Argumentative Paper: The Best Way to Handle Our Trash

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The Best Way to Handle Our Trash
Introduction
Solid waste management is a major challenge to municipalities, states, and the federal government. While some traditional approaches, including the use of landfills, have continuously stood as a management choice in trash management, some of them have notably continued to gradually destroy soil, air, and water resources resulting in short, medium and long-term harm to human life. As this paper argues, having eco-friendly ways of dealing with our trash will, in the long-run, benefit the planet.
Landfills have for long existed as a common solid waste disposal method as they prove to be easy and readily available methods through which waste can be disposed of. However, the lack of space for continued expansion of landfills, as well as an increased presence of methane and other harmful gases generated in landfills cause a variety of contamination problems to nearby communities (Tufano 1). Landfills have been cited as sources of air and water pollution, two major sources of environmental destruction.
According to The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, municipal solid waste landfills have reduced in number from 8000 landfills in 1988 to just 1900 by the end of 2013 (Tufano 1). In addition, waste is often treated before disposal, but at times, the horrible smell that residents have to endure in cases where the treatment was not effective in contributing to significant health problems. There has also been an issue with the transportation of solid waste to landfills. For instance, while being transported to Chester, PA, residential waste generated in Manhattan is being diverted to Delaware, thus increasing the waste burden on other cities and states (Tufano 1).
Gasification is, instead, a better and more viable waste disposal option. It is not only environmentally friendly but it also saves on disposal costs and reduces landfill space. Waste management companies have resorted to better ways of reusing the waste or leachate (Tufano 1). Gasification, a process that utilizes oxygen to combine carbon-based materials in the feedstock to convert them into a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide while at the same time removing pollutants is being used to generate usable energy. The Waste Services, Inc. (WSI) technology involves collecting solid waste, removing heavy metals, and then pushing the rest of the materials through an elutriator (Tufano 1). The elutriator then separates materials that decompose and those that do not decompose and shreds all materials, including organic wastes, sterilizes, and converts them into cellulose-based material. After converting it into raw biofuel feedstock, the material is then fed into a gasifier to produce electricity and steam (Tufano 1).
Plasma gasification has also been advocated for by scientists and environmentalists across the globe. The process not only breaks chemical bonds, but it is also the safest and most effective way of destroying medical waste, asbestos, and hydrocarbons. Polychlorinated biphenyls are also best disposed of through plasma gasification (Leonard 1). Such materials are hazardous and disposal through mass-burn incinerators or landfills could be destructive to the environment. Unlike incineration which has been cited as a cause of air pollution, plasma gasification is earth-friendly and breaks complex molecules into simple elements by use of energy as high as 9000 degrees (Leonard 1). The process also makes fuel adequate to produce over 3,500 kilowatts of electricity from the 10 tons of garbage gasified each day (Leonard 1). Heavier metals that do not get gasified completely settle at the bottom of the pool, are removed, allowed to cool, and used in making steel products. This way, unlike incineration, landfill, or other methods, all metals are recycled. Molecular bonds are broken down as a result of the high heat, resulting in the destruction of both dangerous materials and ordinary waste. Among other benefits, the plasma gasification disposal provides renewable energy. The process is thus, an effective way of recycling solid waste.
Apart from gasification, the other most effective way of handling trash is involving individual citizens in the waste management process. The 3R's that is, reducing, reusing and recycling provides such a platform. Recycling and reusing are also effective methods of disposing of trash in an eco-friendly manner. Research by Chen et al. (2501-2502) on the recycling of LiFePO4 batteries found that traditional processes cause more damage to the environment. Recycling cathode powders by heat-treatment temperat...