Recycling and Alternatives
Refers to AQA A2 Geography
World Cities Option
- Created by: Bethany
- Created on: 18-04-14 20:31
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- Recycling and Alternatives
- REDUCTION
- The BEST WAY of managing waste is to prevent it.
- Can reduce packaging.
- Use fewer carrier bags - get people to do this by charging for them.
- 0.15 euro cents per bag in Ireland since 2002.
- RE-USE
- Reusing plastic bottles/ jam jars etc. has long been accepted.
- 'Bag for life' is a good example of a scheme that encourages people to reduce waste and reuse their shopping bags until they wear out, at which point they are replaced.
- RECYCLING
- Paper, glass, cans, plastic, clothes etc. can usually recycled if they can be collected economically.
- Start up prices of recycling very high, and the market value of the recycled material produced may be low.
- Some households do not bother to sort their waste.
- The proportion of household recycling is increasing.
- 26% waste was recycled by 2005.
- Recycling plastic bottles is difficult if a profit is desired.
- Recycling has hidden costs e.g. collection, processing, cleaning.
- ENERGY RECOVERY
- Waste can be converted into energy by incineration, but adds to carbon dioxide emissions and harmful pollutions to the atmosphere.
- Many incinerators have been closed down in recent years due to a fears about the pollution they cause.
- Some modern incinerators generate electricity so are considered, to some extent, a more sustainable option.
- 17 licenced municipal incinerators in the UK.
- COMPOSTING
- On a small scale, organic waste can be used to make compost to fertilise farmland and gardens.
- Anaerobic digestion is an advanced form of composting that is becoming an increasingly popular option. The gases produced can be burnt to produce electricity.
- Expensive to set up
- Popular in Germany and Denmark.
- LANDFILL
- Waste is dumped in old hollows or quarries - convinient and CHEAP
- Unsightly - a threat to groundwater and river quality as toxic chemicals leach out.
- Produces methane gas - global warming.
- £40 billion a year to dispose of nappies alone.
- Running out of space for landfill - reported in 2006 that the UK only had nine years worth of landfill space left.
- Landfill is becoming increasingly expensive, leading to a rise in intrest in 'pay-as-you-throw' schemes.
- Households are charged according to waste they produce, butmay lead to fly-tipping.
- REDUCTION
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