Urban Waste

Question 1

What are the three primary sources of waste in urban areas?

Answer 1

Industrial waste
Commercial waste
Personal waste

Question 2

Types of waste and their percentages?

Answer 2

Globally, the largest components of waste are organic material (46%), paper (17%), plastic (10%), and glass (5%). The majority is easy to manage but some waste is hazardous eg medical waste

Question 3

What is a waste stream?

Answer 3

A waste stream is the flow of waste from its origin through to its eventual disposal. Some products can be recycled but others need to be broken down and disposed of seperately

Question 4

Economic characteristics affect waste disposal and production

Answer 4

As people get richer, they tend to consume more goods so developed countries produce a lot more waste than developing countries. Most developing countries dont have formal recycling systems but many collect recyclable goods from landfill

Question 5

Lifestyles affect waste disposal and production

Answer 5

Amount and type of waste produced varies depending on whether people live in the countryside or in towns and cities - urban dwellers produce more waste than rural residents
Facilities available affect the waste streams they use such as recylcing easier if recycling facilities are easy to access

Question 6

Attitudes affect waste disposal and production

Answer 6

Many developed countries have a throw away culture which results in high levels of waste
Increasing concerns about health may cause people to throw away food past its date more etc
Some people are more concerned about the environment than others so recycle more

Question 7

Ways to manage urban waste

Answer 7

Unregulated
Recycling
Incineration
Recovery
Burial (Landfill)
Submergence
Trade

Question 8

Waste disposal in Dharavi Mumbai

Answer 8

80% of plastic is recycled in Mumbai
35,000 rag pickers sort and recycle waste
Daily 300 metric tonnes of waste produced
Lacks proper waste management
Plastic recycling industry alone employs 10,000 to 12,000 people
15,000 factories dedicated to recycling and sorting waste

Question 9

energy from waste incineration - Lincoln

Answer 9

Lincolnshires £125 million energy from waste facility started operating in 2013.
The site processes 462 tonnes of MSW every day
It produces 11 MW of electricity - enough electricity to power 15,000 homes each year
It is a 24 hr facility and even has a visitor centre used for educational purposes

Question 10

Waste management in Bristol

Answer 10

Bristol is the U.K.’s first city to be awarded European green capital status 2015. increasing efficient waste management is an integral element of this overall strategy. Bristol Council are committed to reducing the amount of waste generated per household by 15% reducing the amount of MSW sent to landfill and increasing waste recycling to 50%
Initiatives include specialised curbside collections of recycled waste, recycling education in schools and waste management contractors
The Avonmouth waste treatment plan processes 200,000 tons of MSW per year which is electricity for 25,000 homes

Question 11

Waste management in Copenhagen

Answer 11

A waste to energy plant burns rubbish to create power and Copenhill aims to burn up to 400,000 tons of ways per year, producing enough electricity to power 60,000 homes and heat 160,000 homes. Hageon’s new 41,000 m2 facility is run by the Amager resource centre. It seems to be the cleanest way to energy plant in the world, helping the city of Copenhagen achieve its goal of becoming the worlds first carbon neutral city by 2025.