazardous sites.
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When our oil supply is depleted, a new material will need to be used to produce _________.
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plastic
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Which of the following would be considered household hazardous waste?
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lead
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What hazardous material do fluorescent light bulbs contain, making it important to dispose of them properly?
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mercury
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___________ would help prevent the creation of leachate.
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Capping the landfill when it is filled to capacity
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Although "dry tombing" or capping a landfill after it is full is necessary, what problem can it create?
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Biodegradable waste can remain for decades in a landfill.
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Which of the following would be considered household hazardous waste?
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a can of spray paint
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What does the left y-axis represent?
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total generation of municipal solid waste, in metric tons per year
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What does the red line on the graph represent?
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the average amount of solid waste generated by each person in the United States per year
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In 2000, how much solid waste did the average person in the United States produce?
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770 kilograms per year
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Which of the following statements is the best description of the per capita generation of solid waste between 1960 and 2010?
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Between 1960 and 2000, per capita generation increased. After 2000, per capita generation declined.
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Which of the following actions would not reduce the per capita generation of solid waste?
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installation of waste-to-energy incinerators
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Which of the following statements is the best description of the total MSW generation between 1960 and 2010?
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Between 1960 and 2005, total MSW generation increased at a steady rate. After 2005, total generation leveled off.
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Between 2000 and 2010, per capita generation of solid waste declined, but the total amount of MSW remained relatively constant. What caused the difference in these two trends?
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The total population was increasing.
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How is the generation of municipal solid waste likely to change in the next 20 years?
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The answer cannot be determined from the graph.
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What general trend is indicated by the graph of total MSW generation?
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constant increase in MSW generation
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By how much did total MSW generation change between 1960 and 2000?
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It has increased more than two times.
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Which of the following represents the best statement regarding the graph in Step 2?
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Both total and per capita MSW generation grew steadily through 1990, while per capita generation seems to have recently stabilized.
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Assume that per capita MSW generation had grown between 1990 and 2000 at roughly the same rate as in previous years. How would that have affected the total MSW curve?
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Growth in total MSW generation would have been greater between 1990 and 2000.
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Which form of MSW management was not widely practiced until late in the 20th century?
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recovery for composting
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Assuming the trends indicated by the graph continue, when will there no longer be a need for new sanitary landfills in the United States?
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not for the foreseeable future
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Which of the following future trends would result in dominance of recycling as a MSW management strategy?
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a combination of the first and second choices
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What do chromium, mercury, copper, and tin have in common?
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They are heavy metals.
