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?
Solid Waste is any discarded material that is not a
liquid or gas. In the US we produce about 200,000
tons of waste.
(2) Why has the amount of waste produced
doubled in the U.S. since the 1960s?
Products are made to be used and thrown away.
(3) Compare and contrast biodegradable versus
non biodegradable materials. Provide an example
of each as well.
Biodegradable material is material that can be
broken down by living things into simpler
chemicals that can be consumed by living things;
newspapers, paper bags, cotton fibers.
Non-biodegradable are made by combining
chemicals to form compounds that do not exist in
nature; polyester, nylon, plastic.
They both begin as materials then branch off into
something else.

(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)?
Municipal solid waste is the trash produced by
households and businesses. The largest portion is
paper and cardboard.
(6) What percentage of our trash is recycled?
Over 25%
(7) Where does our trash that is not recycled go
(you can use Figure 12-9)?
Either stored in landfills or incinerated.
(8) Describe three problems with storing waste in
landfills.
Leachate, water that contains toxic chemicals from
waste; Methane; and smell
(9) When is NC estimated to run out of landfill
space (use Figure 12-12)?
5-10 years
(10) Describe two problems with incinerating
waste.

Toxic gasses polluting the air; ash takes up space in

landfills.