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Solid Waste
- Sources of Solid Waste:
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- For urban and suburban dwellers, the most visible collection
of solid municipal waste is actually only a small percentage
of all waste as seen in this graphic.
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- Agricultural waste from animals is a very big problem in
rural areas and causes significant air and water pollution unless
properly controlled.
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- In mining areas, there are mountains of waste generated in
digging an open pit mine. Two types of waste are generated.
- 1) The over burden of rocks need to be relocated into large
piles of waste rock.
- 2) Slag and tailings left over after the extraction of metals
from the ore is another source of waste.
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- Composition of Municipal Solid Waste:
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- As you can see from this graphic the largest category of
solid waste is paper. This is largely recycled at this time.
- Yard waste at least in Illinois is no longer sent to landfills
but is composted.
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Fate of Solid Waste"
This graphic shows that the vast majority of the waste in
the United States is landfilled. Since 1990, the numbers of recycled
and composted waste have increased significantly.
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