Sustainable Waste Management and Resource Recovery Flashcards
7 cards from real CPWM practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Sustainable Waste Management and Resource Recovery flashcards as text
Under the Basel Convention, 'hazardous waste' shipments between countries require:
Answer: Prior informed consent from the receiving country
The Basel Convention mandates prior informed consent (PIC) from the importing country before hazardous waste can be legally shipped across borders.
Which waste management strategy is most aligned with the circular economy model?
Answer: Designing products for disassembly and material recovery at end of life
Circular economy principles emphasize designing products so materials can be easily recovered, reused, and reintroduced into production cycles.
A recycling program achieves an 80% capture rate for aluminum cans. This means:
Answer: 80% of aluminum cans generated are collected for recycling
Capture rate measures the fraction of a targeted material that is actually collected for recycling relative to the total generated.
Food waste sent to anaerobic digestion rather than landfill provides which key environmental benefit?
Answer: Reduces methane emissions while generating renewable biogas
Anaerobic digestion captures methane as biogas for energy use, preventing its uncontrolled release from landfills and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
When a 'pay-as-you-throw' (PAYT) pricing system is implemented, waste generation typically:
Answer: Decreases as households have a direct financial incentive to reduce waste
PAYT programs create a direct economic incentive for households to reduce waste, and studies consistently show measurable reductions in disposed quantities.
In construction and demolition (C&D) waste management, 'source separation' refers to:
Answer: Sorting different materials at the job site rather than at a centralized facility
Source separation in C&D projects involves sorting materials such as wood, metal, and concrete on-site, which improves recovery rates and reduces contamination.
The 'social cost of carbon' concept is relevant to waste management because it helps:
Answer: Monetize greenhouse gas reductions from diversion programs
The social cost of carbon assigns a dollar value to the climate damage from one ton of CO₂, allowing waste managers to quantify the economic benefit of GHG-reducing diversion strategies.