Title: Unit 15 Glossary
Course: BIS 105 Environmental Biology > Section: BIS 105 Environmental Biology

Unit 15 Glossary

Terms

Term | Definitions
aerobic | Living systems or processes that require, or are not destroyed by, the presence of oxygen.
anaerobic | A living system or process that occurs in, or is not destroyed by, the absence of oxygen.
biological treatment | A treatment technology that uses bacteria to consume organic fraction of municipal solid waste/wastewater.
compost | The stable, decomposed organic material resulting from the composting process.
corrosivity | The ability to corrode metal. Corrosive wastes are wastes that are acidic and capable of corroding metal such as tanks, containers, drums, and barrels.
digestion | The biochemical decomposition of organic matter of MSW, resulting in its partial gasification, liquefaction, and mineralization.
functional unit | The basis for comparing two or more products, processes, or services that assures equality of the function delivered.
genetic effects | Effects from some agent, like radiation that are seen in the offspring of the individual who received the agent. The agent must be encountered pre-conception.
high level radioactive waste | The radioactive waste material that results from the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel, including liquid waste produced directly from reprocessing and any solid waste derived from the liquid that ...
ignitability | Ability to create fire under certain conditions. Ignitable wastes can create fires under these certain conditions.
incineration | A thermal process of combusting municipal solid waste.
industrial ecology | An applied science that is concerned with material and energy flows through industrial systems.
integrated waste management | A practice of using several alternative waste management techniques to manage and dispose of MSW.
landfill | Designed, controlled and managed disposal sites for MSW spread in layers, compacted to the smallest practical volume, and covered by material applied at the end of each operating day.
leachate | Wastewater that collects contaminants as it trickles through municipal solid waste disposed in a landfill.
life cycle assessment (LCA) | An applied science that is concerned with material and energy flows through industrial systems.
life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) | The stage of an LCA in which the environmental impacts associated with the manufacture and delivery use and disposal of a product are calculated.
life cycle inventory (LCI) | The stage of an LCA in which information on the use of energy and various materials used to make a product or service at each part of the manufacturing process is collected.
low level radioactive waste | Radioactive waste material that is not high-level radioactive waste, spent nuclear fuel, or byproduct material (see HLW).
mechanical biological treatment | The process that combines sorting with a form of biological treatment such as composting or anaerobic digestion.
medical waste | Any municipal solid waste generated in the diagnosis, treatment, or immunisation of human beings or animals.
mill tailings | Waste material from a conventional uranium recovery facility.
municipal solid waste (MSW) | Includes non-hazardous waste generated in households, commercial and business establishments, institutions, and non-hazardous industrial process wastes, agricultural wastes and sewage sludge.
radioactive waste | Any waste that emits energy as rays, waves, or streams of energetic particles.
reactivity | Materials susceptible to unstable conditions. Reactive wastes are unstable under normal conditions and can create explosions and or toxic fumes, gases, and vapors when mixed with water.
recycling | Separation physical/mechanical process by which secondary raw materials (such as paper, metals, glass, and plastics.) are obtained from MSW.
reuse | Using a component of MSW in its original form more than once.
scoping | The stage of a LCA in which the rationale for carrying out the assessment is made explicit, where the boundaries of the system are defined, where the data quantity, quality, and sources are specif ...
solid waste | According to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), solid waste is: garbage; refuse; sludge from a waste treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facilit ...
somatic effects | Effects from some agent, like radiation that are seen in the individual who receives the agent.
toxicity | The degree to which a chemical substance (or physical agent) elicits a deleterious or adverse effect upon the biological system of an organism exposed to the substance over a designated time perio ...
transuranic radioactive waste | TRU waste contains more than 100 nanocuries of alpha-emitting transuranic isotopes, with half-lives greater than twenty years, per gram of waste.
waste minimization | Measures or techniques that reduce the amount of wastes generated during industrial production processes; the term is also applied to recycling and other efforts to reduce the amount of waste goin ...
waste to energy | Combustion of MSW to generate electrical energy or heat.
wate prevention | The design, manufacture, purchase or use of materials or products to reduce their amount or toxicity before they enter the municipal solid waste stream. Because it is intended to reduce pollution ...