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FILMSCRIPTS ON SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT
This script is one of a series published to help
lecturers, teachers, and group leaders prepare for viewing
and discussion of solid waste management films. It is
also intended for those in an audience who want
a permanent record of the data presented in a film.
It was written by Stuart Finley, Inc.,
the producer of the film, in close cooperation with staff of the
Federal solid waste management program.
Titles and publication numbers of scripts
for solid waste management films are shown below.
The Third Pollution SW-39c.l
Bum, Bury, or What? SW-39c.2
Recycling SW-39c.3
5000 Dumps SW-39c.4
In the Bag SW-39c.5
The Green Box SW-39c.6
The Stuff We Throw Away SW-39c.7
What's New in Solid Waste Management? SW-39c.8
Instructions for borrowing or purchasing these films are
given with each script and are summarized in the
brochure Films Tell the Story, available from the
Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing
Office, Washington, D.C., 20402.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1972
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THE THIRD POLLUTION
23 minutes, 16-mm motion picture, sound, color, 1966. Order no. AM-1404.*
THE THIRD POLLUTION dramatizes the Nation's $4.5 billion-a-year problem of
managing its solid wastes. Burning refuse contributes to air pollution, and
dumping it contaminates ground water supplies. In addition, the collection and
disposal of solid wastes is expensive and technically challenging. This film
describes the various alternatives which are available. Suitable for lay and
technical audiences.
Solid wastes being transported to
Staten Island Sanitary Landfill
Refuse being collected in New York
City
New York City street collection
Staten Island landfill operations
Earth cover in place on Staten
Island landfill
Men throwing trash into a transfer
station
We might someday be known as the generation that stood
knee-deep in garbage firing rockets at the moon.
Water pollution may flow away to bother someone else
downstream, air pollution may blow away to foul the
atmosphere downwind, but the "Third Pollution", solid waste,
just piles up in staggering quantities. On the average, each of us
generates 4& pounds of refuse a day .. . nearly a ton a year.
New York City's Department of Sanitation has 14,000
employees and 1,200 trucks . .. collecting nearly 10,000 tons
of household refuse every day ... 3 million tons a year.
Then there are special collections of trade waste, bulk refuse,
abandoned cars, street sweepings, litter, and leaves. All told,
New York City disposes of over 6 million tons a year. . . and
much of it is buried in this 3,000 acre sanitary landfill on
Staten Island.
When the earth cover has been spread, you'd never know that
the remnants of millions of dollars worth of consumer goods
lie buried below . . . patiently waiting for the curious eye of
some future archaeologist.
Most urban communities in America have a significant solid
waste problem. As everyone energetically disposes of his
unwanted material, 150 million tons a year move into
*Borrow from: National Medical Audiovisual Center
Purchase from: Stuart Finley, Inc.
3428 Mansfield Road, Falls Church, Va. 22041
Area Code 703/820-7700
Prints-$225
Contact producer for permission to use on TV.
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incinerators, landfills or dumps. But, there are conflicting
criteria:
• “Don’t put a smelly dump or a busy landfill near my
home.”
• “Don’t bum the stuff and create air pollution.”
• “Don’t tax us so heavily for garbage collection and
disposal.”
Burning dump at Kenilworth in This burning dump in Washington, D.C., converts solid
Washington, D.C. emitting clouds pollution into air pollution. The bottom layer of our
of black smoke atmosphere, 6 miles high, contains 70 percent of the earth’s
total air mass. The capacity of this reservoir depends on
ventilation rates and patterns which are controlled by
numerous variables. The worst possible situation is a stagnant
pool of air hanging over a big city.
Individual New York City incin- A typical city skyline . . . with a wisp of smoke dispersing into
erators exndnig smoke the atmosphere. New York City has over 10,000 individually
owned, flue-fed incinerators.
Empire State Building and city Despite the acknowledged health hazard, every year
covered with smog. . . zooming out automobiles, industry, power plants, furnaces, and refuse
to show blue sky overhead disposal systems throughout the country vent 125 million tons
of pollutants into the atmosphere.
Zoom river to riverbank dump Improper methods of solid waste disposal can also generate
water pollution.
Rain on burning dump and sign But even more insidious than the effect on surface waters is
the possibility of ground water pollution. Rain on dumps, and
even seepage through poorly engineered sanitary landfills, can
leach dissolved pollution into sub-surface water systems.
Garbage covered with flies j The National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council
comments that “pollution is a resource out of place”. This
garbage, which could be converted into compost with fertilizer
value, is discarded instead... a nuisance... a hazard to
health. The United States Public Health Service warns that
ifies, cockroaches and mosquitoes cany disease...
Ratsindump .. .andsodorats.
Tranier station operation showing The solid waste problem is an economic paradox. Reluctantly,
extensive size of solid waste pso we spend over $3 billion a year to collect and dispose of our
blem refuse. Of all public services, only roads and schools cost more.
And, yet, our efforts to salvage used materials with value are
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inadequate. Municipalities frequently “go it alone” rather than
organize regional systems which would be more effective and
efficient, industrial support is needed to stem the flow of
one-way bottles and nondegradable plastics and aluminum
cans which compound the problem. Cities, counties,
metropolitan regions, states. . . all need to face up to this very
real requirement.
Refuse arriving at Mission Canyon Some tips on solid waste management!
Sanitary Landfill in Los Angeles; it
is bulldozed into place The Mission Canyon Sanitary Landfill is one of the several
serving Los Angeles. It receives 3,000 to 4,000 tons of refuse a
day. Its operation is one of the best in the world. A sanitary
landfill is more than a “dump” or a “landfill”. A good
sanitary landfill is an aesthetically acceptable, coordinated
operation which receives and quickly buries refuse to prevent
air pollution by smoke and odor, disease transmission by
rodents and vermin, and other nuisances and hazards.
Earthmovers install earth cover Big earthmovers spread clean soil over the refuse after it has
been placed, completing coverage by the end of each day’s
operation. Compacting the fill will diminish drainage
problems, reduce subsequent settling, and prevent odor, rat
infestation, and the emergence of any hatching fly larvae.
While this ambitious operation is more expensive than open
dumping, it can be satisfactorily conducted near residential
areas thus permitting closer location and reduced hauling
costs.
Huge refuse truck driving along In some cities, as much as 80 percent of total costs are devoted
superhighway to collection and hauling. And so the Los Angeles County
Sanitation Districts transfer refuse to huge trucks, while
strategically locating landfffls throughout the metropolitan
area. No one wants to live next to a dump. But, what about a
sanitary landfill? If it is properly operated, the nuisance is
negligible.
Mission Canyon landfill nearing Many landfill areas are not subsequently developed intensively
completion due to the possibility of slight settlement of the fill. Thus,
instead of being surrounded by other development, the nearby
homeowner can be next to a park or green space.
Sanitary landfill at Waukegan, By way of contrast, look at this excellent operation serving the
illinois; operation by National smaller community of Waukegan, Illinois. It is privately
Disposal Service operated and is located on flat terrain instead of filling a
ravine. Incidentally, refuse collection and disposal must
continue rain or shine, summer or winter. While some future
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technique which could “recycle” our wastes might be more
desirable theoretically, the sanitary landfill is practical,
economic, safe, and is currently being used by many large
cities and smaller communities.
Hempstead, New York sign and The incinerator without a smokestack! Many years ago, when
long shot of incinerator; incinerator incineration was first used to reduce the volume of refuse, the
operation crude operation and offensive smoke from these furnaces
caused extensive public opposition. While there are still many
deficient operations throughout the country, today engineers
are devising handsome, efficient and nuisance-free incinerators.
This new unit at Oceanside, Long Island, has a capacity of 750
tons per day. In addition to burning refuse, this incinerator
includes a waste heat recovery complex providing both power
generation and salt water conversion. The architect designed
the building to appear to the casual observer to be a school or
institution.
Technician taking readings and ad- Even though refuse disposal creates only a small percentage of
justing air pollution controls total air pollution, public operation of these facilities requires
that they set an example. Accordingly, the Town of
Hempstead has incorporated a complicated network of large
arrestors which catch the fly ash before it can emerge from the
stack as visible air pollution. By adjusting dampers, optimum
velocities are maintained permitting the scrubbers to clean the
gasses thoroughly. As a result, no tall smokestack is needed.
Persons driving by the Oceanside plant would have a hard time
guessing that this is the town incinerator.
Professor Elmer Kaiser of New Just as the sanitary landfill is an improvement over open
York University conducting an dumping, today’s incinerator is merely an improvement over
experiment open burning. .. and further improvements are needed. Here,
Professor Elmer Kaiser, of New York University, conducts
working experiments at the Oceanside plant under sponsorship
of the U.S. Public Health Service. The recently passed Solid
Waste Disposal Act places a strong emphasis on research.
Water intake; desalinization; cx- Here at Oceanside, it was possible to use excess heat from the
tenor of available waste to desalt ocean waterat lower cost than other
locally available water supplies. Instead of an ugly,
single-purpose furnace, the Town of Hempstead has invested in
a sophisticated solid waste disposal plant with byproducts of
electric power generation and water desalination. Uhimate
future development of the potentials in this type of process
might additionally involve water purification for public water
supply and sewage treatment.
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National Waste Conversion Cor- At Manhattan College in New York City, a pilot plant built by
poration pilot plant at Manhattan the National Waste Conversion Corporation demonstrates
College some new techniques in composting municipal refuse.
Shredded refuse is fed into the Mechanically shredded garbage and trash is the input material.
converter Bulky objects are taken out first and then metal is removed by
magnets after grinding.
Composting process Then the raw pulp undergoes complete aerobic bacterial
digestion for a period of 48 to 60 hours. This composting
process will convert refuse with as much as 85 percent paper
content.
Operating unit is shown to ff Partially digested pulp is recirculated; acid or alkaline
personnel correction is made and nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium
are added during digestion.
Final product The final product is a granular, free.flowing, dust-free material
containing controlled quantities of plant food enrichment. It is
an organic fertilizer . . . a saleable product designed for the
home, lawn, and garden market or the farm.
Lantz Converter pilot plant Here at Glendale, California, we see another pilot plant. This is
the Lantz Converter. Its input is shredded municipal rubbish,
agricultural refuse or industrial waste. These combustible
materials are carbonized through a process called destructive
distillation. This is a continuous-flow, self-sustaining
operation. One product is combustible gasses. About 30
percent of these are fed back to sustain the process. The
remainder are adaptable as fuel.
Charcoal The other product is charcoal which can be formed into
briquettes and also used as fuel. For example, a Lantz
Converter can decompose 2 tons of wood scraps per hour,
producing 800 pounds of charcoal and 100,000 cubic feet of
gas with a resultant surplus of over 50 million Btu’s of heat.
Fairfield-Hardy Digester at One of the few successful composting plants in the United
Altoona, Pennsylvania States is at Altoona, Pennsylvania where a Fairfield-Hardy
Digester expedites digestion of municipal wastes by
aerobic-thermophiic action. This digester provides control
over forced air to govern the self-generated temperature of the
material during a 5-day digestion period. The digester is part of
the equipment used by Altoona FAM Corporation, a
commercially successful converter of garbage, refuse, sewage
sludge, animal and other wastes into a usable compost or soil
conditioner. Some of the compost is sold commercially but
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most of it is sold in bulk shipments to fertilizer companies,
truck farms, and local farmers.
Idle Los Angeles composting plant This composting plant in California is not being operated,
partly because there is no market for the soil conditioner.
Here, dairy wastes are a competing product and are cheaper to
the farmer. Thus, composting usually is not thought of as a
business . . . but rather as an alternative to incineration or
landfill operations, thus justifying municipal expenditure.
California dairy Agricultural solid wastes involve huge volumes of manure, crop
residues, and wastes from rural industries such as fruit packing
stands, canneries, and packing houses.
Mountain of This mountain of cow manure near Los Angeles has no
market. Nationally, 50 billion cubic feet of livestock manure is
produced every year . . . and less and less is being used as
fertilizer. Chemical fertilizers are cheaper. Wastes from swine.
chicken and cattle alone are equivalent to ten times the wastes
from the human population of the United States.
Barren desert in California; nearby Man is the prime factor in the world’s ecology. Up until now,
productive cropland his role has been principally that of a mischiefmaker, as his
activities have progressively unbalanced one ecological system
after another. But, the future could see him as a tranquilizing
influence.., soothing nature’s extremes. . bringing a desert
back to life. Processing and recycling our solid wastes is
fundamental. The Federal government already offers survey
and planning grants and demonstration grants to state and
local governments and soon will attack America’s solid waste
problem even more vigorously.
Officials of the American Public Members of the American Public Works Association are
Works Association interested in both the practical and theoretical aspects of solid
waste management. These leaders from government and
industry are involved in training programs and personnel
recruitment and research projects which will result in better
technology for tomorrow.
Abandoned cars in country and on One person’s trash basket is another’s living space.
city street
The salvage industry is a $3 billion a year business. Most
File of old cars; car shredder salvage companies specialize in reclaiming metals, but more
diversified operations are being developed. Everything that is
salvaged would otherwise end up in an incinerator or a
landfill. . . or a dump or vacant lot. This gigantic shredder in
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Los Angeles eats old washing machines, used bathtubs, and
outdated automobiles.
Shredder: chips pour out
Abandoned car on New York City
street is being picked up and hauled
away
Slag heap: paper wastes
Zoom from San Francisco to bay-
shore cove landfill
Landfill showing trucks and
seagulls; Brisbane in foreground
showing landfill in distance; free-
way panning to new till area in the
Bay
Remote canyon
Nearly 7 million vehicles are junked every year. There are
between 20 and 40 million old car hulks rusting away in field
or auto graveyards . . . and the backlog is increasing.
Meantime, 2,000 cars a month are abandoned on New York
City streets.
You might call this gentleman an “auto undertaker”. He is
preparing the body for what probably will be an indecent
burial in the city landfill. The salvage industry has an active
research program but a greater public effort would help. Every
ton of salvaged material saves taxpayer dollars .. . and many
salvage operations conserve our limited natural resources. For
example, iron is a nonrenewable resource concentrated in ores
over millions of years by geological processes. If allowed to
corrode or disperse, it is irretrievably lost.
But the metals industries are not the only fruitful areas for
effective and profitable salvage operations. Manufacturing
produces huge quantities of industrial wastes and many of
them (such as this pulp residue) could be put to good use.
Out in San Francisco, there’s a song that goes:
“Seventy miles of wind and spray,
Seventy miles of water,
Seventy miles of open bay—
It’s a garbage dump.
Sludge puddle, sad and gray?
Why man, that’s San Francisco Bay.”
Once this was a beautiful little cove off San Francisco Bay.
Now, it is an obviously not-too-sanitary landfill. The refuse
from San Francisco is being swept under the rug here . - . while
the suburb of Brisbane bristles. . . but can do nothing about
it. The contenders in this ugly battle: a private scavenger
corporation, San Francisco and Brisbane officials, and a
vigilante conmiittee of angry citizens. And, Just to add insult
to injury, this once beautiful section of San Francisco Bay has
been diked and filling has begun. However, public reaction has
been so Strenuous that it seems quite likely that the practice of
filling San Francisco Bay with refuse, or anything else must be
discontinued -
There are alternatives. Some remote canyon, such as this,
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might be filled and converted into a park... or new
techniques of handling solid wastes might be tried. But, these
alternatives cost money.
Tilt from &isbane to landfill
Plastic container in dump
Huge mound of glass
Aluminum cans in dump
Bus load of citizens on way to visit
burning dump
Kenilworth Dump burning openly
with clouds of black smoke;
citizens inspect the situation and
are interviewed by the press and TV
reporters
Meantime, San Francisco’s illogical program has evaded a
routine municipal responsibility only to cause the destruction
of an irreplaceable natural resource... testimony that man
can be his own worst enemy.
If it’s beautiful, novel, and easy to open, man will buy it. He
gives no thought to the degradabiity of the packaging around
his favorite consumer product. This plastic container will be
unrotted, unrusted, totally unaffected perhaps, a million years
from now.
Sixty percent of soft drinks are sold in no-return bottles. While
such bottles are a convenience to consumers and to retailers
alike, and a source of profit to the industry, their use increases
the work and consequently the cost of refuse disposal and
litter control.
Container manufacturers make many of today’s cans out of
unrustable aluminum. The packaging and retailing industries
should search for new methods which will diminish these
problems. As a consumer, you can help by purchasing
products packaged in such a manner as to be compatible with
litter control and refuse disposal problems.
A bus load of angry citizens on their way to the Kenilworth
Landfill in Washington, D.C.
They call it the “dump” because it looks like a dump and the
landfill operation is inadequate. Their particular complaint is
the gross air pollution from the burning of a million cubic
yards of trash every year... one fourth of all solid waste
collected in the District of Columbia. For years, city officials
have been trying to build a fifth incinerator to solve this
emergency situation, but everytime they find a location
nearby property owners complain loudly enough to prevent
action. Meantime, Washington’s air pollution gets worse.
America generates over a billion cubic yards of refuse
annually ... enough to fill a hole four times the size of the
Panama Canal. A big problem... but not inordinately
difficult. Public officials work at it . .. but ultimately the
quality of the result is proportional to citizen support in the
community. Public apathy will result in unprofessional
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practices - . . public interest can stimulate new systems which
will make our environment safe and beautiful. . . and preserve
America’s valuable natural resources.
ci633
759-397/137 9
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