Urban Waste/disposal Flashcards
Examples of residential waste:
Food waste
“E waste” = electronic items e.g. batteries
Plastic packaging
Garden waste
Examples of industrial waste:
Scrap metal
Chemical waste
Off cuttings of material
Examples of commercial waste:
Food waste
Plastic/cardboard
Old products
Examples of construction waste:
Plastic
Scrap metal
Old materials
Examples of institutional waste:
Medical waste e.g. old syringes
Food waste in schools
Old resources e.g. pens, books
Examples of urban services waste:
Littering on streets
Green waste (grass cuttings/tree branches)
Chemical waste
Sludge/dust
Why is E waste particularly dangerous?
Has dangerous chemicals in batteries
Why is it bad if uncollected waste starts building up in a city?
Attracts rats and other animals that can spread diseases
What are some problems of waste?
- risk of infection
- selling items only creates a small income
- toxic waste can lead to illness
What are some opportunities created by waste?
- waste items can be recycled or sold
- very little gets wasted
- reduces the size of land fill dumps
Sometimes the uk will pay for plastic waste to be sent to LIC countries by ships, why do some LIC govs allow this?
- as they can use these materials to make items (recycling) then they can sell them and make money off of them, generating a small profit for them
- they get a sum of money to be sent it in the first place because it’s doing HIC a favour
What is municipal solid waste?
Rubbish from peoples homes, does not include waste from farms/factories
What is a waste stream?
The journey an item has when it is thrown away to when it ends up somewhere (e.g. house to landfill dump)
Where doe waste usually travel from?
High income counties to low income counteries
Why do low income countries want the metal from E waste?
Because they are valuable and can be sold
What is the global waste trade?
The legal and sometimes illegal setting of waste such as from one country to another
What is leachates?
Liquid created when waste rots - it leaks out and then contaminates soil and rivers
What are heavy metals?
Dense metals on periodic table that are toxic, like cadmium and mercury
What are the arguments FOR landfill?
- easy to do
- often used to fill in old quarries
- when its full, covered with soil and grass is put on top
- not much maintainace needed
What are the arguments AGAINST landfill?
- attracts rate, flies and seagulls
- wind blows litter into rivers
- smell is worse in summer
What are the arguments FOR incineration?
- burning rubbish creates energy
- the ash left can be used in many things
- makes money
- decreases size of landfill
- lasts a longtime
- reduces smell of landfill
What are the arguments AGAINST incineration?
- puts smoke particles in the air
- gas emissions are toxic
- co2 released
- not everything can be burnt
What are the arguments FOR recycling?
- easy to collect
- putting all recyclable materials into one bin makes locals more likely to get involved
- les goes to landfill
- creates jobs
- conserves natural resources
- organic waste can be used again
What are the arguments AGAINST recycling?
- recycle bins get too full
- if having to separate out stuff, people cant be bothered
- some recyclable items are toxic
- jobs in recycling plants are low paid
What are the main sources of waste?
- over 60% of all waste in the uk comes from construction/demolition
- commercial waste makes up roughly 15% of waste
- household waste accounting for 10%
How does construction waste link to a rising population?
A more houses/buildings are having to be built/old buildings knocked down to make more modern places, creating a lot of waste material e.g. plastic, wood
How has food waste cost changed from 2006 to 2016?
In 2006 it was 2.2 billion… in 2016 this has risen to 2 billion
What percentage of food waste is from veg/fruit? Why
44%
Because it doesn’t last long, people don’t eat it quickly enough… some people buy it to “look healthy” or like to think they will eat it but end up not
What is the waste hierarchy?
A diagram showing the best to worst forms of dealing with waste
What is the waste hierarchy from best to worst?
Reduce
Reuse
Recycle
Recover
Landfill
Incineration
How can reusing or up cycling actually help people?
Good for the environment and for people as you can save money by not having to buy nw products, and also you could make a profit by selling items online e.g. eBay
Why do cities like London find it difficult to make landfill dumps?
There is not enough open space which isn’t surrounded by houses/buildings that would have to experience the smell and noise of it
How are supermarkets trying to help shoppers reduce plastic bags?
By making them more expensive (less likely to buy them) and also selling bag for life’s that are reusable
Why is it good for the long term if gov make education on reclycing mandatory on the national curriculum in primary schools?
They will become aware of the importance of it and get into good habits which would mean they are more likely to take these on with them later in life
