SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT

Solid waste management requires the application of different methods in a specified

order. The order of preference for these different methods is called the solid waste
management hierarchy. According to this hierarchy the order of using the different
methods from most preferred to least preferred is:

1. reduction (most preferred)
2. reuse
3. recycling
4. recovery (incineration or waste-to-energy)
5. landfill (least preferred)
Reduction and Reuse(Waste Prevention)
Source reduction involves decreasing waste prior to its generation through the design
of packaging materials and products and the reuse of products and their packaging
(Mason et al., 1999). According to the EPA Environmental Facts (EPA, 2000d), source
reduction "includes the design, manufacture, purchase, or use of materials, such as
products and packaging, to reduce their amount or toxicity before they enter the
municipal solid waste (MSW) management system."
Examples include:
Designing products or packaging to reduce the quantity or the toxicity of the
materials used, or to make them easy to reuse;
Reusing existing products or packaging, for example, refillable bottles, reusable
pallets, and reconditioned barrels and drums;
Using the least amount of packaging that reduces the amount of damage or
spoilage to the products
Recycling
Recycling is defined as the collection of such materials as cardboard, steel, and
aluminum and manufacturing them into a new product. Composting involves the
collection of organic residues/wastes, treatment of this organic material in such a way
that it decomposes to humus, and the utilization of the co-product as a soil amendment
Recovery / Waste Combustion with Energy Recovery / Incineration
Waste combusting is defined as the incineration or burning of waste. Preferably this
process involves the recovery of energy that is used for other purposes.
Benefits of Incineration
1. reduction of volume and weight, destruction of certain chemicals or alteration of
chemical characteristics including most hazardous chemicals,
2. destruction of pathogens,
3. energy recovery - energy from these operations is used to produce steam or
generate electricity
4. reduction of the volume of the combustible portion by approximately 90% and
the weight by about 70%.
Concerns with Incineration

1.. Air pollution results when heavy metals and other airborne chemicals vaporize
and are emitted from smoke stacks of incinerators. Incinerators must be equipped
with electrostatic precipitators, scrubbers, or other equipment to reduce emissions to
levels acceptable to regulatory agencies.
2. Toxic ash must be properly disposed.
Landfills
Disposal of wastes/residues in landfills involves the collection, transportation, and,
ultimately, burial in a facility. Landfill is now often thought of as the last resort in terms
of waste management but in the past it was considered the favoured option. This was due
to the fact that it was a relatively cheap way of disposing of our rubbish, and space was
easily available, usually at old quarry sites. However this 'out of sight, out of mind'
mentality cannot be tolerated if we are to become a more sustainable society.
What are the problems associated with landfill sites?
Besides taking up space in our countryside and towns with ugly, unsightly, rubbish
dumps it they also pose many environmental threats. When biodegradable waste breaks
down it releases the gases methane and carbon dioxide. These are both greenhouse gases
which are responsible for global warming. Landfill sites produce 25% of total methane
emissions in the UK, some of which is burned to produce electricity.
As well as the gas it produces, water from rainfall can mix with chemicals and heavy
metals in the site to make a liquid substance called leachate. If a landfill is not managed
properly the hazardous leachate can find its way into our water supplies and harm plants
and animals in our streams and watercourses.
Landfills can also cause nuisance from their traffic, noise, dust and odour. On top all this,
a high proportion of material we throw away can be re-used or recycled.

References:

Interdisciplinary Modules to Teach Waste or Residue Management in the Food
Chain. http: //www.oznet.ksu.edu/swr/Module3/Introduction.htm

So What is a Landfill?
http://www.wirral.gov.uk/LGCL/100006/200084/851/content_0002170.html