3.2.3.6 - Waste Disposal (Semakau + Amager Bakke) Flashcards
Where is Semakau Landfill?
Singapore
What is the population of Singapore?
5.6 million
Why are such large amounts of waste produced in Singapore?
Due to the urban nature of the entire city
How has waste output increased in Singapore?
From approx 1300 tonnes/ day 1970
8500 tonnes/ day in 2016
6X INCREASE
How much of its waste does Singapore recycle?
More than half
What waste disposal method has SIngapore adopted?
Waste-to-energy as ut incinerates rubbish to generate electricity
How much does incineration reduce the volume of waste by?
90%
Where is the 10% of non-combustile waste and ash sent?
To the Semakau Landfill
Why is Semakau unique?
It is Singapore’s only landfill
How are environmental impacts reduced at the incineration plants?
They are fitted with electrostatic precipitators, lime injectors, and fabric filters to treat and clean flue gas from the combustion process
What is heat from incineration used for?
Generating steam in boilers, which drive turbines and produce electricity
How much electricity was generated by incineration plants in 2005?
938,000 MWh
What area does the Semakau landfill cover?
350 hectares
What capacity does the Semakau landfill have?
63 million m3
How was the Semakau landfill created?
The island was dug out with a 7km perimetre embankment
What was the Semakau embankment lined with?
An impermeable mebrane to prevent lechate entering the sea
What happens to leachate generated at the Semakau plant?
It is treated in a dedicated leachate treatment plant to national discharge standards, and the effluent is discharged into the sea
What happened in July 2005?
The landfill was opened for recreational activities and now receives thousands of visitors
What was planted around Semakau island?
13.6 hectares of mangroves to replace those uprooted during the constrcution of the landfill
What is located around the perimeter bund of Semakau island?
A network of monitoring wells to indicate pollution should there be a leak in the impermeable membrane
How do the mangroves aid Semakau island?
They act as secondary indicators of pollution should there be a leak
What happens when the Semakau landfill cell is filled to ground level?
It is covered with earth and grass to allow a new ecosystem to thrive
What is Amager Bakke?
A combined heat and power (CHP) complex built on the outskirts of Copenhagen, one of the largest waste-to-energy plants in northern Europe.
As well as being a CHP what does Amager Bakke also serve as?
The complex also serves a recreational and an environmental education centre
Where does the Amager Bakke waste-to-energy plant get its waste to burn?
The plant burns waste collected from 700,000 inhabitants and 46,000 companies
What is Amager Bakke’s capacity?
It has the capacity to treat 400,000t of waste annually to produce electricity and heat for 150,000 homes in Copenhagen
What is on Amager Bakke plant roof?
A dry ski slope built with an investment of $12.2m - opened October 2019
What was the construction period for Amager Bakke?
The project started in March 2013, and was completed in 2017
How much did Amager Bakke cost to build?
$611 million
Who developed the Amager Bakke waste-to-energy plant?
Amager Resource centre (A Copenhagen-based waste management company)
How many trucks of rubbish does Amager Bakke receive a day?
350 trucks
What does Amager Bakke release?
ONLY STEAM
With the current rate, how much waste will the Uk produce?
45 million tonnes of waste anually
what is unregulated waste disposal?
Not controlled or supervised by regulation of law. Can be burning or dumping of rubbish. Most commonly occurs as fly-tipping in HIC’s and is common in LIC’s as little organised refuse collection
What is recycling?
Process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects
What is waste recovery?
Using waste as an input material to create valuable products
WHat is waste incineration?
Using high-temperature burning to get rid of waste
What is landfill/ burial waste disposal?
Pits are filled with waste. When they are full they are covered with soil to decompose
What is submergence waste disposal?
Dumping waste in the sea - illegal according to international convention and contravenes UN law
what are the advantages of unregulated waste disposal?
- Cheap for the disposer
- Gets the waste away from more affluent areas to maintain their attractiveness
what are the advantages of recycling?
- Less pollution
- Less raw materials needed
- Less waste to landfill
what are the advantages of waste recovery?
- Less pollution
- Less ‘new’ raw material needed
- Encourages new business enterprises
- Customers can sometimes make money for ‘trade in’
- Reduces initial cost of material for companies
What are the advantages of incineration?
- Produces heat which can create power
- Prevents production of methane from landfill
- Can remove waste up to 90%
- Reduces need to trade waste and ship elsewhere to landfill
What are the adavatages of Landfill/ burial waste disposal?
- Modern landfills can be eco-friendly once they have been filled
- Keep hazardous waste separate from the landfill
- Some gases given off can be used as a source of energy
What are the advantages of submergence waste disposal?
- Cheap
- Singapore has been incinerating much of its waste since 1999 and sending the ash to an offshore landfill called Semakau. This has been formed by the building of a dike in a shallow sea. It is lined with an impermeable membrane to stop leakage. Each call is covered with a layer of earth into which grass and tree roots ultimately
What are the disadvantages of unregulated waste disposal?
- Breading ground for vermin and insects, which can spread diseases
- Contamination of groundwater from leachate
- Air pollution from burning waste
What are the disadvantages of recycling?
- Some materials are expensive to recycle- Some materials are not able to be recycled
- Humans have to want to recycle (care)
- Unclean items may ruin an entire ‘batch ‘ of recycling
What are the disadvantages of waste recovery?
- Not all bits of everything can be recovered
- Does not remove waste from the system… might just delay when it goes to landfill
What are the disadvantages of waste incineration?
- High cost
- Depending on where it is burnt it MIGHT produce higher toxin release
- Could have health and environmental risk
What are the disadvantages of landfill/ burial of waste?
- SOme of the gases are pollutants and flamable
- MAkes the land unesable
- No one wants t olive near one!
- Once it is full it cannot be re-used
What are the disadvantages of submergence?
Dumping radioactive and hazardous waste off the coast of Somalia as the country lacks strong governance. The development of the GPGP (global pacific garbage patch) a floating island of mainly plastic. The GPGP covers an estimated surface area of 1.6 million square km, an areas x2 the size of Texas
What is municipal waste?
comes from municipal services and activities such as street cleaning
What is municiapl solid waste?
Includes solid domestic waste and commercial waste
What are the impacts of increasing waste?
- Multiple risks to human health, respiratory and ksin problems
- Air pollution due to emissions and relase 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 from 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 microgasms/m3 compared to the safe levek 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 multi-family dwellings: food waste, paper, cardboard, textiles etc
What is industrial waste?
Light and heavy manufacturing: housekeeping waste, packaging, construction and demolition materials, hazardous wastes, ash etc
WHat is commercial waste?
Shops, hotels, resteraunts: paper, cardboard, plastic, food waste, glas, metals etc
WHat is institutional waste?
School, hospitals, prisons: paper, cardboard, plastic, food, glass, metals etc
What is construction/demolition waste?
New construction sites, road repair, demolition, renovation: wood, steel, concrete, dirt etc
What is municiapl service waste?
Street cleaning, landscaping, parks, beaches, recreation: street sweepings, tree trimmings, general waste, sludge etc
What is process waste?
solid waste resulting from an industrial/manufacturing e.g scrap materials, chemical waste
What is agricultural waste§?
Crops, orchards, farms: food waste, agricultural waste, hazardous wastes e.g pesticides
How much electronic waste is produced in Mumbai annually?
19,000 tonnes
How much rubbish does Mumbai’s population created per day?
8500 tonnes
Why is waste collection difficult for low-income countries?
In can be the single largest budgetary item, so often can’t be afforded
What % of waste in LIC did the World `bank estimate was uncollected?
30-60%
Why was Beirut in a 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 were the government targets for recycling?
To recycle 40% of household waste by 2012
