Waste management

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Waste management (disambiguation).

A blue wheelie bin in Berkshire, England

Waste management in Kathmandu (Nepal)

Waste management is the collection, transport, processing, recycling or disposal, and

monitoring of waste materials.[1] The term usually relates to materials produced by human
activity, and is generally undertaken to reduce their effect on health,
the environment oraesthetics. Waste management is also carried out to
recover resources from it. Waste management can
involve solid, liquid, gaseous or radioactive substances, with different methods and fields of
expertise for each.

Waste management practices differ for developed and developing nations,

for urban and rural areas, and for residential and industrial producers. Management for non-
hazardous residential and institutional waste in metropolitan areas is usually the
responsibility of local governmentauthorities, while management for non-hazardous
commercial and industrial waste is usually the responsibility of the generator.
Contents
 [hide]

1 Methods of disposal

o 1.1 Integrated waste

management

o 1.2 Plasma

gasification

o 1.3 Landfill

o 1.4 Incineration

2 Recycling

3 Sustainability

o 3.1 Biological

reprocessing

o 3.2 Energy recovery

4 Avoidance and reduction

methods

5 Waste handling and transport

6 Technologies

7 Waste management concepts

8 Education and awareness

9 See also

10 References

11 External links

[edit]Methods of disposal
[edit]Integrated waste management

Integrated waste management using LCA (life cycle analysis) attempts to offer the most
benign options for waste management. For mixed MSW (Municipal Solid Waste) a number
of broad studies have indicated that waste administration, then source separation and
collection followed by reuse and recycling of the non-organic fraction and energy and
compost/fertilizer production of the organic waste fraction via anaerobic digestion to be the
favoured path. Non-metallic waste resources are not destroyed as with incineration, and
can be reused/ recycled in a future resource depleted society.

[edit]Plasma gasification

Main article: Plasma arc waste disposal

Plasma is a highly ionized or electrically charged gas. An example in nature is lightning,

capable of producing temperatures exceeding 12,600 °F (6,980 °C). A gasifier vessel
utilizes proprietary plasma torches operating at +10,000 °F (5,540 °C) (the surface
temperature of the Sun) in order to create a gasification zone of up to 3,000 °F (1,650 °C) to
convert solid or liquid wastes into a syngas. When municipal solid waste is subjected to this
intense heat within the vessel, the waste’s molecular bonds break down into elemental
components. The process results in elemental destruction of waste and hazardous
materials.[2]

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. generated 250 million tons
of waste in 2008 alone, and this number continues to rise. About 54% of this trash
(135,000,000 short tons (122,000,000 t)) ends up in landfills and is consuming land at a rate
of nearly 3,500 acres (1,400 ha) per year. In fact, landfilling is currently the number one
method of waste disposal in the US. Some states no longer have capacity at permitted
landfills and export their waste to other states. Plasma gasification offers states new
opportunities for waste disposal, and more importantly for renewable power generation in
an environmentally sustainable manner.[3]

[edit]Landfill

Main article: Landfill

Landfill operation in Hawaii.

Disposing of waste in a landfill involves burying the waste, and this remains a common
practice in most countries. Landfills were often established in abandoned or
unused quarries,mining voids or borrow pits. A properly designed and well-managed landfill
can be a hygienic and relatively inexpensive method of disposing of waste materials. Older,
poorly designed or poorly managed landfills can create a number of adverse environmental
impacts such as wind-blown litter, attraction of vermin, and generation of liquid leachate.
Another common byproduct of landfills is gas (mostly composed of methane and carbon
dioxide), which is produced as organic waste breaks down anaerobically. This gas can
create odour problems, kill surface vegetation, and is a greenhouse gas.

A landfill compaction vehicle in action.

Design characteristics of a modern landfill include methods to contain leachate such as clay
or plastic lining material. Deposited waste is normally compacted to increase its density and
stability, and covered to prevent attracting vermin (such as mice or rats). Many landfills also
have landfill gas extraction systems installed to extract the landfill gas. Gas is pumped out
of the landfill using perforated pipes and flared off or burnt in a gas engine to
generateelectricity.

[edit]Incineration

Main article: Incineration

Spittelau incineration plant inVienna.

Incineration is a disposal method that involves combustion of waste material. Incineration
and other high temperature waste treatment systems are sometimes described as "thermal
treatment". Incinerators convert waste materials into heat, gas, steam and ash.

Incineration is carried out both on a small scale by individuals and on a large scale by
industry. It is used to dispose of solid, liquid and gaseous waste. It is recognized as a
practical method of disposing of certain hazardous waste materials (such as
biological medical waste). Incineration is a controversial method of waste disposal, due to
issues such as emission of gaseous pollutants.

Incineration is common in countries such as Japan where land is more scarce, as these

facilities generally do not require as much area as landfills. Waste-to-energy (WtE) or
energy-from-waste (EfW) are broad terms for facilities that burn waste in a furnace or boiler
to generate heat, steam and/or electricity. Combustion in an incinerator is not always
perfect and there have been concerns about micro-pollutants in gaseous emissions from
incinerator stacks. Particular concern has focused on some very persistent organics such
as dioxins, furans, PAHs,... which may be created within the incinerator and afterwards in
the incinerator plume which may have serious environmental consequences in the area
immediately around the incinerator. On the other hand this method or the more benign
anaerobic digestion produces heat that can be used as energy.

[edit]Recycling

Main article: Recycling

Steel scrap, sorted and baled for recycling.

The popular meaning of ‘recycling’ in most developed countries refers to the widespread
collection and reuse of everyday waste materials such as empty beverage containers.
These are collected and sorted into common types so that the raw materials from which the
items are made can be reprocessed into new products. Material for recycling may be
collected separately from general waste using dedicated bins and collection vehicles, or
sorted directly from mixed waste streams.

The most common consumer products recycled include aluminum beverage

cans, steel food and aerosol cans, HDPE and PET bottles, glass bottles and
jars, paperboard cartons,newspapers, magazines, and corrugated fiberboard boxes.

PVC, LDPE, PP, and PS (see resin identification code) are also recyclable, although these

are not commonly collected. These items are usually composed of a single type of material,
making them relatively easy to recycle into new products. The recycling of complex
products (such as computers and electronic equipment) is more difficult, due to the
additional dismantling and separation required.

[edit]Sustainability

The management of waste is a key component in a business' ability to maintaining

ISO14001 accreditations. Companies are encouraged to improve their environmental
efficiencies each year. One way to do this is by improving a company’s waste management
with a new recycling service. (such as recycling: glass, food waste, paper and cardboard,
plastic bottles etc.)

[edit]Biological reprocessing

Main articles: Composting, Home composting, and Anaerobic digestion

An active compost heap.

Waste materials that are organic in nature, such as plant material, food scraps, and paper
products, can be recycled using biological composting and digestion processes
todecompose the organic matter. The resulting organic material is then recycled
as mulch orcompost for agricultural or landscaping purposes. In addition, waste gas from
the process (such as methane) can be captured and used for generating electricity and heat
(CHP/cogeneration) maximising efficiencies. The intention of biological processing in waste
management is to control and accelerate the natural process of decomposition of organic
matter.

There are a large variety of composting and digestion methods and technologies varying in
complexity from simple home compost heaps, to small town scale batch digesters,
industrial-scale enclosed-vessel digestion of mixed domestic waste (see Mechanical
biological treatment). Methods of biological decomposition are differentiated as
being aerobicor anaerobic methods, though hybrids of the two methods also exist.

Anaerobic digestion of the organic fraction of MSW Municipal Solid Waste has been found
to be in a number of LCA analysis studies [4][5] to be more environmentally effective, than
landfill, incineration or pyrolisis. The resulting biogas (methane) though must be used for
cogeneration (electricity and heat preferably on or close to the site of production) and can
be used with a little upgrading in gas combustion engines or turbines. With further
upgrading to synthetic natural gas it can be injected into the natural gas network or further
refined to hydrogen for use in stationary cogeneration fuel cells. Its use in fuel cells
eliminates the pollution from products of combustion (SOx, NOx, pariculates, dioxin, furans,
PAHs...).

An example of waste management through composting is the Green Bin Program

in Toronto, Canada, where household organic waste (such as kitchen scraps and plant
cuttings) are collected in a dedicated container and then composted.

[edit]Energy recovery

Main article: Waste-to-energy

Anaerobic digestion component of Lübeck mechanical biological treatment plant in Germany, 2007

The energy content of waste products can be harnessed directly by using them as a direct
combustion fuel, or indirectly by processing them into another type of fuel. Recycling
through thermal treatment ranges from using waste as a fuel source for cooking or heating,
to anaerobic digestion and the use of the gas fuel (see above), to fuel for boilers to generate
steam and electricity in a turbine. Pyrolysis and gasification are two related forms of thermal
treatment where waste materials are heated to high temperatures with
limited oxygen availability. The process usually occurs in a sealed vessel under
high pressure. Pyrolysis of solid waste converts the material into solid, liquid and gas
products. The liquid and gas can be burnt to produce energy or refined into other chenmical
products (chemical refinery). The solid residue (char) can be further refined into products
such as activated carbon. Gasification and advanced Plasma arc gasification are used to
convert organic materials directly into a synthetic gas (syngas) composed of carbon
monoxide and hydrogen. The gas is then burnt to produce electricity and steam. An
alternative to pyrolisis is high temperature and pressure supercritical water decomposition
(hydrothermal monophasic oxidation).

[edit]Avoidance and reduction methods

Main article: Waste minimization

An important method of waste management is the prevention of waste material being

created, also known as waste reduction. Methods of avoidance include reuse of second-
hand products, repairing broken items instead of buying new, designing products to be
refillable or reusable (such as cotton instead of plastic shopping bags), encouraging
consumers to avoid using disposable products (such as disposable cutlery), removing any
food/liquid remains from cans, packaging, ... [6] and designing products that use less material
to achieve the same purpose (for example, lightweighting of beverage cans).

[edit]Waste handling and transport

Main articles: Waste collection vehicle and Dustbin

A front-loading garbage truck in North America.

Waste collection methods vary widely among different countries and regions. Domestic
waste collection services are often provided by local government authorities, or by private
companies in the industry. Some areas, especially those in less developed countries, do not
have a formal waste-collection system. Examples of waste handling systems include:

 In Australia, curbside collection is the method of disposal of waste. Every urban

domestic household is provided with three bins: one for recyclables, another for general
waste and another for garden materials - this bin is provided by the municipality if
requested. Also, many households have compost bins; but this is not provided by the
municipality. To encourage recycling, municipalities provide large recycle bins, which
are larger than general waste bins. Municipal, commercial and industrial, construction
and demolition waste is dumped at landfills and some is recycled. Household waste is
segregated: recyclables sorted and made into new products, and general waste is
dumped in landfill areas. According to the ABS, the recycling rate is high and is
'increasing, with 99% of households reporting that they had recycled or reused some of
their waste within the past year (2003 survey), up from 85% in 1992'. This suggests that
Australians are in favour of reduced or no landfilling and the recycling of waste. Of the
total waste produced in 2002–03, '30% of municipal waste, 45% of commercial and
industrial waste and 57% of construction and demolition waste' was recycled. Energy is
produced from waste as well: some landfill gas is captured for fuel or electricity
generation. Households and industries are not charged for the volume of waste they
produce.

 In Europe and a few other places around the world, a few communities use a
proprietary collection system known as Envac, which conveys refuse via underground
conduits using a vacuum system. Other vacuum-based solutions include the
MetroTaifun single-line and ring-line systems.
 In Canadian urban centres curbside collection is the most common method of
disposal, whereby the city collects waste and/or recyclables and/or organics on a
scheduled basis. In rural areas people often dispose of their waste by hauling it to a
transfer station. Waste collected is then transported to a regional landfill.
 In Taipei, the city government charges its households and industries for the volume
of rubbish they produce. Waste will only be collected by the city council if waste is
disposed in government issued rubbish bags. This policy has successfully reduced the
amount of waste the city produces and increased the recycling rate.
 In Israel, the Arrow Ecology company has developed the ArrowBio system, which
takes trash directly from collection trucks and separates organic and inorganic materials
through gravitational settling, screening, and hydro-mechanical shredding. The system
is capable of sorting huge volumes of solid waste, salvaging recyclables, and turning the
rest into biogas and rich agricultural compost. The system is used in California,
Australia, Greece, Mexico, the United Kingdom and in Israel. For example, an ArrowBio
plant that has been operational at the Hiriya landfill site since December 2003 serves
the Tel Aviv area, and processes up to 150 tons of garbage a day. [7]
[edit]Technologies

Traditionally the waste management industry has been slow to adopt new technologies
such as RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags, GPS and integrated software packages
which enable better quality data to be collected without the use of estimation or manual data
entry.

 Technologies like RFID tags are now being used to collect data on presentation
rates for curb-side pick-ups which is useful when examining the usage of recycling bins
or similar.
 Benefits of GPS tracking is particularly evident when considering the efficiency of ad
hoc pick-ups (like skip bins or dumpsters) where the collection is done on a consumer
request basis.
 Integrated software packages are useful in aggregating this data for use in
optimisation of operations for waste collection operations.
 Rear vision cameras are commonly used for OH&S reasons and video recording
devices are becoming more widely used, particularly concerning residential services and
contaminations of the waste stream.
[edit]Waste management concepts
There are a number of concepts about waste management which vary in their usage
between countries or regions. Some of the most general, widely used concepts include:
Diagram of the waste hierarchy.

 Waste hierarchy - The waste hierarchy refers to the "3

Rs" reduce, reuse and recycle, which classify waste management strategies according
to their desirability in terms ofwaste minimization. The waste hierarchy remains the
cornerstone of most waste minimization strategies. The aim of the waste hierarchy is to
extract the maximum practical benefits from products and to generate the minimum
amount of waste.
 Extended producer responsibility - Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is a
strategy designed to promote the integration of all costs associated with products
throughout their life cycle (including end-of-life disposal costs) into the market price of
the product. Extended producer responsibility is meant to impose accountability over the
entire lifecycle of products and packaging introduced to the market. This means that
firms which manufacture, import and/or sell products are required to be responsible for
the products after their useful life as well as during manufacture.
 Polluter pays principle - the Polluter Pays Principle is a principle where the polluting
party pays for the impact caused to the environment. With respect to waste
management, this generally refers to the requirement for a waste generator to pay for
appropriate disposal of the waste.
[edit]Education and awareness
Education and awareness in the area of waste and waste management is increasingly
important from a global perspective of resource management. The Talloires Declaration is a
declaration for sustainability concerned about the unprecedented scale and speed of
environmental pollution and degradation, and the depletion of natural resources. Local,
regional, and global air pollution; accumulation and distribution of toxic wastes; destruction
and depletion of forests, soil, and water; depletion of the ozone layer and emission of
"green house" gases threaten the survival of humans and thousands of other living species,
the integrity of the earth and its biodiversity, the security of nations, and the heritage of
future generations. Several universities have implemented the Talloires Declaration by
establishing environmental management and waste management programs, e.g. the waste
management university project. Universityand vocational education are promoted by various
organizations, e.g. WAMITAB and Chartered Institution of Wastes Management. Many
supermarkets encourage customers to use their reverse vending machines to deposit used
purchased containers and receive a refund from the recycling fees. Brands that
manufacture such machines include Tomra and Envipco.
In 2010, CNBC aired the documentary Trash Inc: The Secret Life of Garbage about waste,
what happens to it when it's "thrown away", and its impact on the world. [8]

[edit]See also

 List of waste disposal incidents

 List of waste management acronyms
 History of waste management
 Biomedical waste
 Food waste
 Recycling
 Rubberecycle
 Recycling and Waste Management Exhibition (in the UK)
 Environmental waste controls
 Industrial symbiosis
 ISSOWAMA
[edit]