Chapter 12 Waste NotesGuiding

Questions
p. 303-309

(1) What is solid waste? How much of it do we

produce in the U.S. each year?
Items that we throw away in the trash can. 10
billion tons.
(2) Why has the amount of waste produced
doubled in the U.S. since the 1960s?
Many items are designed to be used once and
thrown away.
(3) Compare and contrast biodegradable versus
non-biodegradable materials. Provide an example
of each as well.
Biodegradable thing can dissolve and become a
part of nature, such as paper. While nonbiodegradable things will not be able to, things
such as plastics.
(4) Where does most of our solid waste come from
(about 70%)?
Manufacturing and mining
(5) What is municipal solid waste? What makes up
the largest portion of this waste (Figure 12-8)?

Paper makes up the most municipal waste, which is

the trash produced by households and businesses.
(6) What percentage of our trash is recycled?
6.6 percent.
(7) Where does our trash that is not recycled go
(you can use Figure 12-9)?
It either goes to landfills or its incinerated if our
trash isnt recycled.
(8) Describe three problems with storing waste in
landfills.
It takes away from our green space, animals or us
could be using that land to expand our living
spaces, and it can dump into other places such as
the rivers that can take it out to the ocean.
(9) When is NC estimated to run out of landfill
space (use Figure 12-12)?
5 to 10 years
(10) Describe two problems with incinerating
waste.
It could cause air pollution and release dangerous
chemicals for animals and humans to breathe in.