Deck 16: Solid and Hazardous Waste

Question 1

An integrated waste management approach for industrial enterprises

A) eliminates unnecessary packaging
B) makes a product require frequent replacement
C) uses more material
D) encourages built-in obsolescence
E) all of these answers

Answer 1

eliminates unnecessary packaging

Question 2

The top three U.S. producers of hazardous waste, in order, are

A) the film industry, the computer industry, and the military
B) the military, the mining industry, and the chemical industry
C) the agricultural industry, the military, and the mining industry
D) the military, the chemical industry, and the mining industry
E) transportation industries (air and boat travel), the mining industry, and the military

Answer 2

the military, the chemical industry, and the mining industry

Question 3

Which of the following choices describe an input approach to the problem of waste production?

A) reduce packaging and materials for new products
B) compost food scraps
C) purchase fewer household items
D) all of these answers
E) reduce packaging and materials for new products and purchase fewer household items

Answer 3

reduce packaging and materials for new products and purchase fewer household items

Question 4

Only about 7% of ______ products are recycled in the United States because there are so many different types that can be difficult to separate.

A) glass
B) plastic
C) paper
D) aluminum
E) cardboard

Question 5

Garbage produced directly by households and businesses accounts for ____ of the solid waste produced in the United States.

A) less than 2%
B) 5%
C) 10%
D) 15%
E) 20%

Question 6

Which of the following statements is false?

A) It is more economical to have consumers separate trash before pickup than to use materials-recovery facilities.
B) Glass, iron, and aluminum can be recovered from solid wastes.
C) Source separation involves consumers separating trash into categories like glass, paper, and metal.
D) Source separation is more costly and energy intensive.
E) Materials-recovery facilities need a steady diet of garbage to be financially successful.

Question 7

The first priority of integrated waste management is

A) recycling materials
B) using biodegradable material
C) creating more durable products
D) reducing the amount of materials used
E) Both c and d

Question 8

The International Basel Convention bans the transfer of hazardous waste from developed to developing countries. The United States

A) is the only industrialized nation that has not ratified this convention
B) has enthusiastically embraced this convention
C) is the author of this convention
D) has revised and improved this convention
E) none of these answers

Question 9

The banning of TV set and computer disposal in landfills by 35 states in the U.S. is expected to

A) cause interstate smuggling of e-waste
B) be regulated by the federal government
C) be voted down by consumers during the next general election
D) set the stage for an emerging highly profitable e-recycling industry
E) none of these answers

Question 10

In an integrated waste management approach, which of the following strategies should be given top priority?

A) incinerate
B) reuse
C) reduce
D) refuse
E) recycle

Question 11

Which category most accurately describes waste such as food wastes, cardboard, cans, bottles, yard wastes, furniture, plastics, metal, glass, and e-waste?

A) e-waste
B) municipal waste
C) solid waste
D) industrial waste
E) municipal solid waste

Question 12

Hazardous or toxic waste is waste that

A) threatens human health or the environment
B) is dangerously corrosive
C) is dangerously chemically reactive
D) all of these
E) none of these answers

Question 13

Electronic waste

A) Is the fastest growing solid waste problem in the world
B) May contain valuable metals that could be recycled
C) Primarily ends up in landfills
D) Two of the above are correct
E) All of the above are correct

Question 14

At the checkout counter, an environmentalist is most likely to say

A) "Plastic please"
B) "Paper please"
C) "I brought my own bag."
D) "I want a cardboard box, please."
E) "Either plastic or paper."

Question 15

Source separation differs from materials-recovery facilities in all but which of the following?

A) It has lower start-up costs.
B) It yields cleaner and more valuable recyclables.
C) It produces less air and water pollution.
D) It provides fewer jobs per unit of material recycled.
E) It saves more energy per unit of material recycled.

Question 16

E-waste is a source of which of the following pollutants of air and water?

A) atrazine
B) DDT
C) arsenic
D) polyvinylchloride (PVC)
E) all of these answers

Question 17

Which of the following are types of waste that a homeowner can recycle in their backyard as part of a composting project?

A) hedge trimmings
B) food scraps
C) grass clippings
D) discarded paints and stains
E) all of these except discarded paints and stains

Question 18

Critics of recycling are most likely to claim:

A) It isn't worth the effort.
B) There is no solid-waste problem.
C) Incineration is the safest and most efficient way to dispose of solid wastes.
D) It doesn't make sense to recycle if it costs more than sending wastes to a landfill or an incinerator.
E) There is abundant landfill space in all areas.

Question 19

Obstacles to recycling include

A) lack of inclusion of environmental costs in market prices
B) tax breaks for mining virgin materials
C) lack of large, steady markets for recycled materials
D) all of these answers
E) none of these answers

Question 20

Which of the three Rs are preferred because they are input approaches to waste management?

A) reducing and recycling
B) reducing and repurposing
C) reducing and reconstituting
D) reducing and reusing
E) reducing and incinerating

Question 21

Exposure to lead continues to cause unsafe levels in children in the United States. The source(s) of this lead is

A) peeling lead-based paint in houses
B) Lead leaching from old water pipes
C) Coal burning power plants
D) Waste incinerators
E) all of these answers

Question 22

Phytoremediation

A) involves the use of plants to remove contaminants from polluted soil and water
B) involves the use of microscopic filter-feeding organisms to filter contaminants from water
C) has been shown to be ineffective in the long term
D) is too costly to be practical
E) all of these answers

Question 23

Sanitary landfills typically have problems with

A) rodents and insects
B) odor
C) open, uncovered garbage
D) traffic, noise, and dust
E) spread of disease

Question 24

Many concerned citizens oppose using incinerators to burn waste because

A) It undermines waste reduction strategies like reduce and reuse
B) They must burn a lot of trash to maintain profitability
C) Incineration encourages waste
D) They emit pollutants
E) All of these answers

Question 25

Hazardous waste deposited in ponds or lagoons

A) may evaporate into the atmosphere
B) may enter groundwater when there are no liners or when liners leak
C) may contaminate surface water
D) all of these answers
E) none of these answers

Question 26

Approximately 9 million childhood lead poisonings were prevented in the United States between 1976 and 2007 primarily because of

A) a ban on the use of lead-based paints and leaded gasoline
B) a ban on the use of lead in car batteries
C) a ban on the use of lead in pencils
D) a ban on the use of transfused blood contaminated with lead
E) all of these answers

Question 27

A very comprehensive and effective hazardous-waste collection and detoxification program is in

A) France
B) Denmark
C) Norway
D) Yugoslavia
E) the United States

Question 28

Phytoremediation is a form of bioremediation that

A) is essentially the same, but more costly
B) involves the use of photosynthetic bacteria
C) produces more air pollution and is thus not as helpful
D) involves the use of plants
E) can only work on toxic metal leachate

Question 29

The Superfund program paid

A) to identify and clean up hazardous-waste dump sites
B) to monitor hazardous wastes
C) for testing for lead in paint, water, and air samples
D) the doctors' bills and lawyers' fees for pollution events
E) all of these answers

Question 30

What is a law that has been enacted in Bangladesh, China, France, Italy and the city of San Francisco, California, USA?

A) A tax has been levied on the use of plastic shopping bags.
B) A tax has been levied on the use of water bottled in disposable plastic containers.
C) Plastic shopping bags have been banned.
D) Customers who recycle at curbside get a discount on garbage pick-up.
E) None of these answers.

Question 31

Bioremediation

A) involves training bacteria to eat new foods
B) results in the production of low-level hazardous wastes
C) involves the use of bacteria and enzymes to destroy hazardous substances
D) is widely accepted as the best way to cut hazardous wastes
E) does not exist

Question 32

The idea that everyone is entitled to protection from environmental hazards regardless of race, gender, age, national origin, income, social class, or any political factor is called

A) environmental racism
B) environmental sustainability
C) environmental policy
D) environmental justice
E) none of these answers

Question 33

Components of a modern, state-of-the-art landfill include

A) probes to detect methane gas
B) plastic liners on the bottom of the landfill
C) storage and treatment of leachate
D) groundwater monitoring wells
E) all of these answers

Question 34

You are the vice-president of a transportation company. You are presenting a proposal to the company president and owners that involves recycling of the tires that are removed from company vehicles and turning them into a rubberized playground material to be sold to schools and parks. Your proposal is based on

A) closed-loop recycling
B) preconsumer recycling
C) postconsumer recycling
D) secondary recycling
E) primary recycling

Question 35

The least-used method of dealing with liquid and solid hazardous waste is ____ because of the ____.

A) bioremediation, expense
B) surface impoundment, construction costs
C) secure hazardous waste landfills, expense
D) deep-well disposal, ineffectiveness
E) deep-well disposal, high cost

Question 36

The first priority in dealing with hazardous wastes is

A) to collect them
B) to produce less of it
C) to use bioremediation
D) to store it effectively
E) all of these answers

Question 37

When hazardous wastes are injected into deep underground wells:

A) They always contaminate the groundwater.
B) Leaks or spills can occur at the surface.
C) We are utilizing another output approach that encourages waste production.
D) Both leaks and spills can occur at the surface and we are utilizing another output approach that encourages waste production.
E) All of these answers.

Question 38

Of the two types of dumps utilized for solid waste, open dumps

A) are rare in developed countries
B) cover wastes with clay or plastic foam
C) have little odor
D) are vermin free
E) none of these answers

Question 39

A 2007 report by the Nuclear Information and Resource Service, a nonprofit organization, indicates that:

A) Nuclear waste facilities do not track the dispersal of radioactivity from their dump sites.
B) Weapons grade nuclear waste is carefully monitored after it has been disposed of in sanitary landfills.
C) Fortunately, no radioactive materials have ever been deposited by any methods other than safe methods.
D) Radioactive hospital wastes go to standard sanitary landfills.
E) Radioactive materials from facilities operated by the U.S. Department of Energy have been deposited in regular landfills.

Question 40

All of the following are true about the Superfund program except

A) The program is now broke.
B) Superfund expired in 1995.
C) All of the sites originally listed as a severe threat to human health were cleaned up.
D) In November 2010, nearly 1,300 sites were listed as Superfund sites.
E) Taxpayers rather than polluters are now paying for cleanups.

Question 41

In 2000, delegates from 122 countries completed a global treaty to control 12 persistent organic pollutants (POPs), which include

A) DDT
B) ozone
C) chlorofluorocarbons
D) methane gas
E) mercury

Question 42

Closed-loop recycling is the same as secondary recycling.

Question 43

Most scientists think that waste management should be the last priority for dealing with material use and solid waste.

Question 44

In 1992, the ___________ banned the shipment of hazardous materials from developed to developing countries.

A) United States EPA
B) UNEP
C) the United Arab Emirates
D) the European Union
E) Basel Convention

Question 45

Plastic shopping bag use is taxed in Ireland and Scotland.

Question 46

Less use of energy will produce less waste but more pollution.

Question 47

Perpetual storage should be the last resort for dealing with hazardous wastes.

Question 48

Reusing products can be a health hazard for the poor in developing countries who dismantle products to extract usable parts.

Question 49

The best and cheapest ways to deal with solid and hazardous wastes are waste reduction and pollution prevention.

Question 50

Once lead was eliminated from gasoline, the problem of unsafe blood levels of lead in young children ceased in the United States.

Question 51

Both solid waste and hazardous waste disposal today compromise the environment.

Question 52

Countries in which governments offer increased subsidies and tax breaks for reusing and recycling materials are more environmentally sustainable than those that do not.

Question 53

The products of composting can be used to slow soil erosion, retain water, and improve crop yields.

Question 54

The recycling of plastic bottles to make fleece fabric for clothing is a type of secondary recycling.

Question 55

Which of the following statements is correct?

A) We should view hazardous wastes as wasted resources.
B) We should view solid wastes as materials we should not be producing in the first place.
C) We should view solid wastes and hazardous wastes as being the same thing.
D) We should view hazardous wastes as something we should not be producing in the first place.
E) None of these answers are correct.

Question 56

Which of the following countries has passed a law that states all chemicals that are persistent and can accumulate in living tissue will be banned by the year 2020?

A) the United States
B) France
C) China
D) Norway
E) Sweden

Question 57

Composting and source-separation recycling are both effective in reducing waste.

Question 58

The availability of oil and petrochemicals effectively stalled the development of bioplastic.

Question 59

In primary recycling, waste products are converted into different products.

Question 60

Restructuring urban transportation systems is a good idea from the perspective of reducing energy use, but it would have no effect on resource use and waste production.

Question 61

The use of bacteria and enzymes to convert toxic or hazardous substances to harmless compounds is called ____________________.

Question 62

The top priority in dealing with hazardous waste should be the same as the top priority for solid waste, and that is ____________________.

Question 63

Match the items listed below with the appropriate choice

Which area is a methane storage area?

Question 64

Hospital medical waste is a type of ____________________.

Question 65

The pricing of hazardous materials used in the U.S. and most countries does not include their ____________________.

Question 66

____________________ are chemical substances that persist in the environment and accumulate in the fatty tissues of humans and other organisms.

Question 67

In the United States, enough ____________________ are used each year so that, if linked end to end, they would reach to the moon and back seven times.

Question 68

According to the EPA, all impoundment liners eventually ____________________.

Question 69

The ____________________ approach to recycling saves energy, provides jobs, and educates people about how to reduce waste.

Question 70

Match the items listed below with the appropriate choice

Which area represents monitoring wells?

Question 71

Tires being shredded and converted into surfacing for public roads is an example of ____________________.

Question 72

Match the items listed below with the appropriate choice

Which area contains compacted solid wastes?

Question 73

The type of waste produced by mines, agriculture, and industries that supply people with goods and services is called ____________________.

Question 74

Match the items listed below with the appropriate choice

Which area is a methane gas recovery well?

Question 75

In the natural world, where humans are not dominant, there is essentially no waste.

Question 76

____________________ is a form of recycling that mimics nature's recycling of nutrients.

Question 77

Contaminated water that leaks from landfills is called ____________________.

Question 78

Online sites such as ____________________ link people who want to reuse belongings.

Question 79

____________________ are inefficient because they are expensive to build, they discharge toxic emissions, and they can produce a toxic ash.

Question 80

A method of dealing with solid waste that causes a low amount of water pollution, but a high amount of air pollution, is ____________________.