| A | B |
|---|
| waste | any unwanted material or substance produced by an organism's activity or process |
| municipal solid waste | nonliquid waste that comes from homes, institutions, and small businesses. |
| industrial waste | waste that comes from the production of consumer goods, mining, agriculture, and petroleum extraction and refining |
| hazardous waste | solid or liquid waste that is toxic, chemically reactive, flammable, or corrosive |
| sanitary landfill | a facility in which waste is buried in the ground or piled up in large, carefully engineered mounds. |
| leachate | the liquid that forms in a landfill as trash dissolves in rain or snow; a source of groundwater contamination. |
| incineration | a controlled process in which mixed garbage is burned at very high temperatures. |
| source reduction | steps taken to lessen both the amount and toxicity of waste before a product or a material becomes a waste |
| biodegradable | able to decompose or braek down naturally |
| composting | the conversion of organic wastes into mulch or humus through natural biological processes of decomposition |
| recycling | collecting materials that can be broken down and reprocessed to make new items |
| material recovery facility (MRF) | a plant where collected recycables are sorted and prepared for reprocessing |
| e-waste | electronic equipment and appliances that are no longer being used; also called electronic waste |
| surface impoundment | a shallow pit, often lined with plastic, that is used to hold liquid or semisolid hazardous wastes |
| deep-well injection | a method of hazardous waste disposal in which the waste is pumped into a well that has been drilled deep beneath the water table, into porous rock |
| radioactive waste | waste that gives off radiation that is harmful to humans and the environment |
| superfund | the U.S. governments program to clean up hazardous waste sites |
