3.2.3.6 Urban waste and its disposal

Question 1

Relation of waste components and economic characteristics

Answer 1

• HICs have 2.1kg waste per person per day
• due to the society of consumption and built in obsolescence
• LICs have 0.6kg waste per person

Question 2

Environmental impacts of landfill

Answer 2

• water contaminated through leachate
• production and release of methane through decomposing
• attracts vermin

Question 3

Environmental impacts of recycling and recovery

Answer 3

• saves mining and producing new resources
• requires energy and water to recycle
• not all can be recycled

Question 4

Environmental impacts of incineration

Answer 4

• releases a wide variety of pollutants
• this leads to health complications and environmental degredation

Question 5

Environmental impacts of submergence

Answer 5

• waste could spread across the ocean
• can be ingested by marine life
• these plastics will remain in the system for a long time

Question 6

Environmental impacts of unregulated waste

Answer 6

• open diseases
• Smokey mountain

Question 7

Netherlands landfill

Answer 7

• 2% of waste landfilled
• 1995 landfill bans
• tax introduced in 1996 and raised until 2012 where it was no longer necessary

Question 8

Netherlands incineration

Answer 8

• Afval energie bedrijf (AEB) is the world’s largest waste to energy company
• produces enough energy for 320,000 households
• district heating
• 99% of waste collected and repurposed into raw materials