Capstone Project

Running head: WASTE TREATMENT AND RECYCLING

1

Solid and Hazardous Waste Treatment and Recycling

Cory Kuzdzal

ENV/497

11/20/2017

Tiffany Janson

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WASTE TREATMENT AND RECYCLING 2

Solid and Hazardous Waste Treatment and Recycling

The Northern Maine community, which will be home to 100,000 people, is the main

target for the planned solid and hazardous waste treatment and recycling plan. As previously

highlighted, the current community consists of private individuals, private industry owners and

government agencies whose role in sustaining the plan is critical. It is important to consider how

the plan will affect the community’s ecosystem, which includes wildlife, land, wilderness, and

wetlands. Plans are underway to establish a sustainable management plan that will minimize the

impact on the environment. However, a case in point is fostering sustainability that will

minimize the impact of the community on climate change.

The planned building of a large shopping mall, single-family homes (freestanding) and an

assortment of styles of multi-user (attached) apartments, demands that an effective waste

disposal system is in place. This is in consideration of preserving the overall ecosystem and

human health. The plan shall entail hazardous waste generation, which shall ensure that wastes

are identified, transported, treated, stored and recycled or disposed of. With the collaboration of

the local level law agencies and community leaders, the following recycling policy will be

carried out.

The community’s policy is that the planned community development shall adhere to efforts

of practicing good environmental habits through business and personal activities. It is the

purpose of the community to develop and implement a solid and hazardous waste treatment and

recycling plan to promote the campaign of sustaining a safe and healthy environment. It is also

the aim of the community to engage community members in initiating measures in sustaining

this plan through proper waste disposal and recycling.

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1. single-family

Can you find information, data

or statistic that tell: How much

waste is generated by an

individual or average

household? What percentage

of an individual or a

household's waste is

comprised of recyclable

material, hazardous material,

compostable material, and

trash? And how do these

numbers change if

sustainable waste

management is utilized? (The

EPA should have this

information.) [Tiffany

Janson]

2. disposed

You discuss recycling and

disposal. How will you

dispose of waste? Will you

use landfills or incineration?

Will the waste be disposed

locally or transported away

from the community?

Methane can be captured

from landfills and used for

energy production. You might

want to explore this option in

more detail.

Incineration can reduce the

amount of trash that goes to a

landfill significantly.

Scrubbers and other

technology can reduce air

pollution from incinerators.

And the leftover ash can

sometimes be re-purposed for

concrete or other building

material. You should consider

and explore this option.

[Tiffany Janson]

WASTE TREATMENT AND RECYCLING 3

Sustainability efforts

The plan is developed with the aim of generating and maintaining sustainability that will

create coexistence between people and nature. Education and engagement of the community in

understating the entailments of solid waste management are critical. The community’s

commitment to cleanliness is directly linked to their involvement in sustainable solid waste

management (Permana et al., 2015). The plan is designed to integrate the following components:

prevention, reuse, waste sorting (recyclable and perishables), collecting, transport, recycling,

treatment, and disposal. Each of these steps is important to the plan as they track the movement

of waste from sources to the disposal point. Furthermore, the plan categorizes points of

collecting solid and hazardous wastes from the sources to optimize time, efforts and resources.

a) Household recycling- all households shall have designated waste recycling points which

consist of waste generators that will perform the recycling and disposal process. Before this, each

household shall be educated on the importance of proper waste management, sorting out of

hazardous and organic wastes and proper handling.

b) Commercial recycling- these target business owners, particularly manufacturing businesses

whose operations shall be reviewed for compliance with EPA and Rapid Methods for Assessing

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) standards and regulations. The plan shall execute

regulations of solid waste handling, routes for collection, transport to the recycling plant and

subsequent treatment and recycling or disposal.

Laws and regulations

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1. prevention, reuse, waste

sorting (recyclable and

perishables), collecting,

transport, recycling,

treatment, and disposal.

Each of these steps is

important to the plan as

they track the movement

of waste from sources to

the disposal point.

Furthermore, the plan

categorizes points of

collecting solid and

hazardous wastes from the

sources to optimize time,

efforts and resources.

You refer to "the plan" but you

did not explain what the plan

entails. What is the plan?

How will you encourage

businesses and individuals to

reduce waste, recycle and/or

compost? Explain the steps

you mentioned in detail.

[Tiffany Janson]

2. educated

Is education enough?

Recycling has been

encouraged for decades but

about 20% of households still

do not recycle. Can you offer

any incentives for people to

recycle and compost?

[Tiffany Janson]

WASTE TREATMENT AND RECYCLING 4

It is imperative that the community adheres to the relevant laws that govern solid waste

disposal and management. The United States Environmental Protection Agency is mandated to

regulate household, industrial, and manufacturing solid and hazard wastes (United States

Environmental Protection Agency, 2017). The agency spells out the Resource Conservation and

Recovery Act (RCRA), which will act as the basis for the plan. The act guides states on

developing solid waste programs and hazardous waste program, therefore, it will foster the

sustainability efforts of the project. An Environmental Impact Study is also critical since it is

important that the new community plan does not adversely affect the environment. This shall be

conducted with the collaboration of environmental experts and the community leaders including

the project managers.

Economics

The community development and solid waste plan demand significant budgetary

allocations for successful completion. Ferreira et al. (2012) quote Massarutto et al. (2011), that

recycling increases cost for private or the public-sector businesses. The community’s economy is

sustained by various economic activities including industries, small business owners, tourism,

and fishing. This, therefore, increases the local reserve; however, it is important that the two

projects do not affect other sectors of the community’s economy.

The projected costs for the solid waste program shall entail the construction of a solid

waste plan, purchasing of equipment and hiring of staff which will enhance its operations.

Additionally, the planned initiative for educating the community on proper waste management

shall be taken into consideration. The estimated cost of the solid waste management system is

expected to amount to $ 2,500,706 for a five-year period. The rationale behind this estimated

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1. (RCRA),

Good. [Tiffany Janson]

2. to $ 2,500,706 for a five-

year period.

Good. Where did you get this

number? You should supply a

reference. (I assume it was

from Ferreira but, as this is a

different paragraph, you

should add a citation.)

[Tiffany Janson]

WASTE TREATMENT AND RECYCLING 5

budget cost is to ensure that all the 100,000 community members are part of the waste

management program. This can only be possible if the appropriate infrastructure is already in

place in the form of a constructed waste disposal plant, waste collection transport operations,

garbage disposal points and compliance with state and local laws.

Ethical issues

The solid waste program prompts certain ethical issue that affects the community, and it

is important to consider them. According to Wapner and Matthew (2009), there two barriers to

environmental ethics, which are difficult in identifying ethical concerns and the experts’ inability

to articulate them. One of the ethical issues in the community plan is adhering to local land use

laws and critical environmental laws. This implies that each section of the plan including

collection, transport, sorting, treatment, recycling and disposal shall be conducted based on the

relevant was to ensure there is no further environmental pollution. The other issue is

transparency among the industry owners who tend to release very toxic waste from their

manufacturing processes. They, therefore, have an obligation to report that they are handling

toxic waste beforehand for proper arrangements to be made. This helps to prevent leakages to the

surrounding environment and costly reversal efforts.

References

Ferreira, N., Simoes, P., & Marques, R.C. (2012). Economic cost recovery in the recycling of

packaging waste: the case of Portugal. Journal of Cleaner Production, 37, pp.8-18.

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1. budget cost

Will your waste management

plan help your community to

be sustainable economically?

Discuss your answer.

[Tiffany Janson]

2. This can only be possible

if the appropriate

infrastructure is already in

place in the form of a

constructed waste disposal

plant,

This is confusing. At the

beginning of the paper you

said that the facilities were

planned but not built. What

are the costs to build the

facilities? [Tiffany Janson]

3. ethical concerns

How does society's obsession

with consumerism affect

sustainability? How can your

community combat this

tendency?

Where is your waste

disposed? This would be a

good opportunity to discuss

ethics and NIMB. [Tiffany

Janson]

WASTE TREATMENT AND RECYCLING 6

Permana, A.S., Towolioe, S., Aziz, N.A., & Ho, C.S. (2015). Sustainable solid waste

management practices and perceived cleanliness in a low-income city. Habitat

International, 49, pp. 197-205.

United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2017). Regulatory Information by Topic:

Waste. Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/regulatory-information-topic/regulatory-

information-topic-waste

Wapner, P., & Matthew, R.A. (2009). The Humanity of Global Environmental Ethics. The

Journal of Environment and Development, 18(2), pp. 203-222.

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