2C.3 Waste Management

Question 1

Define landfill sites.

Answer 1

Large holes in the ground into which rubbish is dumped.

Question 2

Why is there a shortage of landfill sites?

Answer 2

The increasingly high population density means that there is a shortage of land available for landfill sites which require an area of over 50 hectares.

Question 3

Describe the environmental concerns regarding waste.

Answer 3

• The average home in NI produces 1.29 tonnes of waste each year
• Landfill waste contains many chemicals such as mercury contained in batteries
• When it rains on landfill sites, infiltrating water washes the mercury, leachate and other chemicals into the soil and then into nearby waterways, poisoning local rivers and killing fish and other organisms

Question 4

Describe the health concerns with waste.

Answer 4

• As waste in landfill sites rots, it produces methane gas which is flammable when mixed with air and can cause an explosion in a confined space
• Therefore working at a landfill site can be hazardous for people
• Breathing in landfill gases can also cause respiratory problems if people are exposed to them in enough quantity and for enough time

Question 5

Describe the government targets of waste management.

Answer 5

• In 2000 the government initiative “Waste Strategy 2000” set challenging recycling targets
• In June 2012 the NI government environment minister Alex Attwood made it compulsory for local councils to reach a 60% recycling rate by 2020

Question 6

Define waste hierarchy.

Answer 6

The arrangement of waste disposal options in order of sustainability.

Question 7

Describe “Reduce”, with one example

Answer 7

The process of buying less and using less.
EG. Instead of buying multiple cleaning products, buy one all purpose household cleaner to reduce the number of bottles used, eg. Flash All Purpose Cleaner.

Question 8

Describe “Reuse”, with one example

Answer 8

Instead of materials being dumped, they are used again and again.
EG. Reuse of plastic bags from supermarkets instead of gathering many bags on each visit, eg. Tesco Bag for Life. Marks & Spencer have seen a drop in plastic bag use of 81% following the introduction of bag charges.

Question 9

Describe “Recycle”, with one example

Answer 9

The process of sorting the waste by type and producing items made of the same material.
EG. Plastic bottles can be converted to supermarket shopping bags or gardening equipment.