Glossary

These definitions will help you talk trash.

aerate	To expose to air or cause air to circulate through.
attitude	An opinion or general feeling about something, which affects behaviors and actions.
beautification	the process of making visual improvements in a town or city by pruning and planting trees and flowers, landscaping, graffiti abatement, and cleanups.
beautify	To make something pleasing and impressive to look at.
behavior	The way a person or group responds in a certain situation or set of conditions.
bimetal	Made of two metals; used particularly in reference to bimetal beverage cans, which are made of both aluminum and steel.
biodegradable material	Material that can be broken down, usually by bacteria, into basic elements. Most organic wastes, such as yard trimmings, food remains and paper, are biodegradable under the right conditions.
biodegrade	To break down into basic components by biological processes (see biodegradable material).
cleanup	The act of picking up litter in an area.
closed-loop recycling	The complete cycle of collecting, processing, recycling and purchasing products with recycled content.
combustible	Capable of being burned.
commingled	A mixture of any number of recyclable materials, which usually must be separated before they can be recycled.
compost	A mixture of decomposing organic matter (e.g., food waste, leaves, and lawn clippings) used to improve the physical properties of the soil, such as texture and aeration; compost is not a fertilizer.
composting	The controlled biological decomposition of organic solid waste under aerobic (in the presence of oxygen) conditions; organic waste materials are transformed into a soil amendment or humus.
containerize	To put waste into a proper receptacle, such as a trash can, trash bag or dumpster; properly containerizing waste prevents it from becoming litter.
decompose	To break down into basic components.
disposable	Products that are designed to be thrown away after one use.
dispose	To get rid of waste; throw away.
dump	An open land site where waste is deposited. Dumps are unsightly and possibly harmful due to leaching of toxic substances into surrounding groundwater. This term is often incorrectly used as a synonym for sanitary landfill.
energy recovery	Synonym for waste-to-energy (see waste-to-energy).
environment	Everything that surrounds and influences living organisms, including people, animals, plants, soil, water, weather, buildings, etc.
ferrous	Of or containing iron.
garbage	Discarded animal and vegetable matter, or any matter that is no longer wanted or needed; also called refuse or trash.
graffiti	The words, colors, and shapes drawn or scratched on buildings, overpasses, train cars, desks, and other surfaces. It's done without permission and it's against the law.
green space	An area of grass, trees, or other vegetation set apart for recreational or aesthetic purposes in an otherwise urban environment.
groundwater	Water stored in the porous spaces of soil and rock underground; more than half of the people of the United States depend upon groundwater for their drinking water.
habit	An action a person does over and over again without thinking; littering is a bad habit.
household hazardous waste	Products used in the home that contain substances that are listed or that exhibit the characteristics of hazardous wastes as defined by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA): toxic, corrosive, ignitable or reactive. RCRA does not require that household hazardous wastes be disposed of as hazardous wastes, but caution should be taken to dispose of them so as to minimize the impact to human health and the environment.
illegal dumping	Disposing of waste in an improper manner and/or location and in violation of waste disposal laws.
impermeable	Cannot be penetrated.
incinerate	To burn solid waste; used in energy recovery processes.
integrated solid waste management	A practice of disposing of solid waste that utilizes several complementary components, such as source reduction and reuse, recycling, composting, waste-to-energy and landfill.
KAB	Abbreviation for Keep America Beautiful, Inc., a national, nonprofit, public education organization dedicated to improving waste handling practices in American communities.
landfill	More correctly termed ?sanitary landfill?; a land site where waste is deposited, compacted, and covered with soil (see sanitary landfill).
landscape	(verb) To enhance the appearance of land by altering its contours and planting trees and shrubs for aesthetic effect.
leachate	A liquid resulting from precipitation percolating through landfills containing water, decomposed waste and bacteria; in sanitary landfills, leachate is collected and treated to prevent contamination of water supplies.
lightweighting	The process by which a product is made using less materials than its precursors without compromising its integrity; this often results in the conservation of resources required to manufacture the product.
litter	1. (noun) trash that has been left lying in an open or public place 2. (verb) the act of leaving trash in a public place.
litter prevention	Steps taken to discourage people from littering, such as adding trash receptacles to public spaces or changing attitudes.
litterbug	Term used for a person who litters.
littering	The act of discarding solid waste in an inappropriate place (anyplace other than a proper trash receptacle); mishandling waste.
maintenance	Work that is done regularly to keep an area looking good.
MRF	Abbreviation for materials recovery facility, a system that separates collected residential recyclables by type so that they can be recycled into new products for the market.
MSW	Abbreviation for municipal solid waste; includes non-hazardous waste generated in households, commercial establishments, institutions, and light industrial establishments; excludes industrial process wastes, agricultural wastes, mining wastes, and sewage sludge.
methane	A colorless, odorless, flammable gas formed by the decomposition of wastes in a landfill.
microbes	Microorganisms.
NIMBY	Acronym for ?not in my back yard,? originally referred to the syndrome where people oppose putting a sanitary landfill in their neighborhood; now can also refer to the location of other waste management facilities, such as a waste-to-energy plant.
non-combustible	Incapable of being burned.
non-point source pollution	Pollution from many different sources, usually associated with rainfall runoff moving over or through the ground, carrying natural or man-made pollutants into surface water and groundwater.
organic	Derived from living organisms; organic wastes include food, leaves, grass clippings, etc.
packaging	A product?s covering, wrapping, or container designed to protect a product and to attract purchasers.
photodegrade	A process whereby the sun?s ultraviolet radiation attacks the link in the polymer chain of plastic; breaking this link causes the plastic chain to fragment into smaller pieces, losing its strength and ability to flex and stretch.
pollution	The contamination of soil, water, or air; improperly disposed waste can cause pollution
porosity	Being porous; permeable by air, water, etc.
post-consumer waste	Waste from municipal sources as opposed to industrial waste; post-consumer content refers to the amount of recycled material from municipal sources that a product contains. For example, recycled paper may contain 10 percent post-consumer waste, and 30 percent industrial waste (waste salvaged before reaching the consumer).
pre-consumer waste	Waste generated during the manufacturing process including industrial scraps, trimmings and overruns.
precycle	To make purchasing decisions based on whether or not an item is made out of or packaged in materials that are recyclable; making choices to help prevent waste.
RDF	Abbreviation for refuse derived fuel; a uniform fuel produced from waste, burned as an energy source in waste-to-energy plants.
recyclable	Waste that can be used again by being manufactured into a new product, i.e., waste that can be recycled.
recycling	A resource recovery method involving the collection and treatment of a waste product for use as a raw material in the manufacture of the same or another product (for example, ground glass used in the manufacture of new glass).
recycled	Made from reprocessed waste materials.
recycling center	A facility where certain waste materials (aluminum, glass, paper, etc.) are collected and resold for reprocessing into new products (recycled).
reduce	To lessen the amount of waste generated and thus waste disposed; same as source reduction.
refuse	Useless or unwanted materials that are thrown away; another word for solid waste.
resource recovery	The extraction and utilization of materials that can be used as raw materials in the manufacture of new products, or as values that can be converted into some form of fuel or energy source. An integrated resource recovery program may include recycling, waste-to-energy, composting, and/or other components.
reusable	Capable of being used again, either as is or by creating new uses.
reuse	To extend the life of an item by using it again as it is, repairing it, or creating new uses for it.
sanitary landfill	A system of trash and garbage disposal designed to minimize hazards or nuisances to public health or safety. Careful preparation of the fill area, including the use of clay and/or synthetic liners, and control of water drainage are required to assure proper landfilling. To confine the refuse to the smallest practical area and reduce it to the smallest practical volume, heavy equipment is used to spread, compact, and cover the waste daily with at least six inches of compacted dirt. After the area has been completely filled and covered with a final two-or three-foot layer of dirt and seeded with grass, the reclaimed land may be turned into a recreational area such as a park or golf course. Sanitary landfills have leachate collection systems, methane gas controls, and environmental monitoring systems.
solid waste	All useless, unwanted or discarded materials: refuse, trash, garbage, debris.
solid waste management	The systematic administration of activities that provide for the collection, separation, storage, transportation, transfer, processing, treatment, and disposal of solid waste.
solid waste stream	The flow of waste from its source, such as a households, to its final end use or disposal site.
source reduction	The reduction of the amount of waste generated that must eventually be discarded, including minimizing toxic substances in products, minimizing volumes of products and extending products? useful lives. It requires manufacturers and consumers to take an active role in reducing the amount of waste that is produced.
source separation	The segregation of various materials from the waste stream at the point of generation for recycling (for example, households separating paper, metal and glass from the rest of their waste).
transfer station	An intermediate collection facility which temporarily holds solid waste en route to the landfill; materials are often sorted and diverted for recycling or energy recovery.
trash	Useless or unwanted materials that are thrown away; synonym for waste.
waste	Useless or unwanted materials that are discarded in appropriate trash receptacles or littered.
waste-to-energy	A recovery process where waste is burned to generate steam or electricity.
waste-to-energy incineration	A disposal method where municipal solid waste is brought to a facility for energy recovery (see waste-to-energy).