Note: for those gathering data for their countries- a source I found: United Nations data..confusing to use in the beginning- look under indicators tab... then individual profiles - ie. socioeconomic and so on.
http://www.unep.net/profile/index.cfm

Study questions for quiz on this material:
1.

Although Recycling is quite important, and is a real issue in Hungary as you can see from the following article"
Hungary seen lagging far behind EU on recycling ....... HUNGARY: June 21, 2000
Hungary severely lags European Union countries in waste recycling and will have to spend as much as $2.6 billion over the next 12 years to catch up, a waste management official said on Tuesday. Henrik Balatoni, president of the National Association of Recyclers, said Hungary was only recycling five to 10 percent of its waste, compared with an EU average of more  than 50 percent.  Hungary, one of the leading Eastern European candidates  for EU membership, would need to spend between 400  billion and 700 billion forints ($1.48 billion-$2.59 billion) over 12 years to bring its waste-recycling programme up to standard, Balatoni told a news conference, according to national news agency MTI.  He added that this did not include the upgrading of existing waste dumps, of which only 10 percent met EU standards.

According to the statistics I could find: Hungary on left, Germany on right..Hungary recycled 14% of their glass in 1999 while Germany recycled 80%. One of the costs of EU status will be in recycling.. the longer term effect though will be much better economically as well environmentally, as mandatory recycling is established.

Hazardous wastes
Although I most certainly support recycling for many reasons, in today's class we will address an equally important consideration in terms of hazardous wastes produced by industry, ( including the agriculture industry -which is very important in Hungary) and consumer dumping of materials which are hazardous even though we might not recognize it ( ie. old computers, cleaning agents and so on)
I. What is the extent of hazardous waste out in the environment?
In truth, the quantity is an unknown .. I spent a number of hours online trying to get current figure for Hungary..

ILLEGAL DUMPS
Vargha said there are as many as 1,000 "illegally dumped hazardous waste spots" around Hungary, many of which have been known of for years but are only now receiving serious attention as the country struggles to meet tough EU environmental standards. [Another article said: Vargha said Hungary has 10,000 illegal waste dumps while 600 tonnes of mercury is buried in the soil in eastern Borsod county, seat of the
chemical industry.]
The Environment Ministry says 174 sites are registered for its Environmental Remediation Programme, but this number could jump to 5,000 to 10,000 as more are identified. One of the most notorious is in Gare, southern Hungary, where some 16,000 tons of cholorinated distillates from a chemical works, plus tanning wastes, have been stored for 17 years in steel drums, some of which are leaking. {Note: this problem is successfully being dealt with, with much of the treatment occurring recently]
"We could criticise the previous government...but I think it should be considered this was a period when a large part of the
socialist industry collapsed and we had to pay a very high price for the transition of our economy," said Vargha, appointed by
the rightist government which won elections in May.
"What we need now instead of so-called 'green fields' investments we need 'brown field' investments where the establishment of new technologies is linked to the cleanups of these contaminated areas."
The soil-decontamination plant shipped over from the United States to clean a huge patch of ground drenched with black fuel oil, is a case in point. Case's CEVA Hungary Ltd, a Hungarian-American joint venture, bought the plant,which had been used to clean up a railway sidings near a Las Vegas casino, and shipped it to Budapest by ship, barge and truck. It is now busy much of the day at a former quarry on a seven hectare (17-acre) site across a busy highway from Budapest's international airport, cleaning oil-contaminated soil at a rate of 40 tons an hour by churning it up and heating it in a giant rotating drum.
"After the Second World War they set it (the quarry) up for heavy oil distribution...and without any lining or anything they
started to dump fuel," said Balazs Magyar, whose company is treating contaminated water at the site.
He said when the dump was closed, some 3,800 cubic metres (134,200 cubic feet) of heavy oil were left behind, with 93,000 cubic metres of contaminated soil and a million cubic metres of contaminated ground water. "You can detect the oil in the wells of the houses nearby," he said.

China Bans Imports of Scrap Electronics in Bid to Clean Up Environment
November 02, 2004 — By Associated Press
BEIJING — China is banning imports of used television sets and other electronic scrap in a bid to clean up its environment, complaining that the United States, Japan, and others are using it as a dumping ground, a government newspaper said recently.
The ban takes effect Monday, the China Daily newspaper reported.
China has a thriving industry in recycling televisions, computer parts, and other electronic scrap. Much of the work is done by hand with few health and safety precautions, and material that isn't recycled is dumped or burned, releasing toxic chemicals into the ground and air.
"The government's latest action shows that it has, at least in some aspects, changed its policy of always putting economic concerns in front of less tangible needs such as the environment," the China Daily said.
It complained that "countries like Japan and the United States have traditionally dumped goods like" televisions and refrigerators in China as scrap.
The new regulation includes a list of banned goods — mostly electronics — and tighter restrictions on how to handle imports that still are permitted, the report said.
"If the new regulation is correctly observed, the long-term effects should be an industry which recycles a better quality of spares (second-hand parts) and a better-protected environment," the China Daily said.

II. How can you differentiate a 'hazardous' waste from regular waste? how do you know what to throw out with the 'regular' trash vs. the hazardous pile?

Hazardous wastes must fit in at least one of these categories to be considered so:

To be regulated as a hazardous waste, a substance must either have the potential to:
cause or contribute to an increase in mortality or serious illness, or, threaten human health or the environment if mismanaged. As a practical matter, a substance is regulated as a hazardous waste if it is specifically listed as such in State regulations, is mixed with or derived from one of those "listed" wastes, or exhibits certain characteristics defined in the regulations.

OR

1. Is it one of the 400 wastes already listed as a known hazardous waste?.
2. Is is Toxic? - this would include known heavy metals or pesticides capable of causing health problems
3. Is it Ignitable: organic solvents, plasticizers, paint wastes ( flash point < 140 degrees F)
4. Is it Corrosive - pH <2 or >12.5 - so this would include acids, batteries, alkaline cleaning agents
5. Is it Reactive? : obsolete munitions, dynamite, fire crackers, that can explode with air or water

Compounds that are hazardous but not included under the same regulations are:

1. Radioactive wastes ( Nuclear Regulatory Commission)

Potentially infectious medical wastes ( state regulations)

III. How harmful are these hazardous wastes? what potential reactions are possible?

1. For some, direct contact may result in mild reactions ( skin irritation); others acute poisoning

2. A number of hazardous materials may result in explosions and fires:

3. They may bioaccumulate in food chains, so that relatively small amounts may build up into lethal concentrations..... we've discussed examples of this in class.... Minamata & mercury or DDT in Eskimo mother's milk

4. The may contribute to air pollution: solid wastes with minimal amounts when burnt on a regular basis can contribute substantial or at least toxic levels
Incinerators which 'inadvertently' burn PCBs may produce dioxins, toxic in small doses
Incinerators which 'inadvertently' burn batteries may release cadmium and other heavy metals into the air.

5. The may contribute to water pollution:
Surface waters - rivers pre-1970's caught on fire from floating hazardous wastes
Ground waters: a single example should suffice- there are estimated to be more than 250,000 leaking tanks at service stations out there.... once this gasoline leak hits an aquifer or steam, how far can it travel?

Relative to previous dump sites these are safe, at least for now.... at least in sites with stable earth foundations.
Problems include the expense involved in building them, finding locations which are safe and accepted by the community

IN the 70's-80's 1000's built, now new structures number in the teens only?

Why? recognition that there must be some pretreatment of the wastes before they are laid into the site plus the expense of building such an expensive structure....

In this method a deep cylinder in drilled at least 3000 feet deep, and lined with an impermeable layer. The materials deposited are absorbed by the porous layer of rock. The assumption is made that at this depth, there is little chance that it will contaminate underground water supplies or migrate upward. It is critical that the lining remain intact, so that materials cannot filter through at a shallower depth.

Method: heat hazardous wastes 750 - 3000 degrees F. This should combust the material. Must treat with oxygen, fuel to insure total combustion. After burners destroy any C- H chains, and if any free noncombustible products left, use a scrubber or electrostatic precipitator to collect metals etc.

Pro's:
a. no more toxic compounds left for the future to deal with
b. little waste volume to deal with...thus not much land is required as with dumps, and the ash remaining can be contained properly
c. can even get energy recovery- the heat energy given off can be used to heat buildings, water supplies etc.

Con's:

Must work correctly or may increase toxic loads of air- should the temperature drop during the process, accidental releases of short chains ( i.e.. PCB's ---> dioxins) may occur.

---

4. Physical and chemical methods:

Physical methods include:

1. evaporate to concentrate: air is blown over volatile compounds, removing nonhazardous portions i.e.. water
   
2. sedimentation of solids from liquids; if the hazardous portion can be precipitated out, then you can reduce the total load and effectively treat only the hazardous part
   
3. carbon adsorption; if the hazardous portion can be adsorbed on charcoal or similar filters, this will reduce the total volume
   
4. air stripping VOC's ( volatile organic compounds) from water/liquid again will allow reduction of total volume that needs to be further treated or stored.
   
   
   

   Chemical methods include:

5. neutralize acids & alkalines; basic chemistry laws apply here
6. Solar detoxification uses the ultraviolet energy in sunlight to destroy contaminants. The contaminated medium is mixed with a catalyst (e.g., titanium dioxide) and fed into an illuminated reactor. Ultraviolet light activates the catalyst, forming reactive chemicals known as “radicals.” These are oxidizing agents. When they come into contact with contaminants, they break them down into non-toxic by-products such as carbon dioxide and water.
   For contaminated soil, vacuum extraction is used to remove contaminants from soils. After the contaminants are condensed, they are fed into the reactor. For contaminated groundwater, the groundwater passes over the catalyst. An advantage of this system over conventional treatment processes, such as those using granular activated carbon or air stripping, is that it destroys the toxic compounds.
   
7. Stabilization & solidification: once these compounds are sequestered or trapped in a solid from which they can no longer escape, they are no longer a threat to that environment....
   • Cement; i.e., ash from incinerators,
   • Encapsulation in plastic or glass beads
   • Include in road beds; auto tires are actually a hazardous waste as they can burn or release toxic compounds with weathering... once shredded and mixed with materials for roads they are no longer a threat,
     
8. ISV - in situ vitrification : giant electrodes generating 750 kw/hr melt the soil, which contains hazardous material, fusing these toxics into a solid block of glassified material.
   Vitrification uses electric power to create the heat needed to melt soil. Four rods, called
   electrodes, are drilled in the polluted area. An electric current is passed between the
   electrodes, melting the soil between them. Melting starts near the ground surface and
   moves down. As the soil melts, the electrodes sink further into the ground causing deeper
   soil to melt. When the power is turned off, the melted soil cools and vitrifies, which
   means it turns into a solid block of glass-like material. The electrodes become part of the
   block. When vitrified, the original volume of soil shrinks. This causes the ground surface in
   the area to sink slightly. To level it, the sunken area is filled with clean soil.
9. 
   

   Examples- the below article gives you a feel for not only the vitrification process, but also for what hazardous wastes are out there......

   PHASE 1 OF NUKE CLEANUP NEARS END: More than 600,000 gallons of highly radioactive waste have been solidified into glass, nearly completing the first phase of a cleanup at what was once the country's only commercial reprocessing center for nuclear fuel.  The lethal leftovers from three decades ago are now in the form of 10-foot glass logs stored in individual steel canisters and stacked behind concrete walls four feet thick. The 250 capsules are visible through equally thick windows but are touched only by robotic arms. They will endure for 10,000 years.

   The waste-to-glass process, known as vitrification, was undertaken to keep the liquid from seeping, as a result of rupture or corrosion, through the single-hulled storage tank into the ground. The site is crisscrossed by several streams and the waste eventually could have found its way to Lake Erie and Buffalo's water intakes. Had that happened, the city's drinking water might have been contaminated for 300 years.

a. Phytoremediation: using plants to absorb toxins from the environment.

Examples include: Radioactivity: Sunflowers at Chernobyl: floating rafts .... roots preferentially absorb cesium and strontium TCE's ( 3-chloroethylene) used in dry-cleaning industry and a degreasing agent can be absorbed by Poplar trees. Fast growing roots move 40-50 ft to clean ground water. Lead: Herbs pick up lead in soil if soil pretreated with a chelating agent first ( as lead tends to stick to humus in soil) Selenium found in western soils in toxic amounts - increases with irrigation.... Plants can not only pick it up but also convert to dimethyl selenium gas which is less toxic. Substitute plants to do the job include the slat marsh grasses like spartina Who is doing this work? companies like DuPont, Exxon, US govt.

Problems:

1. Attitude - is too low tech? actually a well evolved system which is gaining much respect and is now even approved by EPA

2. What to do with plants now storing the toxins.... if crop the plants and remove in a controlled fashion ok, but if left in field, may be eaten by animals out there.

New appraoches include bioengineering plants to pick up specific toxins. With global heavy metal contamination increasing, plants that can process heavy metals might provide efficient and ecologically sound approaches to sequestration and removal. Mercuric ion reductase, MerA, converts toxic Hg++ to the less toxic, relatively inert, metallic mercury (Hgo). These and other data suggest that there are potentially viable molecular genetic approaches to the phytoremediation of metal ion pollution.

b. Bioremediation by microbes: microbes can decompose toxic compounds in the water, soil or groundwater, using these molecules for energy.

Back in the days when gasoline was cheap & plentiful, researchers were experimenting with the idea of growing microbes on petroleum as a potential food source;. The protein in the bacteria would be used as food supply for cattle or humans ( 'green pills')- similiar to the idea of ruminants who harbor cellulose digesting bacteria, some of which are themselves digested for additional protein source

.... When oil prices increased, a new use was proposed for these critters; if we have a organism that can metabolize oil for energy why can't we use them clean up oil spills?.

How does it work?

Bacteria: Pseudomonas, Flavorbacterium et.al ( as well as Streptomyces and Spirillium [blue-green bacterium] ) can grow in water and decontaminate oil in aquatic systems. Nature 408, 580 - 583 (2000) © Macmillan Publishers Ltd. Bacterial dehalorespiration with chlorinated benzenes

Chlorobenzenes are toxic, highly persistent and ubiquitously distributed environmental contaminants that accumulate in the food chain. The only known microbial transformation of 1,2,3,5-tetrachlorobenzene (TeCB) and higher chlorinated benzenes is the reductive dechlorination to lower chlorinated benzenes under anaerobic conditions observed with mixed bacterial cultures. The lower chlorinated benzenes can subsequently be mineralized by aerobic bacteria.

Fungi: Yeasts & others [ Candida, Rhodotorula, Penicillium, Aspergillius, Mucor] can digest oil on land

Actual use of this technique:

Pro's -

1. cheap ( 10-20% cost of other techniques)
2. extensive- widespread applicability- sometimes over large areas not normally treatable by any other technique
3. don't need to disturb the environment

1969: Torrey Canyon oil tanker --> natural + man-aided

Since then:

1. We know that these bacteria & fungi are out-there and the natural degradation by these organisms is limited by environmental factors: low phosphates or nitrogen or low O2.

Thus we can biostimulate by adding fertilizers or biovent by adding O2

We can bioaugment by seeding low natural populations with additional spores.

When the Valdez spill occurred in Alaska, bacteria were already there as they fed on terpenes dripped by pine trees over bay waters & so were already active. Treatment was to add additional nutrients. In 2 months the beaches were clean at least on the surface, and the degradation was continuing below.

There are some con's however:

1. What is clean? may breakdown some chains, but not all... some are too big or complex for the microbes to degrade
2. Need expensive analyses to substantiate that gasoline fragments are no longer there... GC/MS. HPLC
3. May produce adducts, DNA/RNA/protein which are toxic to other organisms...

c. GEM's or genetically engineered microbes & plants may offer great potential: these bioengineered organisms would produce the necessary enzymes to degrade hazardous compounds present in the area. Although the potential is here is great, we need to be cautious. For example, these microbes, once the oil or hazardous compound is consumed, may continue on in the ecosystem to breakdown natural products critical for the functioning of that ecosystem. They may also replace native species, altering the biochemistry involved in regulating species interactions. We really don't know enough about these natural systems in the first place to be able to predict what will happen. out their... inside the lab safety is more easily insured. One has to assume that the researchers releasing these organisms have also inserted a gene/s which allow them to regulate their continued growth ( i.e.. a requirement for a specific compound which the researchers supply, but when cut off, causes that organism to die.)

How can the following organism be used to help clean up the environment?

Deinococcus radiodurans was first isolated in 1956 from cans of meat that had been sterilized, or so it was thought, with gamma radiation. When Deinococcus is dried, some bacteria can survive exposure to 12 million rads of radiation, Dr. Battista has found. One thousand rads will kill a person. Radiation causes mutation -- damage to individual DNA units -- but is deadly to cells because it can also cut both strands of the DNA double helix. Most bacteria can repair a couple of double breaks but cannot cope with more. Deinococcus can knit together its DNA even after the genome has been blasted into more than 100 pieces.

Even more surprisingly, the bacterium somehow recognizes and corrects all the mutated DNA units. "It repairs double-strand breaks and keeps the genome totally free of mutation; it truly is extraordinary," Dr. Battista said.

Waste of one company becomes the necessary ingredient for another

BEST-MANAGED COMPANIES POLLUTE LESS, AUTHOR SAYS

Joseph J. Romm is touting an idea whose time may lie just over the horizon: The best-managed companies pollute less and save energy while making more money. These are often the same companies that have benefited from rigorous competition of the global economy -- and that will have cut their noxious air emissions to meet the U.N. agreement on global warming signed in Kyoto, Japan, a year ago.

"Pollution at the deepest level means waste," said Romm, a former U.S. Energy Department official. "Companies should be operating more efficiently. When they are polluting [the air or the water], they have something left over from the production process that they have to ship and treat." He is the author of several books, most recently of "Cool Companies: How the Best Businesses Boost Profits and Productivity Cutting Greenhouse Gas Emissions."

Anheuser-Busch Cos is the only St. Louis company mentioned in Romm's book, primarily for its "remarkable" bio-energy recovery system, which treats waste water from brewing. "Bacteria consume organic compounds in a tank of water," Romm writes, "releasing bio-gas (mostly methane) that bubbles to the top. The system simultaneously reduces solid waste and generates fuel."

The process seems to be win-win. "This bio-energy recovery system uses 80 percent less electricity -- and hence it generates 80 percent less greenhouse gases-- than a conventional system," Romm writes. "At the same time, it produces a renewable source of energy that supplies up to 15 percent of a brewery's fuel needs."

Twenty years ago, as the leading American multinational companies were venturing into the global economy, they began to stress quality control as a way to gain a competitive edge. Toyota Motors, the Japanese carmaker, moved ahead in the United States and other markets by stressing high quality in its vehicles, while buyers considered American cars inferior. Competition has forced American automakers to be better designed and built. "It made more sense to design quality in from the start," Romm said.

Similarly, he added, leading Fortune 500 companies have learned that they must "design in" environmental controls that allow them to save and reuse energy, while reducing the water, air and soil pollution that will cost them money to clean up. "If Toyota, Anheuser-Busch and DuPont can do this, any company can do it," Romm said. "Preventing pollution is cheaper than fixing pollution."

Often, Romm said, the cost of adding pollution-reducing devices can be recovered relatively quickly. "We will walk into any factory, finance with shared savings all the retrofitting and have a payback in seven years," said Romm, who heads a nonprofit consulting firm, Center for Energy and Climate Solutions.

Waste exchange first started in the 1970's --> when 40+ companies got together to negotiate exchange of 'waste'

Examples include:

1. metal ppt's in electroplating can used for production of magnetic films & tapes
2. old tires are used for repaving roads
3. acids are reacidified and used in a 2nd process...
   
   EXCHANGES: The Internet's landfill alternative
   September 21, 2004 — By Throwplace.com
   Throwplace.com, the Internet's landfill alternative, promotes and facilitates recycling and reuse by providing a nation-wide venue for everyone to post and find excess inventory and possessions. Goods can be listed — confidentially and without charge — for donation to charities and nonprofits or to businesses and individuals for reuse, recycling and refurbishing. Users may search for items by keyword or location, may designate that their donations be picked-up, or offer to ship to selected recipients. "Take what you need, and Throw what you don't" at Throwplace.com, a give-away Web site that is structured, organized and easy to navigate.
   

MAKING NEW PRODUCT OUT OF OLD: Glass recycling is not only for bottles:

Hungary in EU Research and Development: // Technological offers
Recycling glass for the construction industry
Glass is a widespread packaging material. Being a unique packaging material, it contributes not only to the quality of products, but also to the quality of the environment. Most recycling techniques are focused on reusing glass within the same industry. A new breakthrough development has succeeded in turning glass scrap into construction material components with enhanced features for heat insulation and fire protection.It is hardly surprising that so many of the best-known quality products are packed in glass. Compared to other packaging materials, it perfectly preserves flavours, fragrances and the wholesomeness of its contents and displays them beautifully for the benefit of consumers, retailers and packer/fillers. Not only does it exert these features, but it also contributes to environmental protection, since it is one of the most commonly-used recycling materials. Glass can be recycled indefinitely without any loss of quality and consequently, recycled glass packaging is extensively used in many market sectors from wine and beer to spirits and foods.
Exceeding this limited application area, a newly developed glass recycling technology succeeded in converting glass waste into useful components for the construction material industry. The patented technique processes solid wastes with high glass contents for the production of the so called Geofil bubbles, which are lightweight granules of 5-25 mm and can be easily embedded in gypsum, concrete or silicate matrices to produce building blocks. The resulting building blocks have excellent heat and sound insulation specifications, increased crushing strength and even fireproof capabilities.
This breakthrough technique deals mainly with the problems of waste and the benefits of recycling. As such, it reduces waste disposal costs and minimises landfill requirements. By using waste material that substitutes raw material, such as mined basalt, sand, perlite, gravel. It also contributes to further reductions in environmental impact and promotes environmental conservation. Beyond recycling, this valuable material can be extensively used by the construction industry for producing heat and sound insulating plasters and layers, heat insulating floor tiling elements (in floor heating systems), protecting bridges against freeze, lightweight concrete blocks and sound bluster walls.

Pro: much cheaper and safer in the end... develop alternatives

Examples:

1. Reformulating chemicals.... glues, white-out, paints use substitutes which are not toxic
2. Substituting nonhazardous chemicals for hazardous ones... water based inks
3. Changing the manufacturing process... no longer acid etch use mechanical sanding
4. Keeping the wastes separate, so don't contaminate large batches