waste management In India Environmental Sciences">solid waste Part 1 waste disposal has always been somewhat of an issue for the human society. Our civilization has been generating various forms of waste as long as it exists, starting from the ancient times. At that time, human settlements were quite small and most of the waste consisted of easily degradable organic matter, so it didnt create much concern. However, throughout the course of human development, as our cities grew and the technological progress started producing a variety of waste that is not as easily degradable, correct waste management become something vital that has to be done if we are to preserve out environment in a proper state. Today, people use a great variety of techniques that are called to reduce the harmful effects that waste disposal has on the surroundings and some of those techniques even allow us to utilize this waste, gaining energy from it. We are going to look at the history of New Jersey Meadowlands landfills, discuss how waste management evolved in the area and use this system, which currently can be considered an example for correct waste management.
The Term Paper on Waste Management and Disposal
... waste management authorities, have paid very little attention to the wastes generated from these facilities, which are potentially hazardous to human ... responsibility or a non-priority service anymore. Improper waste management is a public health and environmental crisis, economic ... and political and public awareness failure. Integrated solid waste management can be a nation building exercise for ...
Meadowlands acquired its first landfills as soon as the new settlers invaded the land. A large territory was considered to be unusable due to the swampy character of the land and the existence of a large population of mosquitoes. This led to the formation of a number of landfills in the area, them having a dual purpose, both of waste disposal and of draining the territory of the excess moisture. The landfills were of an open dump character, with no care taken to prevent the harmful effects that these dumps have on the environment. No soil coverage and no water filtering facilities were used, which led to contamination of nearby streams and creaks [1]. In 1968, the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission was created in order to prevent further waste dumping and to eliminate the damage done by existing landfills.
Its main goals were identifying and remediating the existing sites of waste disposal (some of which were already overfilled and deserted), reducing their harmful effects on the ecosystem of the Meadowlands and providing new means of waste disposal. The Commission identified 51 different locations in the Meadowland that have been previously used for waste dumping (combined area 2740 acres), with 12 sites being still operational (combined area 940 acres) [1] at the time when the Commission set to business. Today, there is only one operational landfill in the Meadowlands. The actions taken toward the old landfills by the Commission included the introduction of leachate collection systems. Leachate is a liquid, which forms when the rain soaks through the waste, absorbs a number of harmful chemicals from it and then drains into the nearby water systems. A common and effective way to control leachate is covering the landfill with soil that has the capacity to absorb large quantities of water and plant trees over the landfill.
When its warm, the trees use rainwater via transpiration and during the periods of cold weather, when plants are in a dormant state, the soil itself will act as a sponge, absorbing the excess water [2]. Various drainage systems that will collect the leachate formed further increase the effectiveness of such systems. For example, the volume of leachate collected from the Meadowlands landfills since 1998 amounted to over 150 million gallons [1], the amount that could have had massive consequences on the Meadowlands ecosystem. The runoff collected is directed to sewage treatment plants that recycle this water. Methane collection was also an issue addressed by the Commission. As it is widely known, disintegration of many organic materials produces a mixture of gases, commonly termed landfill gases.
The Term Paper on Methane Production from Municipal Solid Waste
Introduction Archaeological investigations of landfills have revealed that biodegradable wastes can be found — virtually intact — 25 years after burial. We know that landfills contain bacteria with the metabolic capability to degrade many of the materials that are common components of municipal refuse. The persistence for decades of degradable materials in the presence of such organisms appears ...
This mixture contains such gases as methane, carbon dioxide and trace amounts of oxygen, nitrogen and other gases [3]. Methane has a number of properties that make it unsafe to leave the gas unmanaged. First of all, it is very explosive. When it infiltrates the cellars of nearby households it may ignite and cause a very large explosion. The leaking of methane onto the surface may also lead to similar consequences and is a major source of landfill fires. Methane also contributes to the green house effect, which may lead to global warming.
These factors clearly called for some methane management systems, which were recently developed and are used at many landfills, including the Meadowlands sites. The gas is collected from the landfill by a sophisticated network of pipelines and is then directed to the processing plant, where it is treated in a number of ways that ensure that the gas can be further used as the energy source. The treatment includes gas compression, hydrogen sulphide and water vapors removal and odorization. After it has been processed in such ways, the gas is used to supply a number of households and also to generate electricity [1]. Another important improvement that was launched by the Commission was the introduction of bailing facilities that would serve the Meadowlands County. The bailing process is based on compacting solid waste into the bricklike bails, each one of them being the size of a refrigerator and containing 1 ton of compacted matter. The bails were then deposited into a special bailfill.
The advantage of this method is that the bailfill takes up less space than a regular landfill [1]. This means that less soil will be needed to cover the bailfill and the network needed to control leachate and methane emission will be much smaller and thus cheaper. However, there is one great disadvantage of this method. The organic matter compacted in such way will decompose at a much lower rate than the incompacted materials. This will happen because only a very small amount of moisture will be able to penetrate the bail, and moisture is one of the requirements for bacteria that decompose organic materials. Thus, the bailing method can only be used to store solid waste when the waste-processing facilities are overloaded. When the waste-management plants are able to process larger amounts of waste that is generated, these bails have to be recovered and dealt with in a proper manner.
The Term Paper on Offshore Oil And Gas Facilities
Offshore and subsea projects are complex. Risk can occur at anytime, anywhere – from politics to public relations to procurement and construction. External market factors can cause capital expenditures and operating costs to escalate without warning. These threats raise questions: • Is the project timeline realistic and feasible to predict revenue streams? • How will you confidently balance ...
Part 2 At the moment, the waste management is improving throughout the whole America. Many landfills were closed down, the remaining ones were modified to satisfy the modern laws and environmental regulations. A good example of such modern landfill would be the Ridge Generating Station, located in Polk County, Florida. The station specializes on tire and wood disposal. It is located on 31 acres and contains the power generating facilities, storage areas and waste processing areas. It processes up to 300,000 tones of waste wood and 30,000 tones of scrape tires a year, unloading the surrounding landfills and providing electricity for 38,000 households [4].
Apart from being economically beneficial, generating a large income and providing new jobs, this also improves the ecological situation in the state, for automobile tires are not easily degradable . The City of Albuquerque’s Cerro Colorado Landfill is another example of good waste management. The landfill is divided into cells that are filled with waste and covered with a layer of soil [5]. Before the waste is deposited, the cells are lined with high-density polyethylene, which prevents the waste from contaminating the surroundings. This is a very innovative solution for controlling leachate and it should be used in all places where leachate may create a problem for the environment. Methane collection systems are also used at the landfill. The Davis County landfill is a very old facility that displays some great improvement from the time when it was first originated.
It was formed around 50 years ago, and at the time of the formation it was nothing more than an average dump. However, today this facility is as modern as it can be, featuring both lined and unlined landfill cells. Its large methane collection system features 11 horizontal wells that connect to 3 vertical wells that direct methane to the processing facility. Methane collected from the landfill is used to produce electricity [6]. Bibliography 1. “The History of Solid Waste Management in the Meadowlands District”. 2004. Solid Waste.
The Term Paper on Facilities Management Essay
Discuss the process and considerations that a new business would need to deal with in relation to facilities planning ‘Facilities Management is all about collecting and interpreting data on diverse facets of property use. ‘ -Facilities Management. An explanation. Alan Park 1998. A principle objective for any new business would be to manage the property and contents as efficiently as possible. It ...
New Jersey Meadowlands Website. 10 December 2004. . 2. “Phytoremediation Applications”. 2004. Phytokinetics website. 10 December 2004.
. 3. Frequent Questions on Landfill Gas and How It Affects Public Health, Safety and the Environment”. 2004. Landfill Methane Outreach Program. (November 30, 2004): United States Environmental Protection Agency. 10 December 2004. .
4. “Wheelabrator Ridge Energy Inc. ” 2004. 14 December 2004. . 5.
“Cerro Colorado Environmental Considerations”. 2004. 14 December 2004. . 6. “Davis County Solid Waste Management & Energy Recovery District, Landfill Gas Migration Control, Utah”. 14 December 2004.
..
