Solid Waste Management

What is waste management?

Waste management is the collection, transport, processing or disposal of waste materials, usually ones produced by human activity, in an effort to reduce their effect on human health or local aesthetics or amenity. A sub focus in recent decades has been to reduce waste materials effect on the natural world and the environment and to recover resources from them. Waste management practices differ for developed and developing nations, for urban and rural areas, and for residential, industrial, and commercial producers. Waste management for non-hazardous residential and institutional waste in metropolitan areas is usually the responsibility of local government authorities, while management for non-hazardous commercial and industrial waste is usually the responsibility of the generator.

 Solid waste management with different methods and fields of expertise for each. The management of waste materials is a problem worldwide. In the developing countries, waste management is becoming an acute problem as urbanization and economic development increase leading to larger quantities of waste materials requiring management in these countries.

In Asia, the management of waste materials requires immediate attention especially in countries such as China, South Korea and Malaysia which have been categorized as emerging industrialized countries.

Waste Management Concept

There are a number of concepts about waste management which vary in their usage between countries or regions. Some of the most general, widely used concepts include: Waste Hierarchy- The waste hierarchy refers to the 3 Rs Reduce, reuse and recycle, which classify waste management strategies according to their desirability in terms of waste minimization. The waste hierarchy remains the cornerstone of most waste minimization strategies. The aim of the waste hierarchy is to extract the maximum practical benefits from products and to generate the minimum amount of waste resource recovery. Polluter Pay Principle - the Polluter Pays Principle is a principle where the polluting party pays for the impact caused to the environment. With respect to waste management, this generally refers to the requirement for a waste generator to pay for appropriate disposal of the unrecoverable material.

Method used to handle solid waste

Incineration
Incineration is the process of destroying waste material by burning it. Incineration is carried out both on a small scale by individuals, and on a large scale by industry. It is recognised as a practical method of disposing of hazardous waste materials, such as biological medical waste. Though still widely used in many areas, especially developing countries, incineration as a waste management tool is becoming controversial for several reasons.

 Landfill
A site set up for the disposal of waste materials by burial and is the oldest form of waste treatment. Historically, landfills have been the most common methods of organized waste disposal and remain so in many places around the world. Landfills may include internal waste disposal sites (where a producer of waste carries out their own waste disposal at the place of production) as well as sites used by many producers. Many landfills are also used for waste management purposes, such as the temporary storage, consolidation and transfer, or processing of waste material (sorting, treatment, or recycling).

 Dumping at sea
There are still some countries that dump their waste material into the sea. It is very convenient, easy and cheap compared to other methods like incineration and landfill. It also helps to save space in developed country such as USA. For example, the world biggest garbage dump is a floating one and has twice the size of the USA.

 Recycle
Recycling is a resource recovery practice that refers to the collection and reuse of waste materials such as empty beverage containers. The materials from which the items are made can be reprocessed into new products. Material for recycling may be collected separately from general waste using dedicated bins and collection vehicles are sorted directly from mixed waste streams and are known as kerb-side recycling, it requires the owner of the waste to separate it into various different bins (typically wheelie bins) prior to its collection. The most common consumer products recycled include aluminium such as beverage cans, copper such as wire, steel food and aerosol cans, old steel furnishings or equipment, polyethylene and PET bottles, glass bottles and jars, paperboard cartons ,newspapers, magazines and light paper, and corrugated fibreboard boxes.

 Polyvinyl chloride, Low-density polyethylene, Polypropylene , and Polystyrene are also recyclable. These items are usually composed of a single type of material, making them relatively easy to recycle into new products. The recycling of complex products (such as computers and electronic equipment) is more difficult, due to the additional dismantling and separation required.

The type of material accepted for recycling varies by city and country. Each city and country have different recycling programs in place that can handle the various types of recyclable materials. However, variation in acceptance is reflected in the resale value of the material once it is reprocessed.

Solid Waste Management System in other countries.

Japan
There are many incinerators in Japan: Tokyo alone has 13. Some MSW incineration facilities in Japan are of two stages: pyrolysis, followed by thermal combustion. Some Japanese cities have made their MSW incinerators the center of community complexes with indoor gardens, meeting halls, second-hand shops, and offices of NGOs.

Switzerland
The recycling rate for municipal solid waste in Switzerland exceeds 40% In 2009 2801285 tons of waste from households and small businesses was recycled and 2'680359 tons of municipal waste was incinerated . In Switzerland the following common household waste materials are recycled: aluminium and tin cans, old batteries, light bulbs, glass, paper, PET bottles, textiles, electrical and electronic equipment, and other. The disposal of recyclable waste is mostly free of charge, though not always operated as door-to-door collection. Some waste must be brought to collection spots (e.g. glass, metal, textiles), some is collected in supermarkets or retail shops (e.g. batteries, pet bottles, old electrical and electronic equipment).

 The seven Swiss recycling organisations: FERRO-Recycling (tin cans), IGORA (household aluminium), INOBAT (household batteries), PETRecycling Switzerland (PET beverage bottles), the SENS Foundation (electrical and electronic equipment), TEXAID (textiles) and VetroSwiss (glass) are united in the umbrella organisation Swiss Recycling. "This association exploits the communication synergies that exist between the individual recycling organisations by providing a common platform for disseminating information on the separate collection and appropriate recycling of materials. The association's independence and expertise make it a key contact for official bodies, politicians, retailers and schools throughout Switzerland on all issues relating to recycling." Individual recycling rates The recycling rates of the individual recyclable materials reached in 2006 a mean of 76% of all currently recyclable items being recycled. This has narrowly surpassed the Swiss government's 75% target, meaning that for the time being there will be no introduction of a recycling tax on glass bottles and jars, nor on clothes and textiles, plastic bottles, home-use batteries, light bulbs or paperware and card.

Australia
Australia has a strong dependence on landfill for waste management with more than 17 million tonnes deposited in 200203. Of this, 70% of municipal waste, 56% of commercial and industrial waste, and 43% of construction and demolition waste went to landfill. This equates to approximately 6.2 million tonnes, 5.3 million tonnes, and 5.9 million tonnes respectively. The overall landfill disposal rate is estimated to be 54% (2). Impacts of landfill Landfills have low operating costs compared to waste reprocessing systems, and traditionally have been located relatively close to the urban centres they serve. While some landfills have been in use for decades, such older facilities especially those in areas becoming more heavily populated, are gradually being replaced with modern ones. Vastly different from old-style dumps, landfills are designed to control leachate and gas emissions. Most importantly, they are sited carefully with regard to the natural conditions of the area. Landfill siting must take into account soil conditions, hydrology and topography, climate, local environmental issues, hauling distances, land use and other issues.

Problems and Obstacles

Problems involve waste management

The management of waste materials is a problem worldwide. In the developing countries, waste management is becoming an acute problem as urbanization and economic development increase leading to larger quantities of waste materials requiring management in these countries.

Problems and Challenges of Waste Management in Malaysia

The waste management in Malaysia displays an array of problems, including low collection coverage on average due to the inaccessibility by vehicles of some areas, irregular collection services, inadequate equipment used for waste collection, crude open dumping and burning without air and water pollution control, inadequate legal provisions and resources constraints. These problems are caused by various factors which have an impact on the development of effective waste management systems in Malaysia. Institutional constraints are among these problems. Even though several agencies such as the State Department of the Environment and municipal councils are involved in waste management, they often have no clear functions in relation to waste management and there is no single agency designated to coordinate their projects and activities. The lack of coordination among the relevant agencies often results in duplication of efforts in waste management, wasting of resources, and unsustainability of overall waste management programs. The lack of effective legislation for waste management is partially responsible for ill defined functions of the agencies and the lack of coordination among them.

Problems that occurs by using incineration

First, it may be a poor use of many waste materials because it destroys not only the raw material, but also all of the energy, water, and other natural resources used to produce it. Some energy can be reclaimed as electricity by using the combustion to create steam to drive an electrical generator, but even the best incinerator can only recover a fraction of the caloric value of fuel materials. Second, incineration creates toxic gas and ash, which can harm local populations and pollute groundwater. Modern, well-run incinerators take elaborate measures to reduce the amount of toxic products released in exhaust gas. But concern has increased in recent years about the levels of dioxins that are released when burning mixed waste. Until recently, safe disposal of incinerator waste was a major problem. In the mid1990s, experiments in France and Germany used electric plasma torches to melt incinerator waste into inert glassy pebbles, valuable in concrete production. Incinerator ash has also been chemically separated into lye and other useful chemicals.

Disadvantages of landfill
Placing hazardous waste in landfill sites, rather than reprocessing it, means that the danger is still present and people might still come into contact with the material. Natural events, such as flooding, earthquakes or tsunamis, can very quickly nullify all the care that has been taken of hazardous waste and distribute the hazardous material randomly into the environment. Mismanagement of hazardous waste, of which there are many examples throughout the world, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, can be extremely dangerous too. For some materials, like PVC, landfill is actually safer than incineration, according to the OECD. Further, landfill has led directly to the development of landfill tax. According to the OECD, the tax has influenced businesses to recycle, re-use or minimize their waste. According to the EPA, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act contains wide-ranging technical requirements to make sure that hazardous leachate, the liquid that drains from landfill, does not escape into the environment.

Disadvantage of sea dumping

The hazards of dumping toxic waste are obvious. The materials may immediately kill marine life, cause diseases over the long term or affect the ability of organisms to reproduce. Some of the materials legally permitted for ocean dumping, such as sediments dredged for boat ways, occur naturally. However, sediments from rivers beds often have already accumulated high levels of pollutants from industry and agriculture. Once these materials are dumped at sea, the pollutants impact marine life, including commercially important fish. Organic materials such as sewage also consist of natural substances. The problem with these stems from a excess of nutrients, which leads to algal blooms and in turn ocean dead zones. Treatment can mitigate this to a certain extent.

Problems with recycling.

Because most products are not designed to be recycled today, a great deal of energy is required to reprocess materials for re-use. Generally, this energy comes from non-renewable fossil fuel sources that pollute the air and landscape, or from nuclear power plants that produce radioactive waste. By-product emissions from current recycling operations often release hazardous wastes into the environment. For example, steel smelters have become a large source of dioxin emissions. Furthermore, only one or two additional uses are obtained from recycled products today and the resulting product is often of lesser quality. Recycling should be what the name implies, acontinuous cycle of materials of equal or better quality.

Ways to overcome Solid Waste Management System

 Buy products with less packaging Encourage people to use Recycle Bags or baskets instead of plastic bags. Repair cloths and other daily items instead of buying a new replacement. Reuse an item for another purposes. For example an empty plastic bottle is use to rare fish. Compost solid waste. This will also provides nutrient to the soil. When writing fully utilize both sides of paper. Buy products made from recycled material. Recharge battery rather then discarding it.

The End.