AP®︎ Environmental Science: Topic 8.10 Flashcards

Changing how materials are produced, used, collected, or processed so less waste requires disposal and fewer virgin resources are extracted

The flow of discarded materials from homes, businesses, institutions, industries, and other sources

The preferred order of source reduction, reuse, recycling and composting, energy recovery, then treatment and disposal

Preventing waste before it is created, such as by using less packaging or choosing durable, repairable, or reusable products

Keeping an item or component in service without first converting it back into raw material

Redirecting generated waste away from landfills or incinerators through reuse, recycling, or composting; unlike source reduction, it does not prevent waste generation

Diversion rate = mass reused, recycled, or composted ÷ total mass of waste generated × 100

Processing discarded materials into feedstock for new products, reducing demand for virgin resources and landfill space but requiring energy and money

Controlled, usually aerobic decomposition of organic waste into nutrient-containing compost used as fertilizer or a soil amendment; drawbacks include odors and rodents

Discarded electronic devices that can be reused or recycled to recover materials and keep hazardous substances such as lead and mercury from leaching into groundwater

Burning solid waste to produce heat, steam, and electricity while reducing waste volume; it leaves ash and can emit carbon dioxide and other air pollutants

Capturing methane-rich gas from anaerobic landfill decomposition and combusting it to generate electricity or useful heat, limit methane release, and reduce landfill volume

Capping, monitoring, revegetating, and converting a closed landfill into habitat, parkland, open space, or another use while continuing gas and leachate controls

Recycling a material into the same general kind of product, such as an aluminum can becoming another aluminum can

Recycling a material into a lower-quality product with fewer future uses