1. Equal amounts of two types of waste are disposed into a section of a landfill.

They both start producing gas at

t=0, so there is no lag time. Assume first order decay for gas production. Each type of waste can produce 150 L
methane per kg of waste. Waste A produces gas with a half-life of 6 years, and waste B produces gas with a
half-life of 3 years. How long until 90% of each gas has been produced?

Solution:

Equal amount of two types of wastes = 100%

𝐶𝑜
For first order decay: 𝐶𝑡 =
2𝑛

100
100 − 90 = ≈ 𝑛 = 3.32
2𝑛

𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑏𝑦 𝑤𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒 𝐴 = 3.32 × 6 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 = 19.92 ≈ 𝟐𝟎 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔

𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑏𝑦 𝑤𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒 𝐵 = 3.32 × 3 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 = 9.96 ≈ 𝟏𝟎 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔