Week 14 - Solid Waste: Definitions, Characteristics,

and Management
All wastes from human and animal activities
that are normally solid and discarded as
useless or unwanted
Three classes
Municipal wastes
Industrial wastes
Hazardous wastes

USE 455/555 Class 14

Type
Municipal

Industrial

Hazardous

Example
food wastes,
rubbish, ashes
and residues,
demolition and
construction
wastes, special
wastes,
treatment plant
wastes
rubbish, ashes,
demolition and
construction
wastes, special
wastes, and
hazardous
wastes

Source
residential,
commercial,
open areas,
treatment
plants

metal finishing
shop, photo
laboratory,
electroplating
shop, paint
shop,
automobile
manufacturing
plant, etc
wastes that are hospitals and
ignitable,
biological
corrosive, react research
with other
facilities,
materials, or
munition plants,
are toxic
nuclear power
plants, etc

Municipal solid wastes

USE 455/555 Class 14

USE 455/555 Class 14

Hazardous wastes
Detailed definition in the Federal Register on
May 19, 1980 (pp. 33, 121-122)
Grouped into the following categories:
Radioactive substances
Chemicals
Biological wastes
Flammable wastes
Explosives
Chemical wastes include wastes that are
corrosive, reactive, or toxic
Generated by most industrial activities in
limited amounts
Must also consider spills
Hard to determine quantities
Must consider material used to absorb spill
such as straw
Both the material and the spill are
hazardous

USE 455/555 Class 14

Properties of solid wastes

Important in evaluating the alternative
equipment needs, systems, and management
programs and plans
Especially when considering resource and
energy recovery options
Physical composition
Individual components
Particle size
Moisture content
Density of solid wastes

USE 455/555 Class 14

Individual Components
Typical composition of municipal solid wastes

Table 10-3

USE 455/555 Class 14

Particle size
Important to the recovery of materials
Especially with mechanical means (trommel
screens and magnetic separators)
Moisture content
Mass of moisture per unit mass of wet or dry
material
Wet-mass method of measurement
Moisture in a sample is expressed as a
percentage of the wet mass of the material
MC (%)={(a-b)} OVER a 100

Where: MC =
moisture

content (%)
a = initial mass of sample as
delivered
b = mass of sample after drying

Moisture content
Dry-mass method of measurement
USE 455/555 Class 14

Moisture in a sample is expressed as a

percentage of the dry mass of the material
Solid-waste material is dried in an oven at 77oC
for 24 h
Material is dehydrated completely
Volatile materials do not vaporize

USE 455/555 Class 14

Estimating the moisture content of a sample

Example:

Estimate the moisture content for a

solid waste with the following
properties

Component
Food Wastes
Paper
Cardboard
Plastics
Garden Trimmings
Wood
Tin Cans

Percent by Mass
15
45
10
10
10
5
5

USE 455/555 Class 14

1. Calculate the dry mass of the solid waste

sample using the moisture content data given in
the above table
Component

% by mass MC, %

Food waste
15
Paper
45
Cardboard
10
Plastics
10
Garden
10
trimmings
Wood
5
Tin cans
5
Total
100
* Based on a 100 kg sample

70
6
5
2
60
20
3

Dry mass,
kg*
4.5
42.3
9.5
9.8
4.0
4.0
4.9
79.0

Column 4 calculations:
MC (%) = {(100)(Column ~1)-b} OVER {(100)
(Column~1)} 100

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Total the dry mass (column 4) and calculate the

moisture content for the waste sample
MC (%) = {(100-79.0)} OVER 100 100 = 21.0%

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Density
Mass per unit volume of waste
Typical densities for solid wastes (components
and mixtures)

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Estimating density in a solid waste sample

Example:

Estimate the "as discarded" density of

a 1,000 kg solid-waste sample
Component
% by mass Typical
Volume, m3
density
(kg/m3)
Food waste
15
290
0.52
Paper
45
85
5.29
Cardboard
10
50
2.00
Plastics
10
65
1.54
Garden
10
105
0.95
trimmings
Wood
5
240
0.21
Tin cans
5
90
0.56
Total
11.07
Calculate volume for each component:
(Component % by mass)(1,000 kg) = Mass of
component
Mass of component (kg) divided by the typical
density of the component (kg/m3) equals the
volume of the component (m3)
For food waste: 15% by mass
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Food waste mass = (.15)(1,000 kg) = 150 kg

Food~waste~volume={150~kg} OVER {290`kg/m SUP
3}=0.52~m SUP 3

Total the component volumes

Divide 1,000 kg by the total volume to obtain the
density of the sample
Density = {1000kg} OVER {11.07m SUP 3}=90.33 kg/m
SUP 3

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Solid waste densities (Compacted)

Compacted density is used to calculate the
landfill volume
Landfill as-compacted densities: 297-891 kg/m3
Typical landfill as-compacted density: 475-594
kg/m3
As discarded densities for municipal waste: 90180 kg/m3
Typical as discarded density for municipal
waste: 130 kg/m3
Ratio of the as-compacted ( c) to as-discarded (
d) density is called the compaction ratio (r)
r= SUB c OVER SUB d

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Chemical composition
Important if the solid wastes are to be used as
fuel
Three types of analyses:
Proximate analysis
a. Moisture (loss at 105oC for 1 hr)
b. Volatile matter (additional loss on ignition
at 950oC)
c. Ash (residue after burning)
d. Fixed carbon (remainder)
Ultimate analysis
a. percent of C (carbon)
b. H (hydrogen)
c. O (oxygen)
d. N (nitrogen)
e. S (sulfur)
Energy content - Heat of combustion released
when the waste is burned
a.
b.

Higher heat of combustion - includes the

heat of the water vaporization
Lower heat of combustion - does not
include water vaporization

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Proximate and ultimate chemical analysis of

municipal solid waste

Note: 1.0551 kJ/Btu

Example: Estimate the energy content in the
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waste shown previously.

Component

% by
mass
15
45
10
10
10

Energy
kJ/kg*
4,650
16,750
16,300
32,600
6,500

Food waste
Paper
Cardboard
Plastics
Garden
trimmings
Wood
5
18,600
Tin cans
5
700
Total
*
Provided
**
Based on a 100-kg sample

Total energy
kJ
69,750
753,750
163,000
326,000
65,000
93,000
3,500
1,474,000

Total Energy (Column 4) = % mass*100 kg*

Energy (Column 3)
Energy content=(1,474,000 kJ)/(100kg)
=14,740 kJ/kg

Dulongs Formula
Shows relationship of chemical constituents to
energy value
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Where: C = fraction of
carbon
H = fraction of hydrogen
O = fraction of oxygen
S = fraction of sulfur

Higher~heating~value~(kJ/kg) = 32,851C+141,989(H-O
OVER 8)+9,263S

Example:
Compone
nt

Estimate the energy content for the

following 95 kg solid-waste sample
Wet
mas
s,
g

Dry
mas
s,
g

Composition, kg

C
H
O
2.16 0.29 1.69

N
0.12

S
0.02

Ash
0.23

Food
waste
Paper

15

4.5

45

0.08

2.54

Cardboar
d
Plastics
Garden
trimming
s
Wood
Total

10

42.3 18.4 2.54 18.61 0.13

0
9.5
4.18 0.56 4.24 0.03

0.02

0.48

10
10

9.8
4.0

0.14

0.01

0.98
0.18

5
95

4.0
1.98 0.24 1.71 0.01
74.1 34.5 4.58 30.00 0.43
1

0.13

0.06
4.47

5.88 0.71 2.23

1.91 0.24 1.52

Estimate the energy content of the waste using the

Dulong Formula
kJ/kg = 32,851C+141,989(H-O OVER 8)+9,263S
Where:
C = Fraction
carbon
H = Fraction hydrogen
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O = Fraction oxygen
S = Fraction sulfur
First:

Convert dry mass to percent by mass

Component
Carbon
Hydrogen
Oxygen
Nitrogen
Sulfur
Ash
Total

Mass, kg
34.51
4.58
30.00
0.43
0.13
4.47
74.1

Percent by
mass
(Column 3)/74.1
46.6
6.2
40.5
0.6
0.2
6.0
100.1

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Then calculate the heating value using the Duong

equation
kJ/kg=32,851(.466)+141,989(.062-{.405} OVER
Municipal waste
8)+9,263(0.002)=16,942~kJ/kg
management
US population is approximately 250 million
people
Each person generates between 3 and 5
pounds per day
Equates to roughly one billion pounds of waste
requiring disposal each day
Waste is also trucked in daily from Canada
Waste management - Reaching crisis levels in
highly urbanized areas
Problems with solid waste disposal
Siting a disposal facility
Transporting the waste
Cost of operations

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Regulatory Status
In the early 1980s, EPA reviewed federal and
state solid waste regulatory programs to
identify areas of inadequacy
October 1988 - Results were submitted to
congress, Report to Congress: Solid Waste
Disposal in the United States
Report showed:
In 1988 - 180 million tons of municipal solid
waste
By 2000 - projected 216 million tons of
municipal solid waste
Steady decreasing capacity for disposal
EPA developed a national strategy, February
1989, The Solid Waste Dilemma: An Agenda for
Action

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National Strategy
Describes wide range of activities for
government, industry, and the general public
Cornerstone of the strategy is called
"Integrated Waste Management"
Involves complete waste life-cycle:
Source reduction
Recycling
Combustion
Land filling
Strongly encourages source reduction (both in
quantity and toxicity)

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Strategic goals
1.

Increase source reduction and recycling

2.

Increase disposal capacity and increase

secondary material markets

3.

Improve the safety of solid waste management

facilities

Estimating Waste Generation

Before developing a solid waste management
plan - need data on quantity
Necessary to size and design the facility
Composting
Recycling
Resource recovery
Landfill facility
In addition to quantity of solid waste:
Estimate of costs of implementing and
operating the facility
Amount of labor needed
Anticipated increase in generation
Methods to estimate quantity:
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Weigh all waste for a period of time at a

transfer or disposal facility (periodicity of waste
generation, day of week, time of year, etc.)
Determine volume of waste and use known
density factors (kg/m3)
Estimate from population using generation
factors (3-5 lbs/day)
Determine type of solid waste
Conduct an audit of the waste stream
Multiply total by previously shown factors
Reuse, Reduction and Recycling
States are developing and implementing their
own solid waste management plans
Example: New York goal is to reduce waste
stream by 40% by 1997

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Reuse
Encourage individuals to reuse rather than
purchase new (aluminum, plastic bags, plastic
food containers, etc.)
Plastic and paper bag return
Use of cloth sacks for shopping
Repair electronics and major appliances
Donate used clothing and furniture
Donate used books to libraries
Reuse construction materials

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Waste Reduction
Purchase in bulk quantities
Reduce packaging
Replace disposables with reusables (sometimes
may have other adverse environmental
consequences, e.g. disposable diapers)
Recycling
Recyclable materials include:
Aluminum Metals
Batteries Newspaper
Cardboard Paper
Glass
Tin cans
Tires
Many states have a "Bottle Bill" to encourage
recycling of glass and aluminum
Separation greatly improves the economics
At the point of generation
At the disposal facility
Mechanical devices at municipal
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separation facilities
Conveyors - move waste past workers who pick
out specified recyclables
Magnetic drums or conveyors - removing
ferrous material
Air classifiers - separate out heavy and light
material
Lighter - paper and plastic
Heavier - glass and textiles
Trommels - sort materials by size
Composting
Another process associated with recycling
Microbiological decay of organic materials in an
aerobic environment
Possible waste types:
Agricultural waste
Grass clippings
Leaves and yard waste
Food waste
Paper products
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Municipal sludge
Leaf composting is popular but land intensive
Example:

For the pile method one acre of

land for every 8,000-10,000 yd3
leaves

Problems with recycling

Public perception of cost
People believe that recycling is "free"
Costs associated with every aspect of the
program
Costs associated with collection of materials,
processing, residue disposal, advertising, etc.
Not enough market for recycled products

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Combustion
Generally viewed as unfavorable by the public
Significant reduction of volume and weight
Can provide steam and electricity
High capital and operational expenditures
Requires highly skilled operators
Air emissions must be handled (Changing form
of the pollution)
Burn in bulk or reduced form
Shredded waste is called Refuse Derived Fuel
(RDF) - combined w/ fuel
Gross electric output from a resource recovery
system ranges from 340 to 600 kw-hr per ton
of solid waste
In-house power requirements - 10 to 15
percent
The remaining 85 to 90 percent can be sold
back to the local utility
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Incineration gases
99% - CO2, Oxygen, nitrogen and water vapor
Nitrogen and sulfur oxides are produced
Low as compared with fossil fuel plant
Also - heavy metals, dioxins, other possible
carcinogens
Remove w/ wet and dry scrubbers
Land filling
Used for centuries
Municipal Solid Waste Landfill (MSWLF) is a
discrete area of land or an excavation that
receives household waste
(Also subtitle D wastes under RCRA, e.g
commercial waste, nonhazardous sludge, etc.)
No hazardous waste allowed
Bird hazard to airports

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Floodplain - must not restrict the flow of the

100-yr storm
Not in wetlands
MSWLF Design Considerations
Composite liner and leachate collection system
6" of earthen cover
Concentration of methane < 25% of explosion
limit
Open burning is prohibited
Upon facility closure - final cover system must
be installed that is designed to minimize
infiltration and erosion (Post closure care is
required for 30 years)

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