Waste management: Everything you should know about waste!

In our daily life, we purchase things and after using it, we throw it away in the dustbin and forget about it. Have you ever noticed what happens to the waste you throw away in the dustbin?

In the most conventional way, the waste from the bin is being taken by the municipal body responsible for waste management. The waste is then taken away to the nearest waste processing plant in the truck where the most of the recyclable things are taken out. It gets sorted in basic forms as much as it could with the help of machines.

A truck collecting household waste

Rest of the waste is then again taken to another processing plant when it gets compressed and the compressed waste is then sent to the landfills where it would be dumped for years. If it is the waste which does not contain any plastics or non-biodegradable things, it would degrade and the land can again be used for dumping waste. But if the waste contains plastic and nonbiodegradable, it would prevent other wastes from being degraded and will accumulate the space for years. This is how most of the landfills today are full of waste. 

Landfilling is the most common waste management practice done by most of the states and countries all over the world. But, it is not the only waste management method as we'd discuss some more methods which are being used to manage the waste we generate daily.

A typical landfill

Incineration:

Incineration of waste materials converts the waste into ash, flue gas and heat. The ash is mostly formed by the inorganic constituents of the waste and may take the form of solid lumps or particulates carried by the flue gas. The flue gases must be cleaned of gaseous and particulate pollutants before they are dispersed into the atmosphere. In some cases, the heat generated by incineration can be used to generate electric power.

Incineration centre

Incinerators reduce the solid mass of the original waste by 80–85% and the volume (already compressed somewhat in garbage trucks) by 95–96%, depending on composition and degree of recovery of materials such as metals from the ash for recycling. This means that while incineration does not completely replace landfilling, it significantly reduces the necessary volume for disposal.

Recovery and recycling:

Recovery is the process of recovering the material which can be useful from the thrown away waste. Things like the metal waste, battery, alloys and electrical waste can be easily recovered. Paper waste is also one of the most recovered waste.

Recycling is creating the same or different stuff out of the recovered material which can be used afterwards. The rate of metal recycling is the highest in the world as around 95%. Second, comes the paper waste accounting around 70%.  But still, stuff like plastic requires more recycling as they are affecting the environment in very bad manner. Recycling saves billions of dollars every year and helps the environment. 

Plasma Gasification:

Plasma gasification is another form of waste management. Plasma is a primarily an electrically charged or a highly ionized gas. Lighting is one type of plasma which produces temperatures that exceed 12,600 °F. With this method of waste disposal, a vessel uses characteristic plasma torches operating at +10,000 °F which is creating a gasification zone till 3,000 °F for the conversion of solid or liquid wastes into a syngas.

Plasma gasification

During the treatment of solid waste by plasma gasification, the waste’s molecular bonds are broken down as result of the intense heat in the vessels and the elemental components. Thanks to this process, destruction of waste and dangerous materials are found. This form of waste disposal provides renewable energy and an assortment of other fantastic benefits.

Composting:

Composting is a process for converting decomposable organic materials into useful stable products. Therefore, valuable landfill space can be used for other wastes by composting these materials rather than dumping them on landfills.

Food waste being compost

On many farms, the basic composting ingredients are animal manure generated on the farm and bedding. Straw and sawdust are common bedding materials. Non-traditional bedding materials are also used, including newspaper and chopped cardboard. The amount of manure composted on a livestock farm is often determined by cleaning schedules, land availability, and weather conditions. Each type of manure has its own physical, chemical, and biological characteristics. Cattle and horse manures, when mixed with bedding, possess good qualities for composting.

Waste to energy:

Waste-to-energy (WtE) or energy-from-waste (EfW) is the process of generating energy in the form of electricity and/or heat from the primary treatment of waste. WtE is a form of energy recovery. Most WtE processes produce electricity and/or heat directly through combustion, or produce a combustible fuel commodity, such as methane, methanol, ethanol or synthetic fuels.  

Waste to energy

Avoidance/Waste Minimization:

Waste minimisation is a process of elimination that involves reducing the amount of waste produced in society and helps to eliminate the generation of harmful and persistent wastes, supporting the efforts to promote a more sustainable society. Waste minimisation involves redesigning products and/or changing societal patterns, concerning consumption and production, of waste generation, to prevent the creation of waste.

Waste minimization

The most environmentally resourceful, economically efficient, and cost-effective way to manage waste is to not have to address the problem in the first place. Waste minimisation should be seen as a primary focus for most waste management strategies. Proper waste management can require a significant amount of time and resources; therefore, it is important to understand the benefits of waste minimisation and how it can be implemented in all sectors of the economy, in an effective, safe and sustainable manner.

Downgauging:

Reducing the amount of packaging used per item will reduce waste volumes. Economics dictate that most manufacturers will already use close to the minimum required material necessary for a given application.

This principle is, however, offset against aesthetics, convenience and marketing benefits that can lead to over-use of packaging, as well as the effect of existing investment in tooling and production process, which can also result in the excessive packaging of some products.

Keep recycling and save the earth from being the garbage plantet!