Green Glossary – B - 1-800-Recycling

Green Glossary – B

Backyard Composting: Diversion of organic food waste and yard trimmings from the municipal waste stream by composting them in one’s yard through controlled decomposition of organic matter by bacteria and fungi into a humus-like product. It is considered source reduction, not recycling, because the composted materials never enter the municipal waste stream.
Benzene: An organic chemical compound used as a gasoline additive, industrial solvent and precursor in producing drugs, plastic, synthetic rubber and dyes.
Best Management Practices or BMPs: Measures that apply science and technology to mitigate environmental effects that can be brought on by natural gas drilling and oil exploration as well as other industrial or manufacturing endeavors.
Biocapacity: Short for biological capacity, it is the capacity of ecosystems to provide useful natural resources as well as to absorb waste generated by human manufacturing.
Biochemical Conversion: Biochemical conversion is a type of conversion technology that turns organic wastes into valuable products using biochemical processes. Processes include aerobic conversion such as composting and anaerobic digestion which occurs in landfills and controlled reactors or digesters.
Biochemical Oxygen Demand or BOD: A measure for the amount of oxygen required in the biological processes that break down organic matter in water.
Biochemicals: Chemicals that are either naturally occurring or identical to naturally occurring substances. Examples include hormones, pheromones, and enzymes.
Biochemistry: A branch of biology that deals with the chemistry of living organisms, particularly the structure and function of their chemical components.
Biodegradable: The quality of a substance that allows it to decompose by natural processes, particularly microbial decay.
Biodegradable Plastic: Plastic that can break down without damaging the environment, instead of taking up room in landfills or polluting the earth and oceans.
Biodegradation: The natural process involved in recycling waste or breaking down organic matter into nutrients that can be used by other living organisms.
Biodiesel: A renewable fuel produced from agricultural resources such as vegetable oils.
Biodiversity: Biodiversity is the complex web of all living things that we humans depend on for our economies and our lives.
Biodiversity Action Plan or BAP: A global advocacy for threatened species and habitats with programs meant to protect and restore natural ecosystems.
Bioenergy: Bioenergy is energy derived from biomass--newly expired organic matter such as wood, straw, crops, algae, sewage sludge, animal litter or other biological waste.
Bioerosion: The process by which animals erode hard hard surfaces such as rocks and coral reefs, through drilling, grazing and burrowing.
Biofiltration: Biofiltration can be any method that uses natural processes to control pollution or maintain water quality. In maintaining water quality, for example, biofiltration is used to remove various organic contaminants and clarify the water.
Biofuels: Fuels produced from plant sources, such as ethanol derived from corn.
Biogas: A gas energy source produced through the fermentation of organic waste.
Biogeography: The geographical study of the distribution of plants and animals at global, regional and local scales.
Bioindicator: Short for biological indicator, a bioindicator is an organism that is monitored to asses the health of a natural environment or ecosystem.
Biological Contaminants: Pollutants coming from living or biological matter are classified as biological contaminants.
Biological Integrity: Biological integrity refers to how healthy an environment is relative to its original state as an ecosystem--before it was altered by human activity.
Biological Pesticides: An alternative to modern man-made chemical pest control substances, biological pesticides are derived from plants, bacteria, fungi and other natural-occuring or organic chemical processes.
Biology: The study of living organisms and systems. Biology began as a science that observes the natural world.
Bioluminescence: Light produced by living organisms through a chemical reaction and the process of emitting biologically-produced light.
Biomarkers: Normal metabolites that, when found in abnormally high concentrations in body fluids, indicate certain diseases or toxic conditions.
Biomass: All of the living material in a given area; often refers to vegetation.
Biomass Engineering: The technology involved in utilizing biomass or any substance of biological origin to produce carbon neutral, renewable energy.
Biomass Heat Accelerator: An initiative of The Carbon Trust to promote the more widespread use of biomass heat--which is more sustainable and produces lower carbon emissions than conventional heating methods.
Biomass Incineration: The burning of of organic residue from plants, agricultural, forestry and municipal waste to produce energy.
Biomedical Waste: Waste generated by human or animal health care facilities including medical or veterinary research and testing establishments.
Biomimicry: The study of how nature, or natural behavior, in order to gain ideas and insights for designing products for human use.
Bioplastics: Starch-based plastics made from soy, corn or potatoes. These plastics can be composted--breaking down 60 percent or more within 180 days.
Bioreactor Landfill: A landfill operated as a bioreactor using leachate recycling or other waste management processes meant to increase the rate of organic decomposition and biogas production.
Bioremediation: The process of cleaning up polluted areas using biological methods, particularly using bacteria, fungi, plants and other living organisms to remove contaminants.
Biosphere: The biosphere is the living component of the earth's system that includes all living organisms as well as dead organic matter produced by them.
Bisphenol-a or BPA: Bisphenol-a is a chemical compound often used in making polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins.
Blowout: In deep sea oil drilling, a blowout is the uncontrolled flow of oil or gas from a well that occurs when formation pressure exceeds the pressure applied to it by the column of drilling fluid.
Blowout Preventer or BOP: Known in the deep sea oil drilling industry as BOP, this is essentially an enormous safety valve that automatically seals the well if there is a problem.
Boom: Used to help clean up oil spills, a boom is a temporary floating barrier used to control the spread of oil to reduce the possibility of polluting shorelines and other resources, as well as to concentrate oil in thicker surface layers.
Botanical Pesticides: Plant-derived insecticides and disease-killers often used in organic farming.
Botany: The science that focuses on the study of plants and how they thrive in their natural environments. It is a branch of biology that studies all plants, including algae and fungi.
Bottle Bill: Proposed or enacted legislation which requires a returnable deposit on beer or soda containers and provides for retail store or other redemption. Such legislation is designed to discourage use of throw-away containers.
Brackish Water: Freshwater mixed with seawater that naturally occurs in estuaries where rivers meet the seas.
Brownfields: Abandoned, idled, or under used industrial and commercial facilities/sites where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived environmental contamination. They can be in urban, suburban, or rural areas.
Bulky Waste: Large items of waste materials, such as appliances, furniture, large auto parts, trees, stumps.
Bushfire: A bushfire is a wildfire that spontaneously occurs in forests, scrublands, woodlands and grasslands of Australia, New Zealand and Caledonia.
Butadiene: Explosive, carcinogenic liquid hydrocarbon used in the creation of synthetic rubber. produced from petroleum or ethanol.