by Edward Humes
CHAPTER 11
1. “How Denmark Paved Way to Energy Independence,” Leila Abboud, Wall Street Journal, April 16, 2007.
2. Amagerforbrænding website, http://amfor.dk/English/Incineration.aspx.
3. “Is It Better to Burn or Bury Waste for Clean Electricity Generation?” Environmental Science & Technology, vol. 43, November 6, 2009.
INDEX
Advance Polybag, Inc., 210, 216
air pollution
backyard and industrial incineration, 47–51, 88
Clean Air Act (1970), 70
landfill methane, 23, 31, 230
transportation-related emissions, 88, 176, 223, 227, 235
waste-to-energy emissions, 88, 89, 230, 232
Alcantara, John, 55–56
American Chemistry Council, 127, 197, 203, 210
American Chung Nam, 10–11
artist-in-residence program, San Francisco dump
artists and works, 169–72, 180–84, 185–86
inception of, 172–73
mission of, 171, 177
residency application, 177–78
supply of art materials, 169–70, 181, 184–85
Bach, Peter, 226
backyard trash burning, 47–51
Baekeland, Leo, 124–25
bags. See plastic grocery bags
beaches
cleanups, 112, 252–53
plastic trash on, 65, 102–3, 123–24, 127
Bennett, Robert Glenn, 55–56
Berkeley Ecology Center, 167
beverage bottles. See bottles
Beyer, Jon, 204
Bic pens, 66
BioCycle/Columbia University study, 7–8, 198
biodegradable packaging, 4–5, 158, 217
bio-magnification, 119–20
bottled water, 258, 261
bottles
biodegradability, 4–5
BPA leached from, 258
energy savings in recycling versus new, 233
environmental and economic costs of, 67, 258
invention of disposable plastic, 67
one-way glass containers, 66
sinkability in seawater, 102–3
volume of trash from, 67–68, 258
Britter, Rex, 134
Buntrock, Dean, 78
Burke, Ben, 181
burning, residential and industrial, 47–51, 70–71. See also waste-to-energy
California. See also Los Angeles; San Francisco
diversion of waste from landfills, 173
embrace of waste-to-energy concept, 84, 86–87
proposed statewide plastic bag ban, 193, 203
census data deduced from trash, 153–55
ChicoBag
inception and growth of, 188–91
in-house waste-reduction strategies of, 218
lawsuit against, 209–16
school fundraisers, 191
China
hazardous materials recycling in, 11, 138
plastic bag ban, 200
U.S. export of trash to, 9–11
waste-to-energy projects, 231
Clean Air Act (1970), 70
closed loop system, 76, 77, 175, 236
Coca-Cola Company, 66
cogeneration heating, 228
Cohen, Steven, 235
Collyer, Homer and Langley, 3
Columbia University/BioCycle study, 7–8, 198
Connecticut waste-to-energy program, 235–36
consumer culture and disposable economy
company and product images, 60–61
creating artificial needs, 58, 64, 66
credit card debt, 61–62, 64
disposable products and trash generation, 5–6, 52, 66–68
low rate of saving, 61, 62
market infiltration by plastics, 196
prosperity and, 5–6, 58–60
recreational shopping, 244
shopping as patriotic act, 6, 58–60, 65
short- versus long-term costs of goods, 261
subliminal and manipulative advertising, 62
television as selling tool, 58
wasteful mind-set and habits, 161–64, 179, 217, 219, 236–37
Corona Dump, New York City, 45–46
credit card debt, 61–62, 64
Crowley, Mary. See Project Kaisei
degradable packaging, 4–5, 158
Denmark
Copenhagen as green city, 225–27, 231
waste-to-energy system, 227–31
wind energy, 229
DiCioccio, Lauren, 182–84
Dickens, Charles, 36
dioxins, 49, 89, 230
disposable economy. See consumer culture and disposable economy
disposophobia, 3
district heating, 228
Dixie cups, 66
Dow Chemical Company, 66, 125, 126
downcycling, 197
dumps versus landfills, 30. See also landfills
DuPont Company, 66, 125
Ebbesmeyer, Curtis, 106
electricity generation. See also waste-to-energy
from landfill gases, 20, 23, 31, 80, 94
plasma gasification, 224, 237
solar power, 234–35
wasted energy, 259
wind power, 229
electronic trash. See e-waste
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
on average daily trash load, 5, 8, 256
on food waste, 161
on packaging as waste, 127
recall of Scotts Company pesticide products, 208
on reckless generation and disposal of waste, 77
on recycling rates, 7–8, 198, 213
Superfund program, 27, 83
on volume of plastic trash, 65
e-waste
Chinese recycling facilities, 11, 138
as normal and necessary, 64
rate of offshore disposal, 142
tracking project, 142
volume of, 140, 142
ExxonMobil Chemical (formerly Mobil Chemical), 195
fishing nets, 112
Fitzgerald, F. Scott, 45
5 Gyres research group, 121, 214
food chain, 99–100, 118–20
food waste
amount of, 15, 35, 52, 95–96, 159–60, 258
edible food discarded, 56
fertilizer from, 204
in landfills, 161
municipal composting, 175, 238
as pig feed, 38, 68–70
versus reported consumption patterns, 155, 157
in school cafeteria, 166
during times of shortage, 148–49
U.S. Army analysis of, 147
France
medieval trash regulations of, 28
waste-to-energy plant, 230–31
Fresh Kills landfill, New York, 12, 48, 73
garbage crisis as recurring problem, 26–29
Garbage Project
concept for, 144–46
findings of, 144, 148–52, 155–60
household occupancy data from, 153–55
insight for cities, 160
landfill excavations, 143–44, 157
procedures of, 147–48
as scientific inquiry, 144, 146–47, 152
garbology
classroom curriculum, 165–66
definition of, 152
gases. See air pollution; landfill gases
Gaston, Jesse and Thelma, 1–2
Germany, solar power in, 234–35
ghost fishing nets, 112
Gogan, Rob, 251–52
Goldstein, Miriam, 115–19, 122–23
Great Pacific Garbage Patch. See ocean trash
Greece, ancient, waste management in, 27
Greenpeace, 79, 102
grocery bags. See plastic grocery bags
Grocery Sack Council, 196
Hagedorn, Jim, 207
Hanson, Jo, 129, 172–73
hazardous materials. See toxic chemicals and mate
rials
high-tech waste. See e-waste
Hilex Poly Company, 210, 212, 215–16
hoarding, 1–4, 12–13
Huizenga, H. Wayne, 78
incineration, 47–51, 70–71, 88. See also waste-to-energy
Ingels, Bjarke, 231
International Coastal Cleanup Day, 65
Irish grocery bag tax, 198–200
Jobs, Steve, 167
Johnson, Bea
avoidance of accumulation, 13–14, 245–46, 248–49
blog, 250
family’s embrace of wasteless philosophy, 249
former lifestyle, 243–44
household trash generation, 242
money savings, 242–43
public responses to, 250–51, 253–54
transition to low-waste lifestyle, 240–41, 244–45, 260
waste-reduction strategies, 245–48, 255
Junge, Andrew, 171
Kaisei. See Project Kaisei
Keller, Andy
bag ban campaign of, 203
Bag Monster program of, 192–94
ChicoBag company, 188–91, 209–16, 217–18
on disposable plastic as habit, 217–19
green awakening of, 187–89
on shift in consumer culture, 237
Korot, Matt, 225, 237
landfill gases
collection system, 31
danger posed by, 23
escape into atmosphere, 230
power generation from, 20, 23, 31, 80, 90, 94
landfills. See also Puente Hills landfill, Los Angeles County
closure of municipal incinerators and, 70–71
compacting trash trucks and, 70
contents of, 24, 34, 35, 56, 161
development atop, 23, 45–46, 125
versus dumps, 30
endurance of trash in, 144, 157–59
escape of grocery bags from, 53
food waste in, 161
at Fresh Kills, New York, 12, 48, 73
invisibility of wastefulness, 57, 139
landfilling rates of, 8, 25
maintenance of, after closure, 94
opaque trash bags and, 70
privatization of, 76, 80
rats and, 32
sanitary landfill technique of, 21, 30
seagulls and, 32–33
space for, 26–27, 71, 77, 161
toxic leachate from, 24, 83, 158–59
toxic materials in, 30, 56, 149–50, 158
transportation-related emissions, 88, 176, 223, 227, 235
unintended expansion of, 73–74
value of materials in, 92–93
landfill worker national trash Olympics, 54–55
Lanham Act, 205–6, 211, 212
lantern fish, 99–100, 118–20
leachate from landfills, 24, 83, 158–59
Lippincott, J. Gordon, 59–61, 258
Los Angeles. See also Puente Hills landfill, Los Angeles County
backyard incineration in, 47–51
Garbage Power Wars of, 29
mandatory recycling in, 29
open dumps in, 51–52
Pellissier family farm, 71–72
piggeries in, 69–70
Puente Hills range, 72–73
smog, 48, 50–51, 88
trash train, 27, 90, 92
waste-to-energy vision of, 82, 84–90
Love Canal, New York, 83
manufacturers
and closed loop concept, 76, 77, 236
external costs of, 67
invention of plastics, 124–25
of plastic grocery bags, 193–94, 196, 200–201, 202–4, 209–16, 218–19
responsibility for product waste, 209, 224
shift toward disposable products, 66–68
marine trash. See ocean trash
Masoner, Kim, 252–53
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. See Trash Track
mass burn technology, 230
Materials Recovery Facility, 44
Mendoza, Hector Dio, 172
methane. See landfill gases
Miracle-Gro products, 205–8
MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). See Trash Track
Mobil Chemical, 195
Moore, Charles, 104–7
Munk, Deborah, 172, 174, 179–80, 185
New Horizon. See Project Kaisei
New York City
cost of waste management in, 7, 235
early waste management practices of, 36–38
Fresh Kills landfill, 12, 48, 73
incineration of trash in, 48
landfill development projects of, 45–46, 125
long-distance trash hauling of, 42, 45, 48
mandatory recycling in, 29, 41–44
materials sorting facility, 44
ocean dumping of, 28–29, 37–38, 46–47
sanitation reforms of, 39–44
Nine Dragons Paper, 11
nurdles, 101–2
nylon, 125
ocean trash
age determination of plastic in, 121
beach accumulations of, 65, 102–3, 112, 123–24, 127, 252–53
buoyancy and mobility of, 102–3
cleanup project, 100–101, 109–10
endangerment of marine wildlife by, 98, 108, 112, 122, 214
entrapment in gyres, 103–6, 127
escaped and unaccounted-for plastic, 102, 127
in food chain, 99–100, 118–20
and ghost nets, 112
municipal dumping and, 28–29, 37, 46–47
Pacific Garbage Patch, 104–6, 120–21
plastic capture devices, 110–12, 113, 114
prevalence of plastic in, 96, 98–99, 106–7, 118, 121–22, 127, 214
toxin accumulation in plastic, 99, 119–20
types of plastics, 127
undocumented data on, 122
Offenhuber, Dietmar. See Trash Track
Orbelian, George, 109
Pacific Garbage Patch, 104–6, 120–21. See also ocean trash
packaging. See also bottles; plastic grocery bags
biodegradability of, 4–5, 158, 217
cost of, versus products contained in, 246, 257–58
as instant trash, 5, 127, 245, 246, 258
as proportion of waste stream, 35, 52
Packard, Vance, 62–63
Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), 119–20
pigs and piggeries, 36, 38, 68–70
plasma gasification, 224, 237
plastic grocery bags
annual consumption of, 65, 191–92, 213, 217
bans and fees, 194–95, 196, 198–203, 220
chronology of, 194–95
cost to consumers, 65, 199, 218
downcycling of, 197
industry arguments for, 218–19
industry lawsuits, 193–94, 196, 200–201, 202–4, 209–16
infiltration of consumer market, 195–97
as litter, 53, 65, 188, 203
prevalence in landfills, 53, 188, 217
as proportion of waste stream, 217
recycling, 197–98, 213, 233
as symbol of wastefulness, 217–19
plastics. See also ocean trash; plastic grocery bags
amount unaccounted for, 7, 127
combined recycling statistics, 198, 213
impact of World War II on plastics industry, 125–26
invention and marketing of, 124–25, 126
oil to produce, 126
ubiquity of, 65, 123, 126
pollution. See also air pollution; ocean trash; toxic chemicals and materials
nurdle spills, 101–2
plastic bag litter, 53, 65, 188, 203
POPs (Persistent Organic Pollutants), 119–20
Portland, Oregon
food waste collection in, 238
green practices of, 221–22
plastic bag ban in, 238
trash generation and landfilling in, 223
waste management considerations of, 223–25, 237
power generation. See also waste-to-energy
from landfill gases, 20, 23, 31, 80, 94
plasma gasification, 224, 237
solar power, 234–35
wasted energy, 259
wind power, 229
pre-production plastic pellets, 101–2
Pritchard, Tim, 133, 134, 142
Progressive Bag Affiliates, American Chemistry Council, 210
Project Kaisei
educational mission of, 112–14
goals of, 100–101, 109–10
inspiration for, 107–8
prototype plastic capture device of, 110–12, 113, 114
Scripps partnership, 99–100, 109, 117–19
trash trawls of, 97–99
Puente Hills landfill, Los Angeles County
compacting process of, 19–22
contents of, 24, 55–57
daily flow of trash in, 29–31, 93
economic viability of, 91–92
energy generation of, 20, 23, 31
escape of grocery bags in, 53
escape of methane from, 230
leachate from, 24
as model landfill, 37
nature preserve, 19, 90–91
odor management of, 24, 31–32
origin as town dump, 26
purchase of land for, 71–72
seagull management in, 32–33
size and expansion of, 20, 23–24, 73–74, 90–91
terminal phase, 93–94
Qualcomm, 139
Quinn, Feargal, 199
Rathje, Bill, 129, 161–64. See also Garbage Project
Recology company, 173–76
recycling
combined plastics statistics, 198, 213
economics of, 126, 191, 198, 233
energy advantage of, 232–33
first mandatory, 29, 41–44
historical practice of, 41
impact of opaque trash bags and compacting trash trucks, 70
inefficiencies of, 138, 139–40
Materials Recovery Facilities, 44
offshore hazardous-materials facilities, 138, 142
perpetuation of wastefulness, 139, 177, 219
and plastic grocery bags, 197–98, 213
rate estimates, 7–9, 25, 134, 213
residue from, 233–34
theft of recyclable materials, 175–76
repurposing, 209, 253. See also artist-in-residence program, San Francisco dump
Riis, Jacob, 40
Rodriguez, Abel, 182
Rome, ancient, trash accumulation in, 27–28
Rubel, Remi, 180
San Francisco. See also artist-in-residence program, San Francisco dump
composting in, 175
per capita trash generation of, 177
plastic bag legislation in, 195, 200–202
recycling in, 173–76
waste hauling in, 176
sanitary landfills. See landfills
Sayers, Dorothy L., 17
scavenging, 41, 70, 174
Scotts Company, 205–8
Scripps Institution of Oceanography. See Project Kaisei