Landfill
Recycling Concrete v. Placing it in a Landfill: A Comparison of Greenhouse Gas Emissions
As one of the most abundantly used resources in the world -- second only to water, according to some measures -- determining what to do with concrete once it is no longer needed in its original application is a major issue. Most of the time, waste concrete is not structurally flawed or degraded, but the building or structure it was used in is simply no longer needed or is being rebuilt and so the concrete must be torn down while there is still a great deal of usefulness in it. Recycling the concrete thus seems like a very good idea, and to be sure recycling concrete can lead to a major reduction in the raw materials needed around the globe each year for a variety of concrete construction projects. A great deal of energy is also required for the various steps of the recycling process, however, and this has a negative environmental impact in the form of carbon emissions from the burning of fuels to create the needed energy.
The following pages will attempt to present a comparative analysis of the greenhouse gas emissions that result from the various stages and processes involved in recycling concrete and the emissions from the other commonplace method of dealing with waste concrete, putting it in a landfill. Certain parts of this process are nearly identical while others are of course drastically different, ultimately leading to very different emission levels for the two different options. An examination of greenhouse gas emission does not tell the full story of concrete disposal's environmental impact, of course, but it provides an excellent starting place.
Similar First Steps
The initial demolition or removal of concrete from a building or construction site is the first step in concrete's journey wither to a landfill or to the recycling facility, and the bigger the job the more likely it is to involve powerful tools that are ultimately powered by fossil fuels (often pneumatic tools hooked up to air compressors hooked up to gasoline generators). As the emissions that result from this initial demolition would occur regardless of whether the concrete is ultimately recycled or disposed of in...
Landfills and Landfill Gas: Land-filling is one of the most popular and widely used method of disposing different types of waste materials, more specifically Municipal Solid Waste (MSW), in many countries. In order to fulfill the federal regulations, the landfills are designed and operated in an efficient way and are located in such areas which are away from the residential areas. It is essential to carefully monitor this whole process, as
20. In determining these ratios, the government must use Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) for governments, and have its financial statements audited by an independent certified public accountant." (EPA). However, governments who are in default on general obligation bonds or that has any oustanding bonds below a certain rating are ineligible. Operators can also receive corporate guarantees from a guarantor, but that guarantor has to be either a parent corporation
Include the risk or hazard to the community, and provide three bullets addressing the primary message that you want to share about the hazard or risk.Landfills produce bad odors and gas that can affect the health of people living around them. They are also the source of toxic chemicals that get into water sources near them and affect both human life and wildlife. The types of gases commonly found in
9% Yard Trimmings - 12.9% Food scraps - 12.4%; Plastics - 11.7%; Rubber, leather and textiles - 7.3% Metals - 7.6% Wood - 5.5% Glass - 5.3% The following figure shows the number of landfills in the United States between 1998 and 2006 Number of Landfills in the United States 1998-2006 Source: EPA (1997) The work of van der Zee and de Visser entitled: "Assessing the Opportunities of Landfill Mining" states: "Long-term estimates make clear that the amount of solid waste
Whereas conventional, compacted clay barriers are designed to prevent the infiltration of water into the waste below the cover, evapotranspiration takes a decidedly different approach. The cover technique actually uses to its advantage the high water storage capacity of fine grained soils to retain water in the soil above the waste and refuse. The water is "stored" in that layer until it is released back into the atmosphere either
Landfill for Disposing Hazardous Material Challenges Resistance of the public to siting a waste management facility While citizens are thankful for convenient existing locations for dumping garbage, recyclables, and yard waste, it may be rather hard to gain their acceptance with regard to waste management facility sites (Walker, 2012). Community planning in relation to waste management facility Land-use planning for a community seldom takes into consideration waste management site locations in its community design.
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