CPWM Sustainable Waste Management & Resource Recovery

Question 1

At the top of the EPA waste management hierarchy is:

Accepted Answer

Source reduction and reuse

Answer

Energy recovery

Answer

Recycling

Answer

Landfilling

Question 2

A Material Recovery Facility (MRF) primarily:

Accepted Answer

Separates collected recyclables into marketable materials

Answer

Functions as a final disposal site

Answer

Generates hazardous waste manifests

Answer

Produces synthetic fuels from plastics

Question 3

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) policies shift end‑of‑life management costs to:

Accepted Answer

Product manufacturers and brand owners

Answer

Municipal taxpayers

Answer

Retail consumers exclusively

Answer

Non‑profit organizations

Question 4

Pay‑As‑You‑Throw (PAYT) programs encourage waste reduction by:

Accepted Answer

Charging residents according to the amount of waste they discard

Answer

Providing unlimited free disposal

Answer

Banning organics from landfills

Answer

Closing recycling drop‑off centers

Question 5

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) evaluates impacts:

Accepted Answer

Across the entire product life cycle

Answer

Only during product disposal

Answer

Only during raw material extraction

Answer

Only during manufacturing

Question 6

Which technology simultaneously produces renewable energy and fertilizer from organics?

Accepted Answer

Anaerobic digestion

Answer

Incineration with energy recovery

Answer

Open burning

Answer

Mechanical shredding

Question 7

Using recycled glass cullet in new glass manufacturing primarily reduces:

Accepted Answer

Energy requirements in glass furnaces

Answer

Collection truck mileage

Answer

Wastewater pH

Answer

Leachate generation in landfills

Question 8

The circular economy concept focuses on:

Accepted Answer

Maintaining material value through continual circulation

Answer

Linear take‑make‑dispose models

Answer

Exclusive reliance on landfills

Answer

Exporting waste to other countries

Question 9

Which metric measures the proportion of material diverted from disposal?

Accepted Answer

Material recovery/diversion rate

Answer

Greenhouse gas intensity

Answer

GDP growth rate

Answer

Residual moisture content