urban waste disposal

how many tonnes of rubbish does the UK produce every year? = 430 million tonnes

how long does it take for the average carrier bag to break down? = 1000 years

what are the 5 factors affecting waste consumption? = 

• economic development
• cultural norms (attitudes towards waste)
• geographical location
• climate
• energy sources 

what are the different types of waste disposal? = 

• unregulated
• recycling
• incineration
• recovery
• burial
• submergence 

• construction and demolition = 30%
• mining and quarrying = 23%
• manufacturing = 20%
• municipal solid waste = 20%
• others = 7%

- unregulated = waste disposal that is not controlled or supervised by law 

- landfilling and thermal treatment of waste (incineration) are the most common methods of waste disposal in high-income countries

- many low/lower-middle income countries dispose of their waste in open dumps

environmental negative = it's a breeding ground for insects, vermin and scavenging animals, they can pass on air and water-borne diseases

this can lead to the spread of disease - it was found that in areas where waste isn't collected frequently, the incidence of diarrhoea is twice as high and acute respiratory infections 6 times higher than in areas where waste is collected frequently 

environmental threats include contamination of groundwater and surface water by leachate as well as air pollution from burning of waste that is not properly collected and disposed of 

Resource recovery is the selective extraction of disposed materials for a specific next use, such as recycling, composting, or energy generation

Recycling is carried out when materials from which the items are made can be reprocessed into new products. Manufacturing new products using recycled materials can save significant energy

Urban mining is the name given to the process of recovering compounds and elements from products, buildings and waste which would otherwise be left to decompose in landfills. By collecting and salvaging valuable components to be reused and recycled, there is a greater chance of reducing landfill waste

Advantages:

-Reduced quantities of disposed waste and return of materials to the economy 

Disadvantages:

- energy may be required for the operation of material recovery from waste, and this leads to greenhouse gas emissions.

Waste may be moved between and within countries

The global waste trade is the international trade of waste between countries for further treatment, disposal, or recycling

Toxic or hazardous wastes are often exported from high to low-income countries as seen in the example of e-waste in the textbox

However, these countries often do not have safe recycling processes or facilities and hazardous wastes are not properly disposed of or treated, leading to contamination of the surrounding environment

International laws such as the Basel Convention have been introduced to prevent transboundary movement of hazardous waste, but evidence suggests it still happens.

Incineration of waste (with energy recovery) can reduce the volume of disposed waste by up to 90 per cent

General waste can be safely burned at high temperatures and under carefully controlled conditions to produce electricity and heat

This is referred to as energy from waste and an increasing number of cities are processing their waste in this way

Incineration without energy recovery is still common but it is not a preferred option due to costs and pollution

The open burning of waste, which is common in poorer countries, is particularly discouraged due to severe air pollution associated with low temperature combustion

Incineration of waste (with energy recovery) can reduce the volume of disposed waste by up to 90 per cent

General waste can be safely burned at high temperatures and under carefully controlled conditions to produce electricity and heat

This is referred to as energy from waste and an increasing number of cities are processing their waste in this way

Incineration without energy recovery is still common but it is not a preferred option due to costs and pollution

The open burning of waste, which is common in poorer countries, is particularly discouraged due to severe air pollution associated with low temperature combustion

Burial is the placement of waste in man-made or natural excavations, such as pits or landfills Landfill sites are a common final disposal site for waste from urban areas

In lower-income countries there may simply be a hole in the ground where open dumping occurs

In higher-income countries, there are much stricter regulations and the types of material that can be sent to landfill are often defined by law

In the UK, most landfill sites now control and collect the gas that is released by the decomposing waste, often using it to generate electricity through turbines

 The environmental problems:

• The greenhouse gas methane is produced by rotting organic matter and other chemicals like bleach and ammonia can produce toxic gases that negatively impact the quality of air in the vicinity. 
• Dust and other forms of non-chemical contaminants can also make their way into the atmosphere. Landfills can also affect groundwater and river quality because toxic chemicals can leach out and contaminate the water

Energy from waste:

• £125 million energy from waste facility
• Started operating in 2013
• Processes 462 tonnes of MSW every day which otherwise would be dumped in landfill
• Eleven MW of electricity is generated which is enough to power 15,000 homes each year
• All ash is recycled and air pollution remains minimal and strictly controlled

• Amsterdam is the cultural capital of The Netherlands, a densely populated low-lying country which has a growing population and a diminishing amount of spare land

• Late 20th century, rising prosperity in the country had led to the greater production and consumption of goods and a consequent increase in waste generation

• Lack of space and growing environmental awareness forced the Dutch government to take measures to reduce their reliance on landfill

• The Dutch approach is simple: avoid creating waste in the first place, recover the valuable raw materials from it, generate energy by incinerating residual waste, and only then dump what is left, but do so in an environmentally acceptable way. Approach (‘Lansink’sladder) was incorporated into Dutch legislation in 1994.

• Increasing level of material consumption and significant lack of physical space, together with environmental deterioration of the land, forced the Dutch government to take measures early on to reduce the landfilling of waste.

• Increasing numbers of objections to waste disposal sites from the public were due to smell, soil pollution and groundwater contamination.

• 1995 - the government introduced a landfill tax on every tonne of material landfilled. This gave waste processing companies the financial incentive to look for other methods such as recycling and incineration. Landfill tax was increased year on year until 2012 when it was repealed because the low level of landfilling had rendered the tax unnecessary

• 1995 - a landfill ban covering 35 waste categories was introduced

• The amount of waste sent to landfill decreased significantly in the late 1990s and early 2000s. By 2006, the country had already reached the targets of the Landfill Directive set for 2016

• Waste-to-energy (WZE) strategy - Amsterdam has created the AfvalEnergie Bedrijf (AEB) incineration plant capable of producing 1 million MWh of electricity annually. The plant is also being used to create heating for several communities around Amsterdam, and produces 300,000 gigajoules of heat annually.

• Annually, 1.4 million tons of waste is brought to the W2E plant. This amounts to 600 trucks and 1 freight train per day of refuse from the Amsterdam metropolitan area. 64% per cent of the waste that ends up at the plant is recycled

• Aware of the environmental effects of the gasses from this process, the AEB plant have installed a complex process of scrubbing the flue gases. Attempts are being made to close the loop for other by-products so that the material can be used in other industrial processes--from trace elements for manufacturing, to fly ash for construction. Whatever material is left becomes landfill.

• Next door to the W2E plant is the Waternet water treatment plant. The two plants work together: the incineration plant supplies energy and heat for water treatment processes; the water treatment plant injects its sludge and biogas into the incineration plant as an additional fuel source.

• As the plant performs several functions (elimination of waste, generation of electricity and heat) simultaneously, it compares positively to other disposable methods, actually  avoiding 438 kilotons of CO2 per year 

The incineration plant supplies energy and heat for the water treatment process, the water plant injects its sludge and biogas into the incineration plant as a fuel source 

The waste to energy incineration plant is seen as economically and environmentally better

AEB’s experiences since 1993 demonstrate that incineration can provide important beneifts:

- A waste management system without emissions to groundwater and with insignificant emissions to air - Lower-cost waste treatment - Sustainable electricity and district heating - The recovery of non-combustible materials present in waste such as steel, non-ferrous metals and construction solids 

The AEB experience not only demonstrates what can be done with incineration

Its an example of integrated waste management from which other urban centres in the Netherlands and in Europe could derive similar benefits

The immediate results of AEB’s achievements are the direct benefits to its community

In the long term, the trust and creditability that AEB has developed in the community will prove helpful in supporting the further improvements in energy efficiency and resource recovery that AEB is already planning

• amsterdam is the cultural capital of the Netherlands, a densely populated low-lying country which has a growing population and a diminishing amount of spare land
• in the late 20th century, rising prosperity in the country has led to the greater production and consumption of goods and a consequent increase in waste generation
• lack of space and growing environmental awareness forced the Dutch government to take measures to reduce their reliance on landfill
• the Dutch approach is simple; avoid creating waste in the first place, recover the valuable raw materials from it, generate energy by incinerating acceptable way
• this approach is known as 'Lansink's Ladder' - was incorporated into Dutch legislation 

• the inceasing level of material consumption and the significant lack of physical space, together with environmental deterioration of the land, forced the Dutch government to take measures early on to reduce the landfilling of waste
• there were increasing numbers of objections to waste disposal sites from the public due to smell, soil pollution and groundwater contamination
• in 1995, the government introduced a landfill tax on every tonne of material landfilled. this gave waste processing companies the financail incentive to look for other methods such as recycling and incineration. landfill tax was increased year on year until 2012 when it was repealed becaused the low level of landfilling had rendered the tax unnecessarily
• the amount of waste sent to landfill decreased significantly in the late 1990s and early 2000s. by 2006, the country had already reached the targets of the Landfill Directive set for 2016