Page 44 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition

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Introduction 15
The U.S. EPA Agenda for Action of 1989 (U.S. EPA, 1989) promoted an innovative and
comprehensive program for integrated waste management, i.e., the utilization of technologies and
management programs to achieve waste management objectives. The U.S. EPA integrated waste
management hierarchy includes the following components, in order of preference:

● Reducing the quantity and toxicity of waste
● Reusing materials
● Recycling materials
● Composting
● Incineration with energy recovery
● Incineration without energy recovery
● Sanitary landfilling

Strategies that emphasize the top of the hierarchy are encouraged whenever possible; however,
all components are important within an integrated waste management system. The integrated waste
management program is customized to meet a particular community’s capabilities and needs based
on criteria such as population size, presence of industry and business, existing infrastructure, and
financial resources. The integrated approach has made great strides within the past decade in edu-
cating the American consumer about individual responsibility in waste management, in fostering
industry cooperation in waste reduction, and, ultimately, in reducing some of the massive volumes
of wastes targeted for landfill disposal.
In 1999, 64 million tons of MSW (a recovery of 27.8%) was recycled (including composting). A
total of 34 million tons was combusted (14.8%), and 131.9 million tons (57.4%) was landfilled.
Relatively small amounts of this total were littered or illegally dumped. Figure 1.8 shows MSW recov-
ered for recycling (including composting) and disposed of by combustion and landfilling in 1999.
Most states have aggressively encouraged recycling and have established goals for rates of var-
ious components of the waste stream (e.g., paper wastes, metals, yard waste) to be recycled. Many
businesses and industries have responded by establishing goals for reducing wastes from manufac-
turing processes. Through such participation, businesses have discovered that reducing the amount
of hazardous and non-hazardous materials from product manufacture actually results in substantial
cost savings. Many states have responded to the integrated waste management initiative by provid-
ing financial incentives for source reduction and recycling.
These committed approaches using state-mandated recycling targets and financial incentives
have experienced their share of difficulties, however. At the initiation of such programs, the supply

FIGURE 1.8 Current waste management priorities in the United States. (U.S. EPA, 2001.)