Urban waste

Question 1

Give two reasons to why there is an increase in urban waste:

Answer 1

• Population rise
• Developmeny

Question 2

How does an increasing population case an increase in waste?

Answer 2

• Increase in consumption = increase in waste (e.g. food waste, packaging waste)

Question 3

Give four impacts of waste:

Answer 3

• Pollution (e.g. water pollution, air pollution)
• Takes up limited space
• Waste management is expensive = strain on LICs
• Health issues (e.g. cholera, breathing issues)

Question 4

What is waste recycling?

Answer 4

Where waste is sorted by material and used to create a new product.

Question 5

What is waste recovery?

Answer 5

• Recycling materials
• Using waste for other projects (e.g. compost, turned into energy)

Question 6

Define incineration in waste management:

Answer 6

The burning of waste

Question 7

Give three positives of using incineration to manage waste:

Answer 7

• Effective at managing waste
• Can be used to generate energy (energy recovery)
• Saves landfill space

Question 8

Give two negatives of using incineration to manage waste:

Answer 8

• Energy recovery creates harmful emissions
• Creates air pollution

Question 9

What is waste submergence?

Answer 9

When waste is buried underwater

Question 10

Define waste trade:

Answer 10

When waste is transported between countries due to being traded.

Question 11

Give 2 positives of waste trade:

Answer 11

• LICs can benefit from buying in recyclable materials as it is cheaper than buying raw materials
• Save landfill space

Question 12

Give 2 negatives of waste trade:

Answer 12

• LICs cannot deal with traded in hazardous waste safely
• Encourages countries not to reduce or reuse their own waste

Question 13

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

Answer 13

• Industrial waste
• Commercial waste
• Personal waste

Question 14

What is a waste stream?

Answer 14

The flow of waste from its origin through to its eventual disposal.

Question 15

What are the 7 ways to manage urban waste?

Answer 15

• Unregulated
• Recycling
• Incineration
• Recovery
• Landfill
• Submergence
• Trade

Question 16

What is unregulated waste disposal?

Answer 16

• When waste is dumped in places that aren’t official disposal sites
• It can damage ecosystems e.g. if it gets into a watercourse or if animals consume waste.

Question 17

What is recycling waste disposal?

Answer 17

• When waste is reprocessed into new products
• Reduces demand for new materials, decreasing the environmental impacts of resource extraction
• Uses less energy than making products from scratch
• However, recycling requires separate collection and the construction of new facilities to process waste, producing greenhouse gases.

Question 18

What is incineration waste disposal?

Answer 18

• When waste is burnt.
• Recues amount of waste going itno landfill
• Burnt waste can be used to generate electricity (waste recovery).
• Reduces use of fossil fuels
• However, burning emits greenhouse gases.
• Burning some waste can release toxic chemicals into the air or water.

Question 19

What is recovery waste disposal?

Answer 19

• Waste is used instead of new products.
• Reduced amount of waste being sent to landfill and means that fewer natural resources are used.

Question 20

What is landfill waste disposal?

Answer 20

• Waste is put into landfill sites
• Many sites are lined to prevent contamination of the ground.
  -Unregulated sites can cause hazardous chemicals to contaminate groundwater, while decomposing gases cause air pollution.

Question 21

What is submergence waste disposal?

Answer 21

• Illegal disposal of waste by dumping it into oceans.
• Submerged waste can release toxic or radioactive substances, damaging ocean ecosystems

Question 22

What is trade waste disposal?

Answer 22

• Waste being bought and sold by countries.
• Developing countries may not dispose of hazardous waste correctly and damage local environments.