C H A P T E R 13

How Would You Vote? Should households and businesses be charged for the amount of mixed waste picked up, but not charged for materials separated for recycling? Should households and businesses be charged for the amount of mixed waste picked up, but not charged for materials separated for recycling? Do the advantages of burying solid waste in sanitary landfills outweigh the disadvantages? Do the advantages of deep-well disposal of hazardous waste outweigh the disadvantages? Do the advantages of incinerating solid waste outweigh the disadvantages? Should consumers have to pay for plastic or paper bags at grocery and other stores? Should the U.S. Congress reinstate the polluter-pays principle by using taxes from chemical, oil, mining, and smelting companies to re-establish a fund for cleaning up existing and new Superfund sites? Should governments pass laws requiring manufacturers to take back and reuse or recycle all packaging waste, appliances, electronic equipment, and motor vehicles at the end of their useful lives? Should we place much greater emphasis on recycling with the goal of recycling at least 60% of the municipal solid waste that we produce? Do you support banning all beverage containers that cannot be reused as Denmark has done? Do the advantages of storing hazardous wastes in surface impoundments outweigh the disadvantages? Do the advantages of using phytoremediation to detoxify hazardous waste outweigh the disadvantages?

Do the advantages of using a plasma torch to detoxify hazardous waste outweigh the disadvantages?