NSES Content Standard F Science in Personal and Social Perspectives: Environmental quality Grades 9-12, page 198
Materials from human societies affect both physical and chemical cycles
of the earth.
Science for All Americans The Designed
World Chapter 8, page 112
Increasingly, the disposal
of used materials has become a problem. Some used materials, such as organic
wastes, can be returned safely to the environment-although as the population
grows, the task becomes more difficult and more expensive. But some materials,
such as plastics, are not easily recycled; nor do they degrade quickly
when returned to the environment. Still other used materials-radioactive
waste being the most dramatic but not the only example-are so hazardous
for such a long time that how best to dispose of them is not clear and
is the subject of widespread controversy. Solving these problems of disposal
will require systematic efforts that include both social and technological
innovations.
