Ryan Duckett
The other day I spotted Bela G. Liptak鈥檚 Environmental Engineers鈥� Handbook, Volume III, Land Pollution in a Little Free Library. As I do with any free book related to waste, I snatched it up and dug in that night, poring over the musty pages.
It was the first edition, copyright 1974, barely three years after the formation of USEPA and 18 years before Subtitle D. Hundreds of professionals contributed to the handbook. I absorbed the book鈥檚 content, a time capsule buried in the early days of formalized solid waste management. Notably, its bread-and-butter contents included still-relevant topics SWANA embraces; collection/transport economics, design of sanitary landfills (well, trenchfills), and processing methods such as waste to energy, organics utilization, and metal scrapping.
I noticed that my overall feelings about the book were thought-provoking鈥� paradoxically, a combination of comfort at how far we鈥檝e come and surprise at how some things have barely changed:
How Far We鈥檝e Come: Besides the embrace of trenchfilling, other chapters were outdated but fascinating. There鈥檚 a 鈥淥cean Dumping and Other Techniques鈥� section that details the economics of barging trash into the 鈥�infinite ocean鈥�(turns out the ocean isn鈥檛 nearly as infinite as previously believed). There were five sections on 鈥淔ertilizer Manufacturing,鈥� nomenclature the compost industry has since shied away from to differentiate itself from inorganic fertilizers. There were no references to treating PFAS, a top challenge for our industry, though they had been manufactured for over 40 years at the time of the book鈥檚 publication.
There was also no mention of greenhouse gases. There was a section on 鈥淕lobal Heat Balance,鈥� but it is about how our combustion and industrial processes generate heat previously latent as chemical energy in the form of fossil fuels, and that could contribute to local weather effects in manufacturing areas. Interesting twist on Global Warming. I also got a chuckle out of the passage on garbage disposals (鈥�豆包成人版 Grinders鈥�) which stated: It has been hoped that a grinder would eventually be developed to take all the municipal refuse including cans and bottles, but to date none has been developed for refuse even without cans and bottles. Oh well.
Wow, Little Has Changed: The sections on up-and-coming technologies, particularly waste conversion, revealed how long some of these technologies have been around. For example, there were dedicated sub-chapters on waste conversion systems, including plasma arc/gasification (a particularly riveting chapter titled 鈥�The Fusion Torch鈥�) and pyrolysis (Virginia鈥檚 first commercial system for waste applications opened just over a year ago). There was lore on pneumatic refuse collection, managing trash with air systems like those we use to send cash to the teller at the bank鈥檚 drive window. According to an AI-driven search inquiry, there are now precisely 44 of these systems used for solid waste worldwide, including one in Florida鈥� at Disney World, where else? 鈥攁nd one on Roosevelt Island, a mini-Manhattan situated in New York City鈥檚 East River.
After the read, I was left wondering: where is my personal Back to the Future reactor that turns banana peels into limitless energy? At least give me a tube that sucks my waste out of sight/out of mind, or at a minimum the curb, so I don鈥檛 have to lug my carts down the alley every week.
In all seriousness, the review supported a fact many of us recognize. While a lot has changed in solid waste over the years, it has not changed as much as many expected it to during the heyday of the environmental movement. We have certainly learned quite a bit in half a century, but we also have a ways to go. As researchers, consultants, vendors, managers, and everyone else who touches garbage (metaphorically at least), this speaks volumes to the challenges set before us. Over the past few years, large amounts of money have poured into waste management, whether from private equity acquisitions, corporate mergers, federal grants, or initiatives at the state/territory level. These are massive societal efforts to address waste issues, whether to reduce emerging environmental impacts, capture unrealized economic value, recover additional material streams, and further the industry in a myriad of other ways.
What an exciting time to be in the business, a ripe time for the formulation of the next handbook of solid waste management. It鈥檚 up to us to try to ensure there aren鈥檛 chapters we regret in 50 years.