🌆3.2.3.6 - Urban Waste and its Disposal Flashcards
What is municipal waste?
Comes from municipal services and activities such as street cleaning
What is municipal solid waste?
Includes solid domestic waste and commercial waste
What are the impacts of increasing waste?
Multiple risks to human health, respiratory and skin problems
Air pollution due to emissions and release of methane
Contamination of water sources
Loss of recyclable resources, metals, plastics and glass
What is a waste stream?
A flow of waste, from where it is created to where it ends up, in landfill, recycled etc
What are the social issues with waste in Mumbai?
No method of safe disposal for E-waste, can lead to serious health issues
Large network of scrap traders who sift through rubbish and sell it
People who work breaking down PCs and monitors exposed to harmful toxic chemicals
What is the concentration of particulate matter in the air in Mumbai?
2000 micrograms/m3 compared to the safe level of 150
Which gases are in high concentration in Mumbai?
Carbon Monoxide
Why is rubbish often dumped in the street in Mumbai?
There is no formal system for rubbish collection
What is residential waste?
From single and multifamily dwellings: food waste, paper, cardboard, textiles etc
What is industrial waste?
Light and heavy manufacturing: housekeeping wastes, packaging, construction and demolition materials, hazardous wastes, ash etc
What is commercial waste?
Sores, hotels, restaurants: paper, cardboard, plastic, food waste, glass, metals etc
What is institutional waste?
School, hospitals, prisons: paper, cardboard, plastic, food waste, glass, metal etc
What is construction/demolition waste?
New construction sites, road repair, demolition, renovation: wood, steel, concrete, dirt etc
What is municipal service waste?
Street cleaning, landscaping, parks, beaches, recreation: street sweepings, tree trimmings, general waste, sludge etc
What is process waste?
Heavy and light manufacturing, refineries, chemical plants, power stations: Industrial process waste, scrap materials, chemical waste
What is agricultural waste?
Crops, orchards, farms: food waste, agricultural waste, hazardous wastes eg pesticides
How much electronic waste is produced in Mumbai annually?
19,000 tonnes
How much rubbish does Mumbai’s population create per day?
8500 tonnes
Why is waste collection difficult for low income countries?
It can be the single largest budgetary item, so often can’t be afforded
What percentage of waste in lower income countries did the World Bank estimate was uncollected?
30-60%
Why was Beirut in political crisis in 2015?
The overflowing landfill was closed and rubbish was left to pile up in the streets and rivers, leading to protests
What are the main problems with landfills?
The can release leachates into the soils and give off toxic and polluting gases
What were the government’s targets for recycling?
To recycle 40% of household waste by 2012
3 Sources of Waste
Industrial
Commercial
Personal
Industrial Waste
Manufacturing process
Solvents and chemicals
Can be toxic or corrosive
Commercial Waste
Businesses (shops, restaurants, offices)
Food, paper, plastics
Personal Waste
Private homes
Plastic bottles, packaging, food
Globally, waste produced increases by ___% each year
7%
2 reasons for increase in global waste
. Population growth
. Increased personal wealth = increased consumption of goods
Impacts of increased waste
. Some left uncollected
. Hard for efficient collection in cities
. Running out of landfill space
. Air pollution from burning
. Methane released
. Contamination of land and water bodies
. Loss of recyclable resources
. High cost to collect and treat (20-50% of HIC city budget)
What can uncollected and untreated waste cause?
Health problems- cholera and respiratory illness
What’s the problem with methane?
Air, water, ground pollution
Economic characteristics impacting waste generation and waste streams
. Developed countries have formal recycling systems
. Richer consume more waste
. Developed country = 2.1kg/ person/ day
. Developing country = 0.6kg/ person/ day
Lifestyle impacting waste generation and waste streams
. Urban > rural in waste generation (rural more organic)
. More likely to recycle if facilities are easily accessible and authorities encourage it
. Diet: processed food = more waste as packaged
Attitude impacting waste generation and waste streams
. Throw away cultures i.e. electronics and clothing
. Different attitudes towards the environment
Difference between waste streams in HIC’s and LIC’s
Highly regulated in HIC’s
How much of UK waste is recycled?
40%
How much of UK waste is sent to landfill?
50%
How much of Denmark’s electricity does incineration account for?
4.8%
Evaluate unregulated waste disposal
. Cheap for disposer
. Removes waste from other areas
. Vermin = disease
. Pollutes ecosystems
. Birds and animals swallow waste- harmful
Evaluate recycling
. Decreases raw material demand
. Organic waste enriches soil
. Doorstep wheelie bin collection safe and sanitary
. Construction of new facilities
. Separate collections- lorries
Evaluate incineration
. Decreases amount to landfill
. Generates electricity (energy recovery)
. Scrubbers remove dangerous chemicals
. GHG’s and air pollution
. Toxic chemicals released
. 10% of initial volume still needs disposing of (ash)
. Constant maintenance of incineration plant
Evaluate recovery
. Decreases amount to landfill
. Fewer natural resources exploited
. Time consuming
. Potentially dangerous
. Still large amount of waste left
Evaluate burial
. Lined with clay to prevent leakage
. Can collect gases released for energy generation
. Cost-effective
. Sealed and landscaped for recreational purposes
. Hazardous chemicals can contaminate groundwater
. Methane from decomposition = air pollution
. Vermin
. Lorries
Evaluate submergence
. Cheap
. Useful for island nations
. No leakage if impermeable membrane installed correctly
. Toxic chemicals- damage ecosystems
. Illegal
Evaluate trade
. Decreases amount to landfill
. Countries could specialise in different waste disposals
. LIC’s don’t dispose of hazardous waste safely
= environmental damage + groundwater pollution
How many tonnes of waste does the UK produce a year
30 million tonnes
Every person in the UK throws away their…..
Body weight in waste every 7 weeks
How many £ of found do UK households throws away per year?
£400
Municipal
Belonging to a town or city
How much does urban waste grow per year in the UK
3%
In LIC’s what % of urban solid waste is uncollected?
30-60%
What % of their budget do LICs spend on solid waste management?
20-50%
How many tonnes of e waste are produced each year?
50 million
Where is the majority of e waste from?
The US and Europe
Where does the majority of e waste go?
Developing countries in Asia and Africa
What government said it would declare war on who for e waste dumping and when?
Filipino president on Canada unless it took back the waste it had dumped in Manila between 2013 and 2014
1986 Khian Sea waste disposal inciden
4,000 tons of incinerator ash was dumped in Haiti after being labelled “top soil fertilizer”
How many tonnes of e waste id shipped globally every year?
4 million
What did Malaysia do with e waste
Sent back 150 containers of plastic waste to 13 mainly rich countries, including 42 to the UK
. The government will launch an action plan on illegal plastic importation
Most favoured waste cycle option
- Reduce
- Reuse
- Recycle
- Recovery
- Landfill
- Incineration
- Controlled dumping
How much waste does the world generate annually?
2 billion tonnes
Incineration
Can reduce waste volume up to 90%. Can be safely burned to make heat and electricity.
