18-Env-A6 Solid Waste Engineering and Management · December 2014
Nivaar worked solution (AI-drafted; not reviewed by a licensed engineer)
Reference texts: Tchobanoglous, Theisen & Vigil, Integrated Solid Waste Management: Engineering Principles and Management Issues; Vesilind, Worrell & Reinhart, Solid Waste Engineering; Davis & Cornwell, Introduction to Environmental Engineering (6th ed.); CCME, Guidance Document on Landfill Gas Management; Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999.
This paper prints marks IN FRONT of the question number on every line (e.g. "5 1. What are the elements…", "4 16. All 29 questions are answered in full.
Question text not reproduced: the examination questions are © Engineers and Geoscientists BC. Open the official past paper (linked at the top of this page) to read the question, then follow the worked solution below.
(1) Paper and cardboard (old corrugated cardboard, newsprint, mixed paper). (2) Glass (typically sorted further by colour — clear, brown, green). (3) Ferrous and non-ferrous metals (steel/tin cans recovered magnetically; aluminum recovered by eddy-current separation). (4) Plastics (sorted by resin type, e.g. PET/#1, HDPE/#2). (5) Organics/yard waste (food waste and green/yard waste diverted for composting or anaerobic digestion). Together these five streams typically account for 70–85% of residential MSW by weight, which is why curbside recycling and organics programs and materials recovery facility (MRF) sorting lines are built specifically around recovering these categories rather than attempting to reclaim every material present in the waste stream.
