American Resource Management
American Resource Management: Assets or Liabilities?
By Rob Arner
Each year Americans use, discard and recycle more than 11 billion tons of waste, not including nuclear and hazardous waste. Americans generate 1.6 million tons of hazardous household waste (HHW) including, paints, cleaners, oils, batteries, and pesticides that contain corrosive, toxic, ignitable and reactive ingredients. Improved feedback in what we discard can stimulate a greater understanding on how we can either minimize and/or recover this waste. Americans are awaking to both future resource shortages and what we consume. How we best manage and sustain today’s resources has global security implications.
There are many types of waste generated in the US. Industrial facilities generate 7.6 billion tons of non-hazardous industrial waste each year, much which is water. This waste includes domestic sewage and wastewater treatment biosolids, demolition and construction wastes, agricultural and mining residues, combustion ash, and industrial process wastes.
Our increased living standard results in not just resource consumption but a serious question if sufficient resources can absorb the waste from our energy and material intensive lifestyles. Better tracking of the entire material cycle can provide us with a more holistic approach to management our limited resources. Some of the key issues facing us are;
• How to slow global warming from the 6 to 8 billion tons of carbon that humans yearly contribute to the atmosphere. We are 5% of the world’s population producing 22% of the climate altering CO2 added to the atmosphere. Major ecological, economic and social consequences may result in such things as increased storms, flooding, droughts and decreased food production.
• How to conserve water. Americans use three times more water each day than Europeans or 1,300 gallons each person here in the U.S. Each day we use 137 billion gallons of water to irrigate in the US. Power plants that use coal, oil, natural gas and uranium consume 131 billion gallons of water each day. Industry demands another 25 billion gallons a days. Overall the US withdraws 339 billion gallons of ground and surface water each day. According to the U.S. National Research Council, initial clean-up of contaminated groundwater at 300,000 sites in the United States could cost up to $1 trillion over the next 30 years.
• How to safely dispose of our radioactive waste. Each year in the United States 2,000 tons of spent fuel is generated by the nation’s 103 operating nuclear power plants that provide 20 percent of America’s electricity. Roughly 40,000 tons of waste has been generated by America’s commercial nuclear plants.
• How to manage the 3 billion tons oil and gas wastes generated yearly by oil and gas exploration and production. Each year America consumes more than 240 billion gallons of oil. Also, we produce 72% of the world’s hazardous waste, while yearly using 2.2 billion pounds of pesticides.
• How to promote green building. Buildings account for one of sixth of the world’s freshwater withdrawal, one-quarter of its wood harvest, and two-fifths of its materials and energy flow.
• Proper recycling of biosolids can reduce risks to our health and environment. Approximately eight million dry metric tons of biosolids are produced annually--that's about 70 pounds per person per year. Another 500 million tons of manure is produced yearly by agricultural animals.
• Roughly one-half of our solid waste is organic. Besides paper, yard and vegetative waste over 96 billion pounds of food a year or one quarter of America’s food that is lost. Compost both generates new soil and controls erosion. 2 billion tons of topsoil is lost through erosion every year.
Without comprehensive environmental management and integrated planning of the entire materials/by-products cycle we will be ineffective in transforming our liabilities into assets. Such new ventures can chart a course of action and conservation.
By Rob Arner
Each year Americans use, discard and recycle more than 11 billion tons of waste, not including nuclear and hazardous waste. Americans generate 1.6 million tons of hazardous household waste (HHW) including, paints, cleaners, oils, batteries, and pesticides that contain corrosive, toxic, ignitable and reactive ingredients. Improved feedback in what we discard can stimulate a greater understanding on how we can either minimize and/or recover this waste. Americans are awaking to both future resource shortages and what we consume. How we best manage and sustain today’s resources has global security implications.
There are many types of waste generated in the US. Industrial facilities generate 7.6 billion tons of non-hazardous industrial waste each year, much which is water. This waste includes domestic sewage and wastewater treatment biosolids, demolition and construction wastes, agricultural and mining residues, combustion ash, and industrial process wastes.
Our increased living standard results in not just resource consumption but a serious question if sufficient resources can absorb the waste from our energy and material intensive lifestyles. Better tracking of the entire material cycle can provide us with a more holistic approach to management our limited resources. Some of the key issues facing us are;
• How to slow global warming from the 6 to 8 billion tons of carbon that humans yearly contribute to the atmosphere. We are 5% of the world’s population producing 22% of the climate altering CO2 added to the atmosphere. Major ecological, economic and social consequences may result in such things as increased storms, flooding, droughts and decreased food production.
• How to conserve water. Americans use three times more water each day than Europeans or 1,300 gallons each person here in the U.S. Each day we use 137 billion gallons of water to irrigate in the US. Power plants that use coal, oil, natural gas and uranium consume 131 billion gallons of water each day. Industry demands another 25 billion gallons a days. Overall the US withdraws 339 billion gallons of ground and surface water each day. According to the U.S. National Research Council, initial clean-up of contaminated groundwater at 300,000 sites in the United States could cost up to $1 trillion over the next 30 years.
• How to safely dispose of our radioactive waste. Each year in the United States 2,000 tons of spent fuel is generated by the nation’s 103 operating nuclear power plants that provide 20 percent of America’s electricity. Roughly 40,000 tons of waste has been generated by America’s commercial nuclear plants.
• How to manage the 3 billion tons oil and gas wastes generated yearly by oil and gas exploration and production. Each year America consumes more than 240 billion gallons of oil. Also, we produce 72% of the world’s hazardous waste, while yearly using 2.2 billion pounds of pesticides.
• How to promote green building. Buildings account for one of sixth of the world’s freshwater withdrawal, one-quarter of its wood harvest, and two-fifths of its materials and energy flow.
• Proper recycling of biosolids can reduce risks to our health and environment. Approximately eight million dry metric tons of biosolids are produced annually--that's about 70 pounds per person per year. Another 500 million tons of manure is produced yearly by agricultural animals.
• Roughly one-half of our solid waste is organic. Besides paper, yard and vegetative waste over 96 billion pounds of food a year or one quarter of America’s food that is lost. Compost both generates new soil and controls erosion. 2 billion tons of topsoil is lost through erosion every year.
Without comprehensive environmental management and integrated planning of the entire materials/by-products cycle we will be ineffective in transforming our liabilities into assets. Such new ventures can chart a course of action and conservation.
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