[Pharmwaste] "Europe Finds Clean Energy in Trash, but U.S. Lags"

Tue Apr 13 14:15:04 EDT 2010

I might quietly suggest what we also need are a whole heck of a lot less  
pharmaceuticals being made that are not needed.  I am no medical  expert but 
I'm fairly certain Viagra is not a product required to live a healthy  
life.....it may have an impact on quality of life (or not, there are certainly  
plenty of people who wish it had never been invented)...that we could 
eliminate  huge amounts of "medicine" that is daily being disposed of in any number 
of less  than preferable manner simply be changing the diet of the bulk of 
the  population so they don't need drugs for dietary issues that are self 
created,  drugs for high blood pressure that should not be needed because 
people simply  prefer a pill to walking 2 miles...I mean horror of horrors, 
exercise.

When a culture has a lifestyle that says "if I take an antacid before I eat 
 3x more than a human should consume at a single meal, it doesn't make  me 
as sick", or the relentless pressure to provide the latest and greatest  
toothpaste in 34 different formulations, none of which were the kind you bought 
 the last time you purchased some..... I hardly think disposal is our  
biggest problem...we would have a much bigger impact preventing.  End of  the 
pipe (so to speak) is the last gasp effort to stop the problem, the  
proverbial finger in the dike.

remember  "first do no harm" ?

Tom Badrick
Badrick Consulting
stepping back of the soapbox

In a message dated 4/13/2010 10:47:17 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,  
djlucia at gw.dec.state.ny.us writes:

Sue,

Pick your poison.

Assume 1000 #'s of pharmaceuticals to be disposed of.

Method 1 - Flushing - 100% enters the waters
Method 2 - landfill - Pharmaceuticals enter the leachate - some break  down 
- most are sent to a wastewater treatment facility let's say 95% for the  
sake of conversation.  950 # to the waters
Method 3 - incineration - controlled burn - 999+ pounds destroyed - 1 #  to 
filters some captured. Less than 1 # released to environment.

What we need are well controlled facilities that follow regulations...  :)

Dennis J. Lucia, P.E.
Pollution Prevention Unit
Division of  Environmental Permits
New York State Department of Environmental  Conservation
625 Broadway  4th Fl.- SW
Albany, NY  12233-1750
(518) 402-9469
Fax (518) 402-9168

>>>  "Sue Dayton" <sdayton at swcp.com> 4/13/2010 1:02 PM >>>
Hi  Folks:

"Dozens of filters catch pollutants, from mercury to dioxin,  that would 
have
emerged from its smokestack only a decade  ago?"

Waste to energy? Sounds like a wonderful idea, but not without  compromises.
For one, our air. 

Our organization has a number of  studies available on WTE. For starters 
see:

_http://www.bredl.org/pdf2/StopIncinerationBlowingSmoke.pdf_ 
(http://www.bredl.org/pdf2/StopIncinerationBlowingSmoke.pdf) 

_http://www.greenaction.org/incinerators/documents/IncineratorsInDisguiseRep
o_ 
(http://www.greenaction.org/incinerators/documents/IncineratorsInDisguiseRepo) 
rtJune2006.pdf

_http://preventcancernow.ca/wp_ (http://preventcancernow.ca/wp) 
-content/uploads/2009/02/pcn-incin51.pdf

PowerPoint:  Burning Issues in Waste Disposal: 
_http://www.greenaction.org/incinerators/documents/GreenactionGAIAIncinerato
r_ 
(http://www.greenaction.org/incinerators/documents/GreenactionGAIAIncinerator) 
sInDisguise0209.pdf

Best  - 

Sue Dayton
Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League
North  Carolina Healthy Communities Program
PO BOX 44
Saxapahaw, NC  27340
(336) 525-2003
sdayton at swcp.com

Our lives begin  to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
-  Martin  Luther King Jr.

-----Original Message-----
From:  pharmwaste-bounces at lists.dep.state.fl.us
[mailto:pharmwaste-bounces at lists.dep.state.fl.us]  On Behalf Of DeBiasi,
Deborah (DEQ)
Sent: Tuesday, April 13, 2010 9:31  AM
To: pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us
Subject: [Pharmwaste] "Europe  Finds Clean Energy in Trash, but U.S. Lags"

Good article on the  Waste-to-Energy Incinerators, like Covanta, that
were being discussed here  last week.

"Europe Finds Clean Energy in Trash, but U.S.  Lags"

_http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/13/science/earth/13trash.html?th&emc=th_ 
(http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/13/science/earth/13trash.html?th&emc=th) 

Deborah  L. DeBiasi 
Email:   Deborah.DeBiasi at deq.virginia.gov  (NEW!)
WEB site address:  www.deq.virginia.gov 
Virginia Department  of Environmental Quality 
Office of Water Permit Programs 
Industrial  Pretreatment/Whole Effluent Toxicity (WET) Program 
PPCPs, EDCs, and  Microconstituents
www.deq.virginia.gov/vpdes/microconstituents.html  
Mail:          P.O. Box 1105,  Richmond, VA  23218 
Location:  629 E. Main Street, Richmond,  VA  23219 
PH:          804-698-4028 
FAX:      804-698-4032  

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