this movie covers subtopic 8.3 solid domestic waste under the main topic of IB ESS topic 8 humans systems and resource use the significant idea number one for this subtopic is that solid domestic waste is increasing as a result of human population and consumption take a look take a look at this graph showing the growth of solid domestic waste in millions of tons per year by different regions of earth over time this also includes predicted growth solid domestic waste or municipal solid waste is our trash garbage rubbish from residential and urban areas it is a mixture of paper packaging organic materials such as food waste glass dust metals plastics textiles paint old batteries electronic waste or e-waste and more as a nation Americans generate more waste than any other nation in the world officially between two and three point two kilograms per capita per day here is an image of the categories of solid waste disposal in the USA between 1960 through 2014 this graph also illustrates that there are different types of solid domestic waste of which the volume and consumption changes over time you can see that in the 1960s the proportion of food waste and durable goods was different as compared to the proportions in 2014 you also see an increase in volume of all categories of solid domestic waste over time the abundance and prevalence of non biodegradable waste such as plastics batteries and a waste is in particular has become a major environmental issue what is the problem with non biodegradable waste it can last for centuries and cause environmental problems that affect more than just the land it also washes into seas and oceans where it has devastating effects on marine wildlife non biodegradable plastic containers in oceans and estuaries can harm fish seabirds and other marine life animals that eat plastic can strangle or experience digestion problems also microplastics tiny bits of polypropylene or polyethylene hide beneath the water and pose a risk as well plastic debris undergoes weathering and is broken down into smaller particles which may be ingested by invertebrates and fish predation of these organisms can result in microplastics infiltrating the entire food web potentially affecting Birds marine animals and also humans microplastics measure less than 5 millimeters and one simple reason that fish eat them is that they can look a lot like the food that fish naturally hunt and this might not be the whole story a recent study involving anchovies one of the fish species found to be eating my triplet microplastics shows that smell may also play a part in this occurrence you can see the fish's logic if it smells like food and looks like food chances are its food while it's worrying that fish are eating plastic anchovies were chosen partly because of their position in the marine food chains anchovies eat krill but in turn are eaten by creatures ranging from other fish to whales birds and even humans it's already been shown that plastics will pass up the food chain from prey to predator the presence of plastics in southern bluefin tuna captured nears Tasmania has attributed to their predation on smaller fish species and so yes that means we are eating plastics too in fact 55% of fish species we eat have been found with microplastics in their gastrointestinal tag additional studies show that micro plastics also accumulate in the flesh of fish 70% of deep-sea fish have eaten plastic and a hundred different anchovy species those low on the food chain have been found to consume microplastics non biodegradable waste also includes a waste and battery waste electronic waste is the fastest-growing waste stream in the world and batteries form a huge part of that waste stream as batteries are made up of heavy metals and other toxic elements these leak into the environment and harm humans and animals when not properly discarded the numbers are astounding upwards of 50 million tons of e-waste are produced each year and left unchecked this could more than double by to 120 million tons by 2050 it is difficult to imagine even 50 million tons yet it this is the equivalent in weight to all the commercial aircraft we have ever built throughout history or 4,500 Eiffel Towers enough to cover an area the size of Manhattan and that's just one year's worth of the e-waste that we as humans create to deal with our solid domestic waste problem we are going to need a paradigm shift and how we think about economy the linear economy the foundation of our current global economy is a take make and dump model that until recently has always been used in product design and business models across the globe a circular economy is more than just recycling it's about keeping products and materials in their highest utility and value throughout their life cycle and recirculating them at the end of their life the circular economy has the potential to generate innovations and new employment opportunities in the so called eco industry based on the development application of eco technology as well as the potential to geographically shift back outsourced activities to national economies and processes labeled as local mining near sourcing or reshoring in the past decade the eco industry has more than doubled in size in Europe this third advantage concerns the reduction of environmental damage due to less extraction of raw materials less fossil energy use and significantly smaller waste disposal problems a circular economy is sustainable because it aims to be restorative to the environment it uses renewable energy sources it seeks to eliminate and it seeks to eliminate or reduce toxic wastes and it aims to eradicate waste through careful design to fully adopt a circular economy a paradigm shift must occur the circular economy idea must be designed into new products and business models from here on forward significant idea number two both production and management of solid domestic waste can have significant influence on sustainability can you think of a connection between per capita solid domestic waste and a country sustainability high production of solid domestic waste leads to unsustainability and the inability to manage solid domestic waste also leads to unsustainability sustainability will be achieved through low solid domestic waste production and well-managed disposal of the waste you need to be able to evaluate solid domestic waste disposal options and you need to be able to compare and contrast pollution management strategies for solid domestic waste waste disposal options include landfill incineration recycling and composting these strategies can be divided into those that minimize waste and those that dispose of the waste strategies that minimize waste include practices you've learned about since you were in elementary school reduce reuse and recycle how can we personally reduce waste by things that will last by only food you will eat and use reusable containers for food storage repair rather than discard buy items with less packaging buy products that are made from recycled materials choose energy-efficient products avoid imported items print double-sided and use electronic documents do not buy plastic and be aware of how many resources you are using in the home with regard to water and electricity we can minimize waste by reusing or donating clothes books electronics and rechargeable batteries by composting food waste by renting instead of buying like using ebooks and using returnable bottles recycling involves sorting waste into separate containers for recycling before it leaves your home Germany has the best recycling rate in the world Austria comes in second followed by South Korea and Wales all four countries managed to recycle between 52 and 56 percent of their municipal wastes Switzerland 5th in place recycles almost half of its municipal waste recycling plays a part in the green energy debate by reducing the amount of energy required to manufacture certain products this reduces greenhouse gas emissions generated by manufacturing processes and lowers global energy consumption continued consumers see the impact through lower prices when you recycle you also eliminate the need for manufacturers to acquire raw materials through processes such as mining and refining they've already got the material they need from you so it's just a matter of repurposing it recycling also decreases pollution by recycling by drastically reducing the amount of industrial waste instead of those soda cans going into a landfill to clutter the earth they're taken back to the manufacturer to be broken down and reused the less waste we throw onto the planet the cleaner and safer it will be for future generations to come by recycling you limit the need to mine and use raw materials to make new products instead your recycled materials are used disadvantages establishing new recycling protocols often involves high initial cost recycling isn't a process that just happens there are units that need to be set up factory upgrades that need to be made and attaining trucks to haul the recycled material you also need global buy-in it is certainly a critical step that the global population has to make to reduce pollution but there's a catch a lot more people need to start participating recycling is most often prevalent in home schools and some office parks the kind of recycling that occurs is putting use paper products into blue bins and hauling them away for reuse the impact is rather small compared to the massive amounts of waste and deforestation taking place on an industrial type level quality product quality products from made from repurposed materials simply don't stand up quality wise to new material they're often fragile and overuse the more a piece of material gets recycled the worse it gets I highly recommend that you watch the Jeremy Irons movie titled trashed to get a good perspective on solid domestic waste management strategies I'll briefly discuss landfills incinerators the generation of fuels and fertilizers from digestion of biodegradable matter and composting a landfill site is also known as a dump a rubbish dump a garbage dump or a dumping ground and it's a site for the disposal of waste materials by burial landfill is the oldest form of waste treatment although the burial of waste is modern historically waste was simply left and piles are thrown into pits landfills have been the most common method of organized waste disposal and remain so in many places around the world they had advantages landfills are convenient they keep a city clean and they can be used to generate energy from the waste and they are safer than incinerators the disadvantages it does result in a pileup of toxic waste they release methane they also release dust pollution and particulate matter there is the issue of leachate when precipitation falls on open landfills water percolates through the garbage and becomes contaminated with suspended and dissolved material forming leachate if this is not contained it can contaminate the groundwater and of course the decomposition gases of oxide and methane are come from rotting food and other decaying organic wastes and of course as you know they contribute to greenhouse gases and this can happen in different parts of the landfill incinerators involve the combustion of organic substances contained in waste materials advantages they eliminate germs and chemicals incinerators involve the combustion of organic substances contained in waste materials there are many advantages it decreases the quantity of waste it can be used to produce heat and power it prevents the product the production of methane gas and it eliminates chemicals and germs the disadvantage is it can be expensive pollutes the environment it does not encourage recycling and waste reduction and the ash weights itself can harm the environment and people an anaerobic digester involves the process of treating biodegradable waste and sewage sludge using anaerobic digestion it produces energy and fertilizer it can sanitize waste and it reduces the spread of waste advantages the disadvantages as you can imagine it requires a high level of investment and if it's running efficiently it can cause an odour problem composting is a natural process of recycling organic material such as leaves and vegetables into a rich soil supplement compost has an abundance of nutrients and is suitable for a wide variety of end uses such as landscaping topsoil blending and growth media nitrogen in compost is released more slowly and is available to plants over long periods of time which is more consistent with plant uptake needs the main disadvantages of come posts are the following it does re require a large amount of face right if you have to aerate these piles and turn them over you need space odor can be a problem and ambient temperature and weather can have an influence on the composting in vessel containers are expensive and have limited flexibility to handle large quantities you need to be able to evaluate with reference to this figure pollution management strategies for solid domestic waste by considering recycling incineration composting and landfill there are a variety of strategies that can be used to manage some solid domestic waste and these are influenced by cultural economic technological and political barrier these strategies include altering human activity this includes reduction of consumption and composting of food waste stop this movie and study the slide to look at different aspects of human activity that can be altered these strategies include controlling release of the pollutant government's create legislation to encourage recycling and reuse initiatives and impose tax for solid domestic waste collection impose taxes on disposable items again stop the movie and study the slide for this level of strategy strategic management these strategies include controlling cleanup and restoration reclaiming landfills use of solid domestic waste for trash to energy programs implementing initiatives to remove plastics from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch again stop the slide and study this level of pollutant management here is a general summary of topic 8.3 solid waste management this ends the movie for IV es s topic 3 8.3 solid domestic waste under the main topic of IBS is topic 8 human systems and resource use the slides are created by me dr. Nina Markham images are courtesy of Creative Commons unless otherwise indicated with a citation under the image if all image on a slider from the same resource the source is simply cited at the bottom of the slide other resources for you or your IB ESS textbook whether in beg form or online such as cognitive thank you for listening