ISWM

Solid Waste Management

Most urban areas in country are plagued
by acute problems related to solid waste
Due to lack of serious efforts by town/city
authorities, garbage & its management
has become a tenacious problem
30-50% staff and resources are being
utilised by Urban local bodies and major
portion of municipal expenditure is
allotted to it
 Solid Waste Management
Despite this, there has been progressive decline in
the standard of services with respect to Collection
& disposal of MSW, including hospital & industrial
waste
In many cities nearly half of the solid waste
generated remains unattended, giving rise to
unsanitary conditions especially in densely
populated slums
Resulting in an increase in morbidity, especially
due to microbial & plastic infections.
 The need of ISWM
Solid Waste professionals holistic approach
For example: if more waste is recycled, will
have negative impact on the landfill less
quantity
Landfill costs are fixed drop in the
incoming refuse can have sever economic
ramifications
The various methods of solid waste
management are therefore interlocking and
interdependent
 Integrated Solid Waste Management
EPA recognising this fact, developed national
strategy for management of solid waste-
ISWM
To assist the local community in their
decision making by recognising those
strategies environmentally acceptable
EPA-ISWM strategies:
- Reducing quantity of waste generated
- Reusing the material
- Recycling & Recovering materials
- Combustion for energy recovery
- Landfilling
 Materials flow
Flow of materials in our society
emphasises the fact that we do not
consume the materials
We merely use them and ultimately
return them, often in an altered state
to the environment
Production of useful goods for eventual
use requires input of material
 Sources of material
Raw materials generated from
the face of the earth & used for
the manufacture of products
Scrap materials produced in the
manufacturing operations
Recovered materials after the
product has been used
 Materialto waste
Industrial operations are not totally efficient waste to
be disposed of
Processed goods are sold to the users after use ?
- To dispose of this material
- To collect material in sufficient quantities either to
use it for energy production or to recycle it back
into the industrial sector
- To reuse the material for the same or a different
purpose without remanufacture
This is a close system, with only one input and one
output, emphasizing the finite nature of our world
At steady state material inflow = material outflow,
 Materials flow Aluminum containers
Aluminum beverage containers: raw material-bauxite ore
Finished product sold to the consumers
Some of these cans are defective/unfit consumer use
recycled as industrial scrap
Consumers uses the cans empty containers/other
products are disposed of
Some of the aluminum is returned to industrial sector
re-manufacturing/used for other purpose in the home
Industrial sector recovered & returned due to conscious
efforts by the community/other organisations that collect
and recycle material through system for many materials
this is at a financial loss
Material flow through society
 Material flow through society
Both A & B as large as possible: many
benefits, large quantity of raw material
injected in to manufacturing high rate of
employment in raw material industry, can
have residual effect of creating cheaper raw
material & reducing cost of manufacturing
Large B component beneficial to waste
disposal industry: people waste collection
& manufacturer of heavy equipments for
landfilling
 Detrimental effects
Large input large quantities of non-replenishable
raw material are extracted leading to depletion of
natural resources, ex. Strip mining
The US has already exhausted copper, zinc and tin
Large quantity of waste significant detrimental
effects, land areas used for disposal, or air
pollution from burning of waste
Our present lifestyle obtaining material in
concentrated form (ores) & in using them we are
distributing the products over wide land area
Difficult to reuse & recover
 National security
Reliable supply of raw materials
1970s US for oil
Can we create facilities so that we can store
large deposits of non-replenishable
materials for future use
Ample justification for reducing the waste
disposed off into the environment to the
smallest quantities
We should redesign our economic system to
achieve this end
 System in steady state
Input = Output
Reduction of either A or B necessarily results in
an associated reduction in the other
Looking first at the A component a reduction in
raw materials demand could be achieved by: -
increasing the amount of industrial scrap re-
processed, by decrease in the amount of
manufactured goods or
- by increasing amount of recovered
materials from the post-consumer waste
stream
 System in steady state
Increasing industrial scrap would involve
increasing either home scrap (waste material
used within an industrial plant) or
Prompt industrial scrap (clean segregated
industrial waste material used immediately by
another company)
But scrap represents inefficiency, and ultimate
goal of an industry is to produce as little scrap as
possible
Clearly decreasing the demand for raw materials
will require another approach..
 The reduction
One possibility for achieving a low use of raw
materials is to decrease the amount of
manufacturing goods
This reduction will necessitate a re-design of
products in such the way as to use less material
The federal government can legislate a lower use
of material use by: placing taxes on excessive
packaging, initiating a package charge, requiring
mandatory longer life for manufactured products
Consumers to buy fewer manufactured goods or
simply to buy products to consciously minimise
waste
 The reuse
Second means to reduce waste is to
reuse the products: refillable soda and
beer bottles, or coffee cans to hold nails
or paper bags for taking out the garbage
In addition repairing an item instead
of discarding it and buying a
replacement an example of the
tradeoff between a lobour-intensive
society and a consumer-based society
 The recycling
The third means of reducing the
waste destined for disposal is to
separate out materials that have
some economic value, collect these
separately and use them as a source
of raw materials
This process is called recycling and
involves the active participation of
the product user
 The recovery
The fourth means is to process the solid
waste so as to recover useful material
from the mixed waste
Recovery can also include the recovery of
energy from the solid waste
For example: a waste-to-energy plant or a
landfill gas recovery system recovering
the energy value of the solid waste
through the transformation process
 The four Rs
Reduction
Reuse
Recycling
Recovery
 1- Reduction
Three basic ways:
- Reducing the amount of material
used per product without sacrificing
the utility of that product
- Increasing the lifetime of a product
&/or
- Eliminating the need for the product
 Reduction
Waste reduction in industry pollution
prevention, an attractive concept to industry, cost
of treatment is greater than cost of changing the
process so that waste is not produced in the first
place
Every manufacturing activity produces waste:
small quantity & can be easily disposed off little
incentive to change the operation
Quantity is large and cost is more seeking an
improved manufacturing techniques that reduce
amount of waste
 Pollution prevention
2P as a corporate concept was
pioneered by 3M & DuPont
driving force is reduction in
cost
Increase the competitive
advantage of the manufactured
goods in the market place
 Problem of VOCs car manf.
Automobile manufacturers for years painted the cars
using spray enamel paint
The cars were then dyed in special ovens that gave
them a glossy finish
Unfortunately such operations produced large
amounts of VOC that has to be controlled and was
expensive
The manufacturers developed a new method using
dry powders applied under great pressure
This resulted in better finishes and also eliminated
the VOCs 2P is process of changing the operation in
such a manner that pollutants are not even emitted
 Reduction household level
Reduction of waste at household level
source reduction by EPA
Typical alternative actions: Refusing bags at
stores, refilling laundry detergents instead
of purchasing new containers, bringing
ones own bags to grocery stores, stopping
junk mail deliveries, and using cloth diapers
Unfortunately, the level of participation in
source reduction is low compared to
recycling activities
 Reduction household level
Source reduction first solid waste
alternative for EPA 8 states participated,
reduction was about 10%
Disposal fees based on volume/weight of
refuse generated 10 to 30%
Public information program can significantly
help in reducing waste Shop smart
North Carolina, about 250 homes
participated -10% reduction
Shop smart
 2 - Reuse
Reuse is an integral part of the society, from
church rummage sales to passing down
childrens clothing between siblings
Many of our products are reused without
much thought given to ethical considerations
These products simply have utility and value
for more than one purpose
For example: paper bags refuse for
transportation, news papers rolled to make
fireplace logs, coffee cans to hold bolts &
 Degree of Resource Utilization
Buddha, one day, was in deep thought about the worldly activities
and the ways of instilling goodness in humans. The following is the
text of conversation between him and his disciple.
One of his disciples approached him and said humbly Oh my
teacher! While you are so much concerned about the world and
others, why don't you look in to the welfare and needs of your
own disciples also.

Buddha: "OK.. Tell me how I can help you"

Disciple: "Master! My attire is worn out and is beyond the

decency to wear the same. Can I get a new one, please."
Buddha found the robe indeed was in a bad condition which
needed replacement. He asked the store keeper to give the
disciple a new robe to wear on. The disciple thanked Buddha and
retired to his room.
Though he met his disciple's requirement, Buddha was not all that contented on
his decision. He realized that he missed out some point. A while after, he
realized what he should have asked the disciple. He went to his disciple's place
and asked him "Is your new attire comfortable? Do you need anything more?"

Disciple: "Thank you my Master. The attire is indeed very comfortable. I need
nothing more

Buddha: "Having got the new one, what did you do with your old attire?"

Disciple: "I am using it as my bed spread"

Buddha: "Then.. hope you have disposed off your old bed spread"

Disciple: " No.. no.. master. I am using my old bedspread as my window curtain"

Buddha:" What about your old Curtain?"

Disciple: "Being used to handle hot utensils in the kitchen"

Buddha: "Oh.. I see.. Can you tell me what did they do with the old cloth they
used in Kitchen"

Disciple: "They are being used to wash the floor."

Buddha: " Then, the old rug being used to wash the floor...???"

Disciple: " Master, since they were torn off so much, we could not find any better
use, but to use as a twig in the oil lamp, which is right now lit in your study
room....
Buddha smiled in contentment and left for his room.

Moral: If not to this degree of utilization, can we at least attempt to find the
best use of all our resources - at home and at office .. ?? It becomes imperative
in the critical time of Recession....

Treat the Mother Earth well.....it was not given to you by your parents; it was
loaned to you by your children
We did not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrowed it from our
children.
 3 - Recycling
The process of recycling requires that the owner of the
waste material first separate out useful fraction
collected separately
Recyclable municipal solid waste paper, steel,
aluminum, plastic, glass & yard waste
Many materials can be recycled by identifying its
characteristics or properties of the specific material
This characteristic is known as code simple and visual,
steel cans from aluminum, newsprint from glossy
magazines Sunday paper
Identification & separation of plastics is difficult mixed
plastics has few uses, most economic if separated
 Recycle of plastics
Code Chemical name Abbreviation Typical uses
No.
1 Polyethylene PETE/PET Soft drink bottles
Terephthalate
2 High-density HDPE Milk cartons
polyethylene
3 Polyvinyl chloride PVC Food packaging, wire insulation & pipe

4 Low-density LDPE Plastic film used for food wrapping, trash

polyethylene bags, grocery bags, & baby diapers

5 Polypropylene PP Automobile battery casing & bottle caps

6 Polystyrene PS Food packaging, foam cups & plates, & eating

utensils
7 Mixed plastics Fence posts, benches & pallets
Designation Generation (1000 Recovery (%)
tones/yr)- 2006
PETE/PET 2860 19
HDPE 5890 9
PVC/V 1640 0
LDPE 6450 3
PP 4000 0.3
PS 2590 0
OTHERS 5480 0.01
TOTAL 28910 5.7
 Plastics in MSW - US
1960 0.4 million
1993 18 million
2005 29 million
Plastics wide variety of resigns or polymers with
different characteristics & uses
While recycling separate them by resin type & colour,
different resins have different melting point
A single PVC bottle in a batch of 20 000, PET bottles, can
ruin the whole batch and potentially damage the
manufacturing equipment
Polypropylene which is difficult to distinguish
from polyethylene, contaminates a batch of
recycled polyethylene resulting blend, useless
 Limitations of Recycling
Location of waste transportation cost
of the waste may prohibit the
implementation of recycling and
recovery
- Secondary materials have to be
shipped to market, if source is too far
away, cost of transportation can be
prohibitive
Low value of material item considered
 Limitations of Recycling
Uncertainty of supply: The production of solid waste
depends on willingness of collectors to transport it, the
cooperation of the consumers to throw things away
according to predictable pattern, and the economics of
marketing & product substitution all influence
availability
Conversion from aluminum to plastic beverage containers
whether by legislation, marketing options, or consumer
preference will significantly change the available
aluminum in solid waste
The replacement of a high-value material aluminum by a
low-value material, plastic, will adversely affect recycling
Potential solid waste processors thus have little control
 Limitations of Recycling
Administrative & institutional constraints:
Some communities are willing to pay the
additional cost to implement curbside
recycling programs cost $5 to $10 per
month per household
Some cities have labour or contractual
restrictions preventing implementation of
resource recovery projects yard waste
composting facilities are prohibited by land
use ordinances from accepting sludge or food
waste both increase the value of compost
 Limitations of Recycling
Legislative restrictions: San Diego, prohibited
from charging the residents for solid waste
services difficult to implement recycling
Uncertain markets: Recovery facilities must
depend on willingness of customers to purchase
end products materials or energy
Often such markets are fickle, being either small,
fragile operations or large, vertically integrated
corporations that purchase the products on
margin so as to satisfy unusually heavy short-
duration demand
 4 - Recovery
Recovery is defined as the
process in which the refuse is
collected without prior
separation and the desired
materials are separated at a
central facility
Material Recovery Facility
 MRF
Materials separated in MRF will have a
chance of succeeding - clearly identified
No technology is available to separate all
PETE soft drink bottles code and the
switch is sensitive to that code
Pickers, human beings for separation
corrugated cardboard & HDPE milk bottles
Most items in waste are not made of single
material tin can
 MRF
One means of producing single-material pieces is
to decrease particle size
Grinding increase number of particles and
achieve many clean (single-material) particles
Most suitable for refuse derived fuels
Size reduction is followed by air classification
(paper, plastics), magnetic separation (iron &
steel)
Recovery sounds attractive market for the
recovered materials, volatile market, price
fluctuation, Ex. Secondary paper market