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Chapter 16 - Solid and Hazardous Waste
54. Using charcoal or resins to filter out harmful solids is a ____ method.
a.
chemical
b.
physical
c.
biological
d.
geological
e.
physiological
55. Although burial of hazardous waste is the last thing we should do, why then is this the most widely used method of
dealing with our hazardous waste?
a.
politics
b.
health
c.
laziness
d.
lower cost
e.
complexity
56. In the United States, almost two-thirds of all liquid hazardous wastes are ____.
a.
recycled into useful materials
b.
bioremediated
c.
injected into deep disposal wells
d.
incinerated
e.
stored in guarded facilities
57. Plasma gasification is a technology that uses arcs of electricity in the absence of ____ to produce very high
temperatures for vaporizing trash.
a.
water
b.
hazardous chemicals
c.
coal
d.
oxygen
Chapter 16 - Solid and Hazardous Waste
e.
carbon dioxide
58. EPA studies have found that 70% of all U.S. hazardous waste ____ have no liners and could threaten groundwater
supplies.
a.
sanitary landfills
b.
deep-well disposal sites
c.
open pit landfills
d.
storage ponds
e.
storage tanks
59. What was the Superfund Act designed to do?
a.
To make polluters pay for cleaning up abandoned hazardous waste
b.
To ensure the safety of chemicals used in the manufacture of many products
c.
To identify sites where hazardous wastes have contaminated the environment
d.
To generate funds for the EPA so that it can enforce environmental laws
e.
To pay for the Toxic Release Inventory
60. Under what regulation are hazardous waste permit holders must use a cradle-to-grave system?
a.
The Superfund Act
b.
The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
c.
The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
d.
The Toxic Release Inventory Act
e.
The Clean Air Act
61. If you live in the United States, you can find out what toxic chemicals are being stored and released in your
neighborhood by ____.
a.
going to the EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory website
b.
visiting the U.S. Library of Congress
c.
calling your local Superfund council
Chapter 16 - Solid and Hazardous Waste
d.
obtaining a copy of the National Priorities List
e.
asking local manufactures to comply with the Toxic Substances Control Act
62. Using blood tests and statistical sampling, medical researchers at New York City’s Mount Sinai School of Medicine
found that it is likely that nearly every person on the earth has detectable levels of ____ in their bodies.
a.
hazardous chemicals
b.
carcinogens
c.
petrochemicals
d.
DDT
e.
persistent organic pollutants (POPs)
63. In nature, the waste outputs of one organism become the nutrient inputs of another organism, so that all of the earth’s
nutrients are endlessly recycled. Applying this concept to industry and manufacturing is called ____.
a.
biomanufacturing
b.
environmental sustainability
c.
environmental economics
d.
biomimicry
e.
eco-industrialization
64. What is a way that governments can encourage reuse and recycling?
a.
Governments can set fair market prices for various products.
b.
Governments can force people to recycle with negative incentives.
c.
Governments could remove the harmful Superfund Act.
d.
Governments could encourage the use of POPs in controlling waste.
e.
Governments can increase subsidies and tax breaks for reusing and recycling
65. Which country has passed a law that states all chemicals that are persistent and can accumulate in living tissue will be
banned by the year 2020?
a.
the United States
b.
France
c.
China
d.
Norway
e.
Sweden
66. In 2000, delegates from 122 countries completed a global treaty to control 12 persistent organic pollutants (POPs) that
contain ____.
a.
DDT
b.
ozone
c.
chlorofluorocarbons
d.
methane gas
e.
mercury
67. The primary role of hazardous waste ____ is to evade the laws by using an array of tactics, including bribes, false
permits, and mislabeling of hazardous wastes as recyclable materials.
a.
emitters
b.
producers
c.
manufacturers
d.
smugglers
e.
users
68. The Basel Convention was designed to ____.
a.
promote international subsidies for reusing and recycling
b.
curb greenhouse gas emission through reusing and recycling programs
c.
ban participating countries from shipping hazardous waste to or through other countries without their
permission
d.
wipe out hazardous waste smugglers
e.
regulate the 12 widely used persistent organic pollutants
Chapter 16 - Solid and Hazardous Waste
69. _____________________ are chemical substances that persist in the environment and accumulate in the fatty tissues
of humans and other organisms.
70. Tires being shredded and converted into surfacing for public roads is an example of ____________________
recycling.
71. A 2009 EPA study concluded that ____________________ emit more air pollutants than modern waste-to-energy
incinerators.
72. Some landfills have systems for collecting ____________________, the potent greenhouse gas that is produced when
the wastes decompose in the absence of oxygen.
73. Contaminated water that leaks from landfills is called ____________________.
74. An important form of recycling is ____________________, which mimics nature by using bacteria to decompose yard
trimmings, vegetable food scraps, and other biodegradable organic wastes into materials than can increase soil fertility.
75. From an environmental standpoint, the approaches to hazardous waste of refuse, reduce, and reuse are preferred
because they are ____________________ approaches that tackle the problem of waste production at the front end.
76. The type of waste produced by mines, agriculture, and industries that supply people with goods and services is called
_________________________.
77. Old dry-cell batteries are a type of ____________________ waste.
78. In newer ____________________ landfills, solid wastes are spread out in thin layers, compacted, and covered daily
with a fresh layer of clay or plastic foam.
79. Municipal solid waste can be burned in large ____________________, which is used to boil water and make steam for
heating water or interior spaces, or for producing electricity.
80. The process of ____________________ reduces the volume of a given amount of waste by 99%, produces a synthetic
gaseous fuel, and encapsulates toxic metals and other materials in glassy lumps of rock.
81. The use of bacteria and enzymes to convert toxic or hazardous substances to harmless compounds is called
____________________.
82. According to the EPA, all impoundment liners will eventually ____________________.
83. ____________________ involves using natural or genetically engineered plants to absorb, filter, and remove
contaminants from polluted soil and water.
84. The most common method of burial is ____________________ where liquid hazardous wastes are pumped under high
pressure through a pipe into dry, porous rock formations.
85. Surface ____________________ are lined ponds, pits, or lagoons in which liquid hazardous wastes are stored.
86. The Conservation and Recovery Act requires permit holders to use a(n) ____________________ system to keep track
of waste that they transfer from a point of generation to an approved off-site disposal facility.
87. The original list from the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) of 12 hazardous chemicals,
called the ____________________, includes DDT and eight other chlorine-containing persistent pesticides, PCBs,
dioxins, and furans.
88. An ecological industrial method that can be used to mimic nature is to interact with each other is through
____________________, which is where the wastes of one manufacturer become the raw materials for another. This is
very similar to food webs in natural ecosystems.
89. Designing a municipal waste processing facility to simulate the processes that nature employs to handle waste from
wild animals is an example of an approach called ____________________.
90. Starting a business that converts old worn out automobile tires into useful things like shoes is an example of
____________________.
91. Explain what the worst-case scenario is when you throw away an old smart phone or computer.
92. How much solid waste does the U.S. generate, compared to the rest of the world?
93. What are the four R’s of waste reduction?
94. Explain why plastic in the ocean may be a problem.
95. Briefly explain why the Superfund Act is not as well funded as it initially was when enacted.
96. What are the six strategies that industries and communities have used to reduce resource use, waste, and pollution.
97. Briefly explain the advantages and disadvantages of phytoremediation as a method of removing or detoxifying
hazardous wastes.
98. Discuss how the promising technology of plasma gasification works and why we are not presenting using this
technology.
99. Discuss how governments can encourage reusing and recycling.
100. Discuss the concept of industrial ecosystems, where industry copies natural processes. Explain how this might work.
