Chapter 12 Waste NotesGuiding

Questions a
p. 303-309

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

produce in the U.S. each year?
-Any discarded material that is not a liquid or gas
-10 billions
(2) Why has the amount of waste produced
doubled in the U.S. since the 1960s?
-other countries throwing away an increasing
amount of trash
(3) Compare and contrast biodegradable versus
non biodegradable materials. Provide an example
of each as well.
-biodegradable material can be broken down by
living things into simpler chemicals that can
consumed by living things. (paper bags)
(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)?
-trash produced by household and businesses
-paper and cardboard
(6) What percentage of our trash is recycled?
-6.6%
(7) Where does our trash that is not recycled go
(you can use Figure 12-9)?
-Landfills
(8) Describe three problems with storing waste in
landfills.
-Leachate, Methane, 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.
-polluting the air, material being buried is more
toxic