biology 157: life science: an environmental approach (resources, solid wastes and recycling)
TRANSCRIPT
BIOLOGY 157: LIFE SCIENCE: AN
ENVIRONMENTAL APPROACH (Resources, Solid Wastes and Recycling)
RESOURCES
• DEFINITION anything obtained from the ecosystem to meet human
needs and wants
• ANYTHING and EVERYTHING can be considered a RESOURCE ( minerals, water, fuels, food, farm land, living space, air, germplasm, other species, etc.)
• Categories of Resources - Renewable - Potentially Renewable - Non-renewable
HOW TO USE A RESOURCE
• Different individuals and groups have varying opinions as to what to do with a particular resource (e.g. Land)
- leave it undisturbed
- build on it
- farm it
- mine it to get what is under it
• Most times there is no ONE best choice. Usually it is relative. We all have REAL needs!
SOLID WASTE, RESOURCE USE, POLLUTION
• The U.S. has about 4.5% of the world’s population.
• The U.S. produces at least 33% of the world’s solid waste.
• Is this a disproportionate ratio?• Ecological Footprint
U.S. SOURCES OF SOLID WASTE
U.S. SOURCES OF HAZARDOUS WASTE
U.S. MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE
U.S. WASTE FATE JAPAN
WHY RESOURCE WASTE MUST BE REDUCED
• Nowhere to put the wastes generated by resource use
• it depletes precious and limited resources
• it causes ecosystem damage
• it produces health hazards or has the potential to do so
ECOSYSTEM DAMAGE FROM RESOURCE USE I
This can occur from the:
• extraction of the resource
• modification / manufacturing of the resource
• transport of the raw resource / finished product
• use of the resource / product
• trashing of the resource / product
ECOSYSTEM DAMAGE FROM RESOURCE USE II
ARE MINERALS NON-RENEWABLE?
• In reality minerals (iron, copper, gold, silver, etc.) are NOT destroyed.
• They do tend to be dissipated and / or converted to unusable / unavailable forms (they go from ‘high quality’ to ‘low quality’).
• Thus in a PRACTICAL sense they ARE non-renewable.
MINERAL RESERVES
• RESERVE
a known deposit from which a usable mineral can be extracted at current prices(obviously this can vary over time)
• DEPLETION TIME OF A RESERVE
the time it takes to use the major portion (80%) of the reserve
DISTRIBUTION OF MINERAL RESOURCES IS UNEVEN
APPROACHES TO THE TRASH PROBLEM AND CONSERVING RESOURCES (I)
• ‘FRONTIER’ TYPE APPROACH - find a better way / place to dispose of the waste - doesn’t address conservation
• SOMEWHAT ‘SUSTAINABLE’ APPROACH - tries to reduce waste and extend resource life by
getting the most from the materials; this reduces the amount that must be trashed, detoxified
~ reuse the item ~ recycle its materials ~ produce energy from the spent resource ~ compost it
APPROACHES TO THE TRASH PROBLEM AND CONSERVING RESOURCES (II)
• A MORE ‘SUSTAINABLE’ APPROACH in addition to those strategies used in the SSA, this
approach tries to use less of our resources over the long term by:
1) increasing product lifespan (build things better, stronger, etc.)
2) where possible reduce the amount of materials in a product or use renewable materials or more “ecosystem friendly” materials
3) reduce consumption by a variety of techniques (increase purchase cost, increase disposal cost, education to do things differently, etc.)
RESOURCE DEPLETION CURVES
RESOURCE RECOVERY --- URBAN
PAPER RECYCLING
• Europe as a whole (2003) --- 60%
• In 2003, 70% in: Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Ireland, Germany, Switzerland
• Japan (2003) --- 66%
• 2006 --- U.S. --- 53.5% but 30% of that shipped overseas (more than half to China)
‘PROPER’ WASTE PRIORITIES
WHAT TO DO WITH WASTES
There will always be SOME wastes!
• Immobilization / detoxification of wastes
• Landfill (sanitary, secure)
• Deep mines or wells (salt formations for nuclear wastes ?????)
• Ocean Dumping
• N.I.M.B.Y.
SOME QUESTIONS TO ANSWER FROM CHAPTERS 11 & 13
• What defines a mineral?
• Energy wise, is it better to produce new aluminum from an ore, or recycle aluminum scrap? What about glass?
• Do you think there are any ‘brownfields’ in the Delaware Valley area?