Waste Management

What is leachate?

• Water that collects contaminants as it drains through a landfill.

• Type of organism that helps to break down compost in a landfill.

• The bottom layer of covering in a landfill.

• The system to capture methane before it vents into the atmosphere.

Approximately what percentage of waste can be composted?

• 24%

• 34%

• 64%

• 84%

What is the term for a place where trash is simply piled up without proper liners or caps?

• open dump

• sanitary landfill

• municipal solid waste facility

• compost facility

How can incinerators help the waste problem?

• Incinerators reduce air pollution

• Incinerators remove toxins from wastes

• Incinerators recycle biodegradable wastes

• Incinerators decrease the volume of trash

What is found at the bottom of a sanitary landfill?

• A methane recovery system

• A layer of sand and gravel

• Alternating layers of soil and waste

• A plastic or clay liner

What would be the consequences if leachate was to leak out of a landfill?

• An air quality monitoring station could sound the alarm.

• Groundwater could become contaminated.

• Nothing; landfills are designed to allow for some leakage.

• The atmosphere would be contaminated.

Which greenhouse gas is produced by the microbes in landfills during anaerobic decomposition?

• oxygen

• carbon dioxide

• carbon monoxide

• methane

What does the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act focus on?

• Recycling and composting more materials

• Integrated waste management of biological materials

• Hazardous waste cleanup

• Reducing or eliminating the generation of hazardous wste

Which soil is best to have under a landfill?

• sand

• silt

• clay

• loam

Composting focuses on which two nutrients?

• carbon, nitrogen

• nitrogen, phosphorus

• carbon, oxygen

• oxygen, carbon